Gilmore: fingers not tech make your sound.
Discussion
Just listening to fascinating radio dox on iplayer with Floyd band members (the first time with Matt Everett) and David gilmore said something which I thought was worth a discussion.
He said he could walk into any guitar shop sit down and sound exactly like David Gilmore.
The timing / pressure etc of your fingers make your sound. Not tech / tweeks or effects or signature guitars.
Sounds obvious and reminds me of an interview with Nile Rodgers where he said various guitar companies had tried to do signature versions of his and non sounded right.
So questions :
What's the point of signature guitars?
If you can play like someone famous and sound like them, do you rely on effects - or fingers?
He said he could walk into any guitar shop sit down and sound exactly like David Gilmore.
The timing / pressure etc of your fingers make your sound. Not tech / tweeks or effects or signature guitars.
Sounds obvious and reminds me of an interview with Nile Rodgers where he said various guitar companies had tried to do signature versions of his and non sounded right.
So questions :
What's the point of signature guitars?
If you can play like someone famous and sound like them, do you rely on effects - or fingers?
Resonates with something I saw a while ago - can't remember whether it was a clip from their V&A exhibition or some SkyArts documentary, where his guitar tech said the main reason he sounded like he did was the size of his hands: said they were huge: which gave him a different/unique technique & his finger strength (& control) was enormous. Heard a similar comment from Jimmy Page once, where he said he thought one of the big differences between him & the other hot shot session players around when he was a youngster was his hand & finger strength.
(Not a player myself, I should say).
CF
(Not a player myself, I should say).
CF
Couple of things:
After I'd been playing a few years, and my friend for not much less, we were both jamming - I had a Washburn Stage (humbuckers, through neck) through a valve amp, he had a straightforward Strat through his solid state Peavey. We swapped guitars and amps, and somehow we both sounded like ourselves.
One of my customers was playing a festival with a bunch of name bands on the same bill. He wanted to warm up, but in the only room available there was just a crappy little solid state combo. So he went elsewhere. On the way out to play, he walked along the corridor and heard someone ripping it up and sounding great on that same little PoS amp. It was Jeff Beck, plugged straight in.
Alas, Mother Nature gave me rubbish fingers.
After I'd been playing a few years, and my friend for not much less, we were both jamming - I had a Washburn Stage (humbuckers, through neck) through a valve amp, he had a straightforward Strat through his solid state Peavey. We swapped guitars and amps, and somehow we both sounded like ourselves.
One of my customers was playing a festival with a bunch of name bands on the same bill. He wanted to warm up, but in the only room available there was just a crappy little solid state combo. So he went elsewhere. On the way out to play, he walked along the corridor and heard someone ripping it up and sounding great on that same little PoS amp. It was Jeff Beck, plugged straight in.
Alas, Mother Nature gave me rubbish fingers.
There are bits of kit you can buy to give yourself half a chance of sounding like a particular artist/ guitarist, and if that is your aim and your reason for playing an instrument, great. Feel and tone are more about your fingers and how you play a particular lick, how hard you pick it, whether you even use a pick. There are so many permutations of how certain artists sound like themselves. You would certainly have a much better chance of sounding like Dave Gilmour if you used his Strat; but if you gave him a Les Paul, he'd still sound like Dave Gilmour.
Being a musician is extremely nuanced, it goes way above and beyond equipment.
Jimmy Hendrix would sound like Jimmy Hendrix on any electric guitar. However give me JH guitar and I wont get close to making the sound he makes.
Its a trap that a lot of amateurs (and some pros) fall into. Buy all the gear that person X used/s and then wonder why they don't sound like them...
p.s. the point of signature guitars is to sell them and make money. I don't know any of my pro guitarist colleagues that play on specific signature guitars.
Jimmy Hendrix would sound like Jimmy Hendrix on any electric guitar. However give me JH guitar and I wont get close to making the sound he makes.
Its a trap that a lot of amateurs (and some pros) fall into. Buy all the gear that person X used/s and then wonder why they don't sound like them...
p.s. the point of signature guitars is to sell them and make money. I don't know any of my pro guitarist colleagues that play on specific signature guitars.
Edited by thebraketester on Thursday 26th July 14:08
thebraketester said:
Being a musician is extremely nuanced, it goes way above and beyond equipment.
You could buy a Paul Reed Smith Santana Custom, and use all of Carlos' amps / leads / tones / effects and such like. If you can't solo over a Latin chord progression using the harmonic minor scale, interspersed with some minor pentatonic flavours then you're not going to sound like Carlos Santana.
By all means buy a Beck style Telecaster, but without his touch using a "chicken-picking" right hand you're not going to sound like Jeff.
Get a SRV signature Strat, but without using .013 gauge telegraph wires for your strings your Stevie Ray licks are going to sound a bit thin.
I think you can get a proper Gilmour tone (I've managed to nail the "Another Brick In The Wall" tone using (!!) an Ibanez and a Fender amp), but sounding like him during solos is another thing altogether. For example, quarter-tone bends are second nature to him and he uses them everywhere to flavour his solos in places you wouldn't expect. Same with wide, two interval bends, where most guitarists would use a slide up and a one interval bend.
Ultimately it's a combination of both, otherwise they wouldn't spend so much time, effort and money setting up their rigs.
SRV picking up an Ibanez with active pickups through an amp dialled into a thrash metal sound will not sound like SRV.
Equally, you picking up Lenny and plugging through a Dumble will not sound like SRV.
SRV picking up an Ibanez with active pickups through an amp dialled into a thrash metal sound will not sound like SRV.
Equally, you picking up Lenny and plugging through a Dumble will not sound like SRV.
cherryowen said:
WRT Beck (who's playing and style is just witchcraft and sorcery to me), it's not just his right hand picking style but also the way he uses the trem bar and "violining" the volume knob on the guitar. It is so expressive, so vocal.
Like this
The guy is a fvcking genius
That is pretty special.Like this
The guy is a fvcking genius
..... you'll never believe it but I am doing a gig with his drummer (the guy in that clip) tomorrow.
We had a rehearsal this week and I've had a problem with strings snapping on my Strat (turned out to be a sharp edge on the bridge plate after 36 years wear). One of the other guitarists lent me his PRS while he played his electro acoustic instead. Apart from a few minutes getting used to the extra number of frets, it just sounded like me (with a bit less sparkle due to the humbuckers). I just didn't feel so comfortable playing it, so it reminds me (again) that lusting after more guitars is a waste for me as it takes me so long to get used to their feel and I end up sounding the same anyway. 
Amps are similar; I'm having a clear out and have been comparing the clean tones of my different valve heads and a Blues Junior combo...I end up adjusting them to sound near enough the same, just that the BJ has a bit less bass than my heads played through a 2x12. Consequently I'm selling/trading all my heads/combo for one Fender Deluxe Reverb combo and just keeping my Marshall Mini Jubilee head/cab (because I really like the crunch and dirtier tones it makes).
Less is more for me; which reminds me I have a pedal board that I never use...
Amps are similar; I'm having a clear out and have been comparing the clean tones of my different valve heads and a Blues Junior combo...I end up adjusting them to sound near enough the same, just that the BJ has a bit less bass than my heads played through a 2x12. Consequently I'm selling/trading all my heads/combo for one Fender Deluxe Reverb combo and just keeping my Marshall Mini Jubilee head/cab (because I really like the crunch and dirtier tones it makes).
Less is more for me; which reminds me I have a pedal board that I never use...
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