Comments on: Better Now or Then? – The Tone Survey Results!!!

By: Mike McF

Mike McF — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:24:55 +0000

I disagree. Back in the 60’s/70’s in order to get good quality tone a guitarist had to fork over a good amount of $. Same is today. NO getting around it. The difference is is that today there is 50X more available cheap products.

A good quality hand wired Amp today costs the same in equal value as the AMps of yesterday.

There is also the boutique market. That did not exist in the 60’s/70’s for most part other than Mesa.

By: rg7120

rg7120 — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:20:59 +0000

I think the old amps definitely sound a lot better than the new ones. But a lot of the cheap guitars from the 60s were unplayable. I have one and the action is very high and won’t go lower, can’t adjust intonation, the tuners are cheap and don’t stay in tune, the neck is extremely thick, truss rod isn’t adjustable, frets buzz, looks bad, and sounds bad. If price didn’t matter, then 60s stuff is better. But the best guitars from then were and still are too expensive for most guitarists.

You can find a good Squire cheap that actually sounds good. But the new amps are mostly PCB distortion boxes made in China, and most new tubes (except reissue Tung-Sols) are crap.

By: M.Embree.Smith

M.Embree.Smith — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:10:25 +0000

Most old stuff sounded like drek …

c’mon …
did You play out with a stock Ampeg Reverborocket …??
A Guild thunder 1 ..??

of course not

you modded a marshall, to have a master volume, and put a preamp in front of it

at least I did

By: Carl Jah

Carl Jah — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:07:21 +0000

Very cool idea for a survey. I’ve been playing guitar for “many” years. And over the years I’ve recorded the bands I was in, as well as my solo stuff. The funny thing is, my tone isn’t much different today as it was them. Sure you get better as a player and learn more things, but in general the tone is in your hands and equipment is not as important. I consider myself a modern /classic hard rock player. I incorporate modern sounds with old school styles. Take the best from each decade and add to it. The problem for me with vintage gear is you have to use pedals to get any kind of gain out of a Fender Twin, or a non master volume Marshall. Power attenuators are a great idea, but if your amp doesn’t have enough gain on 10, it won’t help. A modern amp that has more than enough gain is a big help. You can always back off on the gain if needed but it doesn’t work the other way around. Another aspect of tone that wasn’t mentioned is the way our favorite tones we’re recorded. Probably not a computer in sight….haha. I love computer recording with it’s clarity and ease of editing. But those vintage mics and consoles could make a difference. As far as the cheap gear flooding the market…. bring it on! It will just take a bit more time to wade through all of it, but there is probably some good ideas and tone there. I’m not a tube snob either. Most of the amps I own are tube. But whatever works. I have some solid state amps as well as a few modeling and software products. I like it all! A man for all seasons. Thanks.

By: B. Barmes

B. Barmes — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:21:15 +0000

Interesting survey,i have to agree to some degree that tones were better in the golden age but is it as much the equipment or the musician, everything is easier now compared to 40 years ago.The other night i was tuning my guitar via harmonics and fellow stated you don’t see that anymore i never really thought about it but it’s true,the days before tab i would sit an 8 hour day figuring out the Vanhalen’s & Hendrix’s of the world today just about everything is printed somewhere so what took a day maybe an hour now,Tone is a personal thing but great tone whether it be blues jazz or metal or what have you takes a fair bit of tweaking ..some would say the majority is produced by the musicians own hand which i agree is a huge part.if this is the case then maybe the fact that things are much easier may play a huge role.when i say own hand i am including the ears brain everything that contributes to the musicians ability.If one hasn’t experienced trying to figure out pieces of music by ear i think they have been robbed of essential ear training a big part in understanding tone.thanks for your wb site it is very cool.