Ten Guaranteed Ways to get a better guitar tone!

1.) It all starts with the amp. Countless times I've seen people buy new expensive guitars expecting amazing tone. Only to bring it home and plug into their line 6 amp and "Grunge" pedal expecting Teh Bro0talz tone. The majority of your tone comes from the amp. I'm not saying upgrading your guitar is a waste of time because it isnt, but unless your fully satisfied with your current amp and tone, the amp should be the first upgrade. An amazing guitar with a cheap amp will sound cheap. A decent guitar into an amazing amp will sound great.

2.) Use your guitars volume knob. Many players set their volume knob to maximum and forget it, never changing it. Constantly wondering why they cant get a good clean tone from their high output pickups. During the "Classic Rock Era" a time of single channel amps, a guitarist would set his volume on full and set the amp for the best lead tone Hossible, roll his volume down a bit for a crunchy rhythm tone and down a bit more for clean tones. If your finding you can't get a good lead tone and clean tone with the same amp settings invest in a good overdrive pedal. Set your amp to a crunchy rhythm in which you can roll off the volume for a good clean tone, more often then not rolling down your guitar volume knob on a cranked tube amp will give you an incredibly rich, more dynamic clean tone than you could achieve with the amp down and the volume maxed. When you need a boost for solo's kick on the OD pedal and it'll take your crunchy rhythm tone onto a searing lead tone. This is a secret amongst many guitarist such as Zakk Wylde.

3.) Less Gain! Use less gain than you think you need, the more gain you add the more compressed your signal becomes, compressing the signal can result in a thinner tone. Not only will you get a bigger fatter sound but you will get less hum and less of that annoying squeely feedback. Your tone will also have alot more clarity, no more muddy bass!

4.) Tube amps are preferable in most situations to a solid state amp. Tube amps also sound best when cranked, also known as power tube saturation. Match your amp to the gig. Don't bring in a 100watt stack to a small bar. Bring a 15 watt head. Believe it or not that is more than enough. Dont Scoop your mids. This is another common mistake many guitarists make. It may sound good in your bedroom but in a live situation your sound will get lost in the mix and the band will sound like a mushy mess. The guitar is a midrange instrument, scooping the midrange away takes away all live presence, lows are eaten up by the bass guitar and kick drum while the highs are taken by the cymbals.

5.) Tone comes from the guitarist, even more than the equipment. This is one of the most ignored aspects of guitar. People become obsessed with a certain guitarist, buy all of his signature gear. Expecting great tone... and they just dont get it. Tone is in the fingers, from how heavy you fret the strings to your pick attack these subtle dynamics create a unique tone. No amount of equipment can substitute for actually learning to play guitar. You can copy anyones rig, learn their most used scales and tricks but you still wont get their exact tone. Close yes, exact no.

6.) Pickup Height - Drop 'em Down! There's no need to have your pickups right up against the strings. Many people don't even realize that adjusting your pickup heights will affect your guitar output or how "hot" a pickup is, which also affects your tone. With your pickups raised high up against the strings you not only lose sustain because the magnetic field from the pickup interrupts the string resonance but you also lose dynamics and clarity. You will notice more touch sensitivity and a livelier more "woody" natural tone. Light picking produces a clean warm sound while letting loose and digging into the strings produces a balanced overdriven tone. Neck pickups in general can be lower than bridge pickups to maintain a volume balance. This is because the broader vibrational arch of the string above the neck pickup is located closer to the center of the strings length which produces more output and a fatter sound.

7.) Believe it or not, one of the most overlooked factors in your guitar tone is your pick! Each different size, shape, density and material will affect your tone in different ways. Changing picks is cheap, costing next to nothing. There is no risk to your guitar or your amp. Not even a warranty to void. Thinner lighter picks usually provide a lighter softer tone but can be just as well for rhythm playing. Heavier picks move more string with less resistance providing a meatier more aggresive tone. The shape of the point also affects the tone alot. A sharper point provides more high end harmonic content while a smooth edge provides a warmer more muffled tone. Changing picks is fun, can improve your technique and is a lot easier then swapping out pickups or modding your amp.

8.) String gauge plays a huge factor in the tone of your guitar. Larger strings often equate to a larger "fuller" sound and light strings result in a thinner tone. This depends alot on your playing style though and there are times where a thinner tone simply cuts through the mix better. For example a blues guitarist may want heavy gauge strings (SRV) as he wont be doing as much legato work. Metal players may want lighter gauge strings for easier legato and tapping, alot more sophisticated lead work and a slightly thinner tone which can also help keep your tone from becoming muddy sounding. Larger strings also provide more output. This is easily noticeable when you play your guitar acoustically, the heavier gauge strings will be significantly louder. This can help beef up lower output pickups. Experiment and have fun, find a set of strings that suits your playing style.

9.) Swap out those old pickups! Changing pickups is a reasonably easy modification that can increase the value and sound of your instrument. Check out many of the major brands such as Rockfield, Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio. They offer many options on new pickups.You can get lower output pickups for a cleaner tone with a vintage vibe or hotter pickups for a more "modern" metal tone.

10.) Set up your guitar properly. Improper or poor setup can not only damage your guitar but it can make it next to impossible to play. Even less fun when your trying to have fun playing it. Simple things such as setting intonation and adjusting the neck can greatly increase your axe's playability. Setting your action by adjusting the height of your bridge can help reduce fret buzz if your strings are too low or help increase playability if your strings are way too
high.

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