Proof that tone is in the hands...

enharmonic

Hey guitar players,

Did any of you catch the mighty Peter Townsend yesterday...Fender Strat through Fender amp...rip your face off Townsend tone regardless.

Makes you wonder how much the gear really matters 'eh?



I offer that that guitar through that amp can only sound that way in the hands of Pete Townsend. I've made an SG/Hiwatt give up the goods, but I'd bet you a case of your favorite brew that I couldn't do it with a strat and a Fender amp...and neither could you

Hitch-Hiker

You are correct of course. Pete Townsend could make an out-of-tune milk-carton-ukelele sound like a strat forged by the hands of Jesus.

electronblue

..you made me drop my apple...~

KillerIsMe

ive been playing an ibanez starter guitar lately (because my main guitar is in the process of getting new electronics in that i dont have time to wire up) into my getup (phase 90 - mesa bottle rocket - fender super twin) and i still get rediculous tone.

digster

i do agree that tone is mostly in the fingers...but Townsend did have some help. You can see him stomping on some pedals throughout the performance...it's no big deal, he had a fuzz box back in the 60's.

Pacomc79

the 25 DB mid boost helps a bit and the clean tone from the Vibro King is a phenominal platform, but yeah, it's Pete, he could probably make a BC Rich sound like that.

who's_pearljam?

:cool:

Townshend never ceases to amaze me. Was he "on" or what!? His timing is incredible, too! Even his leads were smoking.

I love the tone he had yesterday, sort of telecaster through a Marshall grind, but with a Strat. I did see a Marshall head sticking up somewhere behind the Fenders, I don't know what it was hooked up to, though,,,but you are saying something I've preached for years and years of playing, Enharmonic,,,,,,, The Hands! (And of course, in Townshend's case, "turn it up to eleven!" and play with "in control, but still wreckless abandon" )

We opened for Santana on a tour years ago, and I remember him warming up backstage with some sort of cheap electric, through a cheap amp that was laying around,,, and he STILL sounded like Carlos.

Same with Zappa, him on anything sounded like Zappa, with his whacko picking style. His picking hand looked like a chicken head pecking at the ground for food!

digster

who's_pearljam? wrote:

:cool:

Townshend never ceases to amaze me. Was he "on" or what!? His timing is incredible, too! Even his leads were smoking.

I think it really helps if you have a playing style that is entirely unique. Pete, for example, has a way of playing guitar that is all his own, so really no matter what he is playing on or through, it will still have that flair. I think alot of great guitarists, be it Hendrix or maybe more modern players like Peter Buck from REM, Sonic Youth, or Carrie Brownstein; whether technicially proficient or not, I think it really helps to have a playing style that is entirely your own.

Pearl Jam and toast

unique tone and style: Johnny Greenwood (radiohead)

Mike has a pretty unique tone too. not that its complicated or extremely unique but ive never heard a guitar player play that fast and hard and loud but keep that creamy warm round tone. (Zach wylde needs a lesson from Mike)

Townshend could stretch a rubber band out and pluck it with his thumb and it would sound amazing.

i love the loose, twangy sound he has.

Dirty_Frank

A lot of people look for the elusive Brown sound. I say it doesn't exist for anyone else but Van Halen. Only he can get it because it's in his hands.