Best recorded guitar tone

[Robert]

Since we have a "worst recorded guitar tone" thread, why not do the opposite?

I think Scott Henderson's album Dog Party has some really tasty strat tone. He used a Fender 50s re-issue strat with Lindy Fralin pickups through a Matchless amp on that one (if I remember correctly).

I'd have to mention anything by Bill Frisell also. He's got such a lovely, mellow tone, quite irresistible.

And, again, I think Jimi Hendrix had a fantastic tone on "Machine Gun". Still gives me "duck skin" (goose bumps) every time I listen to it.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

I loved Nuno Bettencourt's tone on III Sides To Every Story. He's got great ears for real tone.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I am still too newbie to really say. I am just learning about tone. But I will throw one out there I really like. Even though he is young, and his earlier stuff is pretty young and pop sounding, I really like the tone John Mayer is getting lately, esp, when he heats up the tone a little like in the Trio recordings. To me it is very expressive. Best of all? I am probably unqualified to say. I do really like it though.

 

[Lev]

John Sykes on Whitesnake's 1987 record had a great rock tone. Very different but equally awesome tone - Mark Knopfler - Sultans of Swing. I also love Bad Horsie by Steve Vai for ballsy tone.

 

[marnold]

I like George Lynch's tone on Dokken's "Tooth and Nail" and "Back for the Attack" although there are distinct differences between the two. "Tooth and Nail" is far more raw.

I know it's cliche, but I like SRV's blues tone. For a particular reference, I'd probably pick his cover of "Little Wing."

 

[marnold]

John Sykes on Whitesnake's 1987 record had a great rock tone.

Poor John Sykes. I think if you would ask who played on that album, people would probably say Vivian Campbell, Adrian Vandenberg, or even Steve Vai (mistaking it for "Slip of the Tongue").

 

[SuperSwede]

I dig pretty much every sound that I´ve heard from Joe Perry. Especially early Aerosmith.

 

[Robert]

Yeah, SRV has to be mentioned. I'll say "Lenny"!

 

[Justaguyin_nc]

Sooo many to choose... but at this moment
Snowy White - Bird Of Paradise
Just gets me... I listen to it once daily probably..
his tone? and playing are just so good on this..
Don't care much for the video..
but the song is just a beauty.
At about 1:55...wow..I can relate to duck skin...
excellent.."to me"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RBXTNAdvGKI

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Yup now you're talking Lev and Marnold. Great rock guitar tones from both John Sykes and George Lynch. I wonder if George ever got to buy that purple Marshall head he always borrowed for recording. I found it interesting when I read that Randy Rhoades preferred George's playing over EVH.

 

[duhvoodooman]

Yeah, SRV has to be mentioned. I'll say "Lenny"!

+1. Cables for strings + Old Strat + Magic fingers + Soul to burn = Unique & unbelievable tone

On the much more refined side, I find Robben Ford's LP tone to be spectacular.

 

[guitartist]

David Gilmour
Joe Bonamassa
Billy Gibbons
Albert King
Robert Fripp

...too name just a few of my favorite tone-meisters.

 

[zeusse]

I'm with you on Lenny Robert its just too nice of tone other than that love Eric Johnson's tone and outside of that the EVH brown sound on the second album it still makes me wake up with a smile.

 

[marnold]

I was flipping through the stations the other day and came across VH1 Classic's "Classic Albums" episode featuring Queen's "A Night at the Opera." I don't know if Brian May's tone would qualify as "best ever" in my mind, but one thing is for sure: whenever you hear his playing you know it's him. He's one of those 70's guitar heroes that never gets his proper due, in my opinion.

 

[R_of_G]

For me, the unidpsuted King of Tone is Bill Frisell. There is no style in which he can't play and all with tones unmistakably Frisell. Number two would have to be Marc Ribot. After those two, it's a free for all, but some of my other favorites tone-wise are Django Reinhardt, Sonny Sharrock, Jonny Greenwood, Dave Gilmour, Jimi, Johnny Ramone, and Steve Cropper.

 

[helliott]

For my taste, it'd be Warren Haynes and David Gilmour duking it our for top spot. In both cases, their tone is perfectly suited to their playing style and the songs involved.

 

[Spudman]

Ok. Everyone has their favorite players tone, but how about a specific song so that anyone can "ooh and ah" over it along with you.

 

[R_of_G]

Ok. Everyone has their favorite players tone, but how about a specific song so that anyone can "ooh and ah" over it along with you.

How do you narrow down Bill Frisell to one song. Most of the reason he is at the top of my list is because of his use of tone across his whole body of work. Trust me, if you pick up a Frisell cd or two or a dozen, you won't be disappointed whether you are looking for a specific track or not. That said, allow me to present a short list [a "where to start" for some of the players I metnioned to help anyone who might not know who these people even are].

Bill Frisell - his own "East/West" live double cd is a great intro to Frisell. Anyone interested in hearing him rock his balls off, pick up John Zorn's "Naked City" album.

Marc Ribot - his own "Saints," "Shrek" and "Spiritual Unity" are good places to start. To really hear him unleash tones, try Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" or "Frank's Wild Years" albums.

Timothy Young - pick up any of the three Zony Mash albums.

Jonny Greenwood - any Radiohead album will do, but I personally reccomend either "OK Computer" or finding some live Radiohead to really hear Jonny do his thing.

Sonny Sharrock - his own "Ask the Ages" any "Last Exit" and Miles' "Jack Johnson" album will testify to his greatness.

Vernon Reid - "Other True Self" a great recent album with heavy funk, blues, etc.

Another person people might want to check out is former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus. His guitar work on the Pavement albums is superb, but his "Face the Truth" album from 2005 has some great tunes with amazing tone control.

I think everyone knows who Jimi, Django and Gilmour are so there is no need to cite albums for you all to listen to as they are known tones.

Back to what I was saying earlier for a second, my personal obsession with tone goes far beyond which specific songs have good tone in them. It's got much more to do how they use the nuances of good guitar tone from song to song and across genres. I have heard Bill Frisell play everything from National folk to grindcore, and I can always tell that it's him. Ditto Marc Ribot. To once more make my most often-made point, tone is in the hands of the guitar player, not in the guitars or pedals they use. Plug Frisell into Gilmour's equipment and he will still sound like Frisell [just in a Gilmour-esque way].

With some of these guys you just have to listen to a lot of them to really hear how their tone carries through into whatever they are playing. If anyone hasn't heard of some of these guys, or even heard of them but never listened to, trust me, this is music for guitar players. What I am interested in is knowing which songs/albums stand out to any of you who make the choice to start listening to some of these guys.

Ok, lecture over.

ps. I'm just a little hyped up because I am playing with a friend tonight and we haven't played in a few weeks so I am a little too focused on guitar right now.

 

[Spudman]

How do you narrow down Bill Frisell to one song. What I am interested in is knowing which songs/albums stand out to any of you who make the choice to start listening to some of these guys.

That's what I'm trying to get down to. Just one song that is a great recorded guitar sound from whatever artist. You know, the one song that exemplifies what you think is great tone on a record from that player.

One song is a great place to start discovering other great players.

 

[oldguy]

Bill Nelson w/ BeBopDeluxe... "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" from the album "Live! In the Air Age."

That's one.

 

[abraxas]

One recorded tone that's keep haunting me is that of Greg Koch on "Come and Gone". He has it as a free download on his site, have a listen.

 

[R_of_G]

One recorded tone that's keep haunting me is that of Greg Koch on "Come and Gone". He has it as a free download on his site, have a listen.

Speaking of recorded guitar tones that haunt me, there's Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" as well as Marc Ribot's brilliant cover of the same released on Scorcese's PBS Blues CD.

In response to the post requesting specific songs, I have decided to do just that... here is my short "Greatest Hits of Guitar Tone" with notes of which album to find these versions on. note, it is not in any specific order ...

Duane Allman - Blue Sky [Allman Bros. "Eat a Peach"]
Django Reinhardt - Brazil [1953 version "Peche a la Mouche"]
Bill Frisell - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall ["East/West"]
Marc Ribot - Snake Catcher [John Zorn "The Gift"]
Jonny Greenwood - Lucky [Radiohead "OK Computer"]
Vernon Reid - Flatbush & Church Revisited ["Other True Self"]
Stephen Malkmus - Freeze the Saints ["Face the Truth"]
Jon Madof - Makhom [John Zorn's "Masada Rock"]
Johnny Ramone - The KKK Took My Baby Away [The Ramones "Pleasant Dreams"]
Robbie Robertson - It Makes No Difference [The Band "The Last Waltz"]
Mick Ronson - Starman [David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars"]
George Harrison - Marwa Blues ["Brainwahsed"]
Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun ["Band of Gypsys"]
John McLaughlin - In a Silent Way [Miles Davis "In a Silent Way"]
Sonny Sharrock - Yesternow [Miles Davis "A Tribute to Jack Johnson"]
Pete Cosey - Prelude [Miles Davis "Aghartha"]
Timothy Young - Prudence RSVP [Zony Mash "Cold Spell']
John Fahey - Sunflower River Blues ["Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes"]
Frank Zappa - The Gumbo Variations ["Hot Rats"]
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt - Dhun in Rag Pulu ["Saradamani"]