Randy's tone

romeorose · Post by **romeorose** » Sun May 24, 2009 4:52 am

Will Peter be showing close up video of Randys Chip Pan in the documentary?

halorising · Post by **halorising** » Sun May 24, 2009 5:37 am

romeorose wrote:Will Peter be showing close up video of Randys Chip Pan in the documentary?

I dont know but if i were to guess id say yes

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Sun May 24, 2009 1:35 pm

halorising · Post by **halorising** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:37 pm

wareagle wrote:very cool. yeh my worry is that maybe it has been changed especially the d+. those knobs move around very easily. highly unlikely they havnt been moved, however im gona try it in my amp and see what comes heres what im gona plug into

gibson les paul custom 1968->crybaby wah->mxr distortion + ->mxr 10 band eq -> dod overdrive (i dont turn this on when i play loud so it wont be used)->ernie ball volume -> mxr stereo chorus-> 1978 marshall jmp super lead. with all tht info i should be able to get his tone fairly close, now the only thing is i dont have the mod he has in his amp, but only one of his amps had that mod. also hes using a roland space echo, this effects the tone HUGELY. it makes his tone in '82, but if i was to take a guess, i should be able to get close to his tone on the '80 tour, remember no will ever be able to get his tone.

Alot of his tone comes from his fingers. We have it down, dead on.

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Sun May 24, 2009 9:51 pm

yh, ik thats y i said NO ONE will get his tone...ever. peroid. i acctually didnt get tht stuff b.c i wanted to sound like him, i hearn it was either the best, or came to that conclusion myself, and it happened to be very close to his rig.

Cyranobob · Post by **Cyranobob** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:01 am

interesting debate....and it's been going on probably since Link Wray - I think that was his name - 'invented' the power chord in the early 50's (you r'n'r historians back me up on this). a famous (and now dead) fusion bass player named Jaco Pastorius was once asked about his unique tone. his reply: half my tone is in my fingers. I always took that to heart. A tangential story from back in the 'quiet riot' days when my band (RAZU) was also playing LA clubs: our guitarists had killer tone (using Zeus devices, it must be said). the second guitarist always got ribbed for not having quite the 'beef' that our lead did. mind you, guitarist #2 played a mesa boogie thru two marshall 4x12's and a Charvel guitar. the final showdown had Guitarist #1 play thru #2's Boogie set-up INCLUDING THE CHARVEL GUITAR. and you know, it sounded just like Guitarist #1 playing thru a Boogie. My conclusion has always been that we use everything we can to make a sound that we think is good - amp, pickups, pedals, eq's, etc. - and they all work. but the final 'raisin in the oatmeal' is still the tips of our little human fingers. or not. frankly, after 30 years I'm still trying to figure it out....but i enjoy the debate nonetheless.

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Mon May 25, 2009 2:14 pm

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Mon May 25, 2009 2:36 pm

Hi Wareagle

Yes indeed a fun debate

In my opinion yes the articulation and dynamics come from your bare hands; tone however comes from your Amp and Guitar.
I think the debate rages on because a lot of people get confused with tone and note articulation (how you affect the note ie dampen, vibrate attack etc)
So yes in that sense what ever gear you play, you have your own finger print sound because they way you articulate the note

On Classical Guitar your tone literally does come from your hand as a result of your nail shape, nail thickness, attack, how you angle your hand when striking the note etc etc.

Matt

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Mon May 25, 2009 2:55 pm

but listen to a beginner on a great amp and ther tone is awful. its partially in the fingers...i mean if i played zakk wyldes rig and he did, itd be waaayyyy different. but yh it does more depend on note articulation, but still our tone would be very different.

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:06 pm

You wont convince me I am afraid LOL...
Another one of those agree to disagree moments. I will share with you if I may what I think...

I think (yes just an opinion of course) that many electric guitarists seek an almost mystical explanation for their sound, and cite the old fingers chestnut as away of explaining things away.

Or to put it another way; an electric guitar's sound that is heard from the amp is a result of the pick ups, the lead, the EQ, the amp, speaker etc etc.

I think sometimes rock guitarists, aware of the 'impurity' of their sound, start getting all romantic and mysterious how the tone comes about , and hense seek 'natural' explanations.

To me the 'magic' is in the fingers because, they articulate every note you play! The tone though, on rock guitar especially is not very romantic. Just plain and simple what amp you have and what your EQ is set at.

Matt

Ritchie · Post by **Ritchie** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:24 pm

I agree for the most part with both of the previous posts , but i do believe from experience of working with many "pro" guitar players , that if they were to play ONE note on another players rig .. one note without any inflection ie: vibrato , bends etc it would have the sound of the amp , guitar, pick-ups ...

On the other hand if that player was to play his licks with all of the inflections that make-up that players style through the same rig it will sound like that player . ..

Post by **The Flying Dutchman** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:04 pm

The way you hit a string causes the string to vibrate in a certain way. So it does have impact on the tone.......

rreza · Post by **rreza** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:18 pm

I have to agree with Matt. Your amp/gear give you your tone - midrange boosted EQ, etc through a Marshall w/Altecs ala Randy or no mids via Mesa Boogie Rectifiers through Vintage 30s ala Metallica. Your 'sound'; however, is in your fingers, attack, etc.

Randy first auditioned for OzzY via his little Fender amp and walked away with the lead guitar slot. It was Randy's sound/style that perked OzzY up while he was sitting on that couch after listening to guitarists all day long. I'm sure the tone wasn't the best coming out of that little amp, but Randy's fire and tasteful licks shined through. If you listen to the audio of that seminar Randy gives, he's probably playing through a little amp with a distortion box in front, but every time he plays something on that audio, it just sends a chill up my spine because of his sound/style/identity.

No matter what someone plays through, their 'sound' is THEIR sound. Tone and sound are different in my opinion.

Peace,
RR

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Mon May 25, 2009 9:40 pm

hey that little fender amp was a fender harvard, worth over 3k on ebay if you can find it! i assume it had great tone, just not alot of distortion....

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:24 pm

wareagle wrote:
van halen doesnt know scales and plays what sounds good, you can see how this would effect it already, huge with whammy bar, phaser and all the effects...

Really? I thought Eddie actually knew his theory very very well...that's what I've heard anyway!

I don't see why someone's sound can't be both from their hands and their equipment. Actually, scratch that, someone's style I think comes from their hands and their tone comes from their equipment. The sound is the tone and the style all put together. That's how I see it!
Zakk has a demo on Youtube of him playing the RR Marshall.

I never really understood the zeal for Randy's tone. I think the tone on Tribute is good, same with Diary. But just good. Not worth going out and buying all his stuff to find it, that's for sure. His tone on BOO is just plain horrid.