An Important Bookmark For Guitarists

Musicgearsource is a new electric guitar-oriented e-zine that is well worth checking out. The site combines reviews of gear, news and guest colums. In the current edition there is a very helpful piece by Roger Mayer (pictured); technical-guru to Jimi Hendrix and long time effects builder. Amongst his sage words there is a concept that I have often found myself having to explain to guitarists searching for the perfect tone.

“Most guitar players when asked what their favourite guitar player solo is will refer to a specific cut or track from a vinyl album or CD. Very few will refer to a live performance as the experience of relating their joy of hearing their guitar hero live can only be shared by someone who was also there. This may seem obvious but it is highly relevant as almost all reference material available to guitarists is heard through their own sound system at various volume levels in a wide range of surroundings. It is therefore unreasonable to assume that the sound they struggle to emulate can be easily obtained e.g. in their bedroom with a couple of pedals and an amp without any basic understanding of the signal path and knowledge of sound recording techniques. Listen to a CD player plugged into your Hi Fi sound system and then into a guitar amp and you will find a huge difference in sound quality. That is the first basic step in understanding that your favourite tone was produced by a guitar amp then recorded and gone through a complicated mastering process and the final end product be it vinyl or CD produced by a plastic injection moulding machine. This is then played on an electronic system designed to reproduce all sorts of music.”