Guitar Signiture...

[Chipchopper]

What is it that gives a great musician the distinctive and unique sound ?.
Is it the quality of the instrument, the talent of the player, the way its tuned or something more ?

[Samuraisan]

Talent of the player primarily I think. And then the quality of his instrument .

[The Builder]

For an electric guitar, it involves just about everything. The guitar player in my band has a Fender Stratocaster, but has even changed the pickups to get his preferred sound. How they're wired is what matters (in the coils.)

He also uses a custom made American Carr amplifier with the obligatory glass tubular valves instead of solid state (transistor) circuitry.

Another factor is whether the guitar has active or passive wiring. (Active needs a battery to power the circuitry.)

Then there are the strings....... wirewound, flatwound, or a combination of both. Also, hollow or solid body for the guitar itself.

Acoustics can be large, Country style (Gibson Jumbo, Martin, Takamine etc etc), or classical Spanish types.......... steel or nylon strings etc.

Then you have the player himself... and everyone has their own style.

I've seen Pro, Jazz players pick up a cheap student model and get a terrific sound from it. Something a student couldn't get anywhere near.

It's a case of taking all these parameters and combining them. Literally thousands of combinations.

With Rock guitarists, the preference is usually for "old-fashioned" valve amps such as Marshalls.

[Ken4155]

As a follower of Black Sabbath in my youth - and far, far beyond - i remember reading that guitarist Tony Iomi's distinct sound came as a result of losing 2 finger-tips in a works accident. Having made thimbles from melted down plastic bottle necks, he found that he had to loosen the strings in order to bend them. This created Sabbath's unique 'heavy' sound.

[The Builder]

That reminds me, Ken. In the "old days" before light gauge strings came along, it was normal to throw away the 6th (thickest) string, and use 5th,4th,3rd,second, and two top strings.

Bent easily, but a real bummer to keep in tune ;o)

[Ken4155]

I believe Iomi replaced his guitar strings with banjo strings for a while because they were easier to manipulate with his plastic finger 'extensions'. Just think, if it weren't for that accident, Sabbath would probably have been just another 'run of the mill' band and Ozzy would still have been barefoot:-)

[Chipchopper]

Thanks guys, I thought there must be a whole bunch of other reasons. beyond what I understood.
Then Theirs Sea Sick Steve who gets some amazing sounds from 3 strings, an old hub cap and a piece of scrap wood.
Not to forget Ray Davis who apparently slashed his amps with a Stanley knife to achieve the sound he was after.

[Ken4155]

With all today's technology available, I often wonder just what sort of sounds Hendrix would be producing were he alive?

[Zacs-Master]

I think he probably slashed his speakers rather than the amps. Silly little things like using the serrated grip part of the plectrum to get a grittier sound can alter your whole sound. I used to use a filed down sixpence to get a nice clean sound for solos on ballads.

[The Builder]

Interestingly, there's some debate about Seasick Steve's setup. He lives down here in Devon now, and is a friend of local guitar maker/repairer Hugh Manson, who makes guitars for Jimmy Page, amongst others.

I have a feeling that S/Steve's sound may well be more "calculated" than previously thought.

No matter though. It still works :o)

[The Builder]

One of my favourite "dinner" stories is about the time I lent Brian May my Strat for a gig (years ago, just before Queen.)

It came back with a million scratch marks on it. Brian used a sixpence too. :o)

[Zacs-Master]

Also, you can now get effects pedals onto which you can download thousands of sounds so, if you like the sound on Van Halen's running with the devil for instance, you can simply download a plug-in which gives that (almost) exact same sound, depending on your set up.

[Zacs-Master]

TB, your right I had forgotten that but it was probably what inspired me. I'm talking about 25 years since I played seriously.

[jno]

there's some familial dispute over which Davies slashed what

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/kinks-you-really-got-me-guitar/

[The Builder]

Ha........ never give up completely, Zacs :o)

Yes, I'd forgotten about all the pedals today. Ken mentioned Jimi Hendrix. I think that all he had was a Wah-Wah back then.

A friend once told me another story about Brian May. He was in the audience and Brian asked the crowd if anyone could lend him a sixpence, as he didn't have one on him.

The chap coughed up, but, after the gig, Brian forgot to return it! He's now proud of the fact that Brian May owes him money :o)

[The Builder]

Not much love lost between the Davies brothers even today, Jno

[Zacs-Master]

TB. Hendrix, like SSSteve, had a few bits of help:
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-roger-mayer-secrets-jimi-hendrixs-guitar-setup

[The Builder]

Thanks for that, Zacs. I didn't know any of that. Fascinating stuff.

Incidentally, I bought a second hand Strat back in the early 70s in Shaftesbury Avenue (Rose Morris & Co.)

They told me it was one of Jimi's............. Hmmmm?

Yeah, right ................ (as they say)

[Zacs-Master]

was it slightly scorched?

[The Builder]

Haha, no, not at all. Suspicious eh?

[ladybirder]

I believe when Brian May was a teenager his dad made him a guitar which he still uses today, the one he played GSTQ on from the roof of Buckingham Palace.