How to Get Great Guitar Tone

If you play guitar, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as hearing some really great guitar tone. I know there’s a tremendous amount of interest when it comes to gear and playing guitar, especially among church players.

So with that in mind, I’ve compiled just a few things I think guitarists should consider in the never-ending pursuit of good tone. 

1. EQ your rig to sound best with a band

Cranking the bass so that the walls shake when you play rhythm might be fun, but it’s going to sound muddy and overbearing when you’re playing with a full band.  Conversely, your super twangy blackface amp might sound great at home, but at high volumes it might not sound great or sit in the mix well. Finding the right midrange EQ setting is really the key, and though it might sound weird when you’re playing alone or at lower volumes, you have to think in context of the entire group and at stage volume. 

2. Collaborate with your sound engineer

They’re the ones that have the final say on your tone, so if they ask you to make a change you should do it.   If you hear them tweaking your EQ right after you plug in, find out what they did and try to accomplish that on your own.  Ask them after rehearsal or a service if they have any suggestions on how you could fit in the mix better, especially when it comes to EQ.   

3. Listen to your rig through the house

You might love the way your setup sounds at home or even through your monitors, but you’d be surprised how different it may be through a cranked PA system.  Have a friend play through it while you walk around the room.  Also, all that delay and reverb might sound good in monitors but not be so helpful if the room is really live and you’re playing with a large band. 

4. Tone is in the hands, the strings, and the tubes

Before you go out and buy the latest pedal to “improve” your tone, just remember; practicing will always make you sound better, changing your strings will make you sound better, and installing good, fresh tubes will make you sound better. 

5.  Get clean power

What doth it profiteth for a man to have an amazing rig if there’s a nasty hum when it’s mic’d up?  If you run a lot of pedals, always get quality, quiet power supplies, make sure everything in your rig is grounded, and if necessary, use a noise gate. 

6.  Tune, tune, tune, tune, TUNE

What doth it profiteth for a man to have an amazing rig if he’s playing out of tune?  Get a good tuner (I prefer the Turbo Tuner - www.turbo-tuner.com), have your guitar set up well so that the intonation is correct up and down the fretboard, always tune again if you add a capo, always tune UP to pitch, and make sure to stretch your strings whenever you change them.

8.  Strive for consistency

I love to tweak my settings on all my gear and I also love to integrate new stuff into my rig, but the truth is, good tone is hard to find, so once you get it RESIST THE URGE TO CHANGE IT.  (Consistency is one of the benefits of modelers and why a lot of touring bands use speaker emulation for front of house.)  Save your presets, mark the sweet spot where it sounds best to mic your amp, take a picture of your pedal board/guitar/amp settings with your phone, tape stuff down, mark your settings with sharpie, etc. etc.

9.  Don’t get stuck on brands and fads

This is the hardest one on this entire list.  Guitarists have built in “gear acquisition syndrome” (GAS) because so much cool new gear is being released all the time.  I’m not here to preach about consumerism or coveting thy neighbor's latest Delay pedal, I’m just here to help you have good tone. 

The truth is this, there’s tons of professional guitarists that have been making great sounding albums and play professionally that have never kept up with the latest and greatest gear.  I will refer you back to #4, as some things really don’t make much of a difference (like a new pedal) and also to #8, if your rig sounds great, DON’T CHANGE IT.

When it comes to brands, there’s just so much boutique stuff out there but I would say that just because it’s more expensive or hand-made does NOT mean it’s going to be better sounding or better quality.  Some companies can charge less because they mass-produce and some companies are made up of one dude in his garage and he’s going to charge a lot more.  The dude in his garage isn’t always going to make a better product than the well-established company. Also, just because a brand gets popular does not mean it’s better than other well-established brands, everyone just likes to try out or least talk about the latest things.

Finally, It’s important to use your ears and NOT your eyes when it comes to evaluating tone.  Just because something looks cool or you’ve read that it’s cool, does not make it better than something that is not being raved about online. 

In closing, getting good guitar tone is a skill.  You cannot acquire a skill by reading a blog or message board post, a review, or watching a video.  You must practice, you must consistently seek to get a fresh perspective, you must talk with other people who have good tone and you must not be afraid to use what you know works well.