GUITAR
[ TIPS ON TONE | Jeffrey B. Scott ]
WE’RE TALKING TONE!
idea to reset every once in a while and hear the properly and performing where you expect it to,
signal as cleanly as possible. as well as an opportunity to consider whether
Whether your go-to is a cranked Marshall or
or not a particular piece is necessary.
a pawnshop prize piece, every one of us has It works this way in the digital realm as well. a desire to play with inspiring tone. Whether While it’s tempting to start with a preset you like, But acoustic players need to do this as well,
that’s a bright, bluesy electric tone or a brilliant, it doesn’t give you an option to really personalize whether you have a signal chain you run
rich acoustic tone, we strive for making it the the tone, and that can be problematic when through or not. Again, it’s a good exercise to
best it can be. But how do you get there to it comes to playing with a band. We would make sure that everything is performing well,
begin with? apply this idea by at least disabling all effects that settings on your instrument are doing what
in the signal chain and listening to just the amp they should, and that your signal path is clear
START WITH THE END IN MIND model. Dialing that in to be precisely how you of any unnecessary things. This will also help
In electric world, I’m talking about the ability to want it may give you the option to maximize make sure the instrument is performing as
plug into an amp and make it sound like you processing power and delete things in the expected when plugged in.
want it to before you insert anything else in chain you don’t actually need.
between your guitar and that amp. It should
Regardless of your rig - digital, analog, electric,
sound inspiring; you should want to play it SEASON TO TASTE or acoustic - the process of dialing in a tone
for hours on end. Then and only then can Once the base tone is clearly defined, now you that’s inspiring to play can be intimidating,
you really appreciate the full impact of your can begin to add in the flavors that make up your and frankly, something that’s easy to put off,
signal chain on your tone. I recently acquired personalized setup. This is experimentation at especially if everything is working relatively
a PRS Sonzera amp, and I still occasionally run its best, when you get to just turn knobs and well. Personal ministry challenge: be your best
straight into it just to hear the pure amp tone! tweak, seeing how each adjustment interacts offering to God, even if it comes at the cost of
with the final output. For electric players, this your time and effort to be better. Knowing the
For acoustic players, there isn’t typically a long is a necessary exercise, and one that should ins and outs of your rig and tone will only help
signal chain of effects and processing, but if be approached with fairly regular frequency. It’s you serve your team and ministry better in the
you use anything in the path, it’s still a good a good idea to see that everything is working long run.
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November 2017
WorshipMusician.com