tone and why I aint got any

I need some help here before I go postal. When I play my guitar (which has new slinkys and is tuned to concert pitch) it sounds flat. When someone else who has been playing a lot longer ( one guy has a fusion jazz band the other was giving me lessons) it sounds terrific. I'm playing the same notes but the sound is dead, no ring no sing and Im getting p-ssed. Anyone have any ideas?? Dont say buy some gizmo either. If you aint got tone with just the guitar and amp no pedal is going to give it to you.
Dave

What kinda guitar and amp do you have?

Hi Elmo,
Well, thats kind of part of why Im so jerked. I have an Epiphone Les Paul and a Vox Pathfinder amp. I know the amp is nothing to get excited about, so I've played through 2 different Peaveys and a Crate, and yup I sound sorta dead through all of them. As for my guitar, the guy who has the jazz band said he would love to use my guitar on his next cd so Im thinking the guitar is just fine. In fact this guy is also a luthier and gave it a good going over and said that it was fine. The guy I was taking lessons from said not to worry, just give it time and the tone will come. My problem is this: whats the difference between me fretting a note and someone else fretting the same note??? Dont tell me my fingers are acoustically dead lol.
Thanks for your interest and any ideas you come up with
Dave

I've seen people (mostly beginners) on other forums that have gotten what thier favorite players have(guitars, pedals amps, etc.) and then post 'cause they sound nothing like them!
I hear those Blues guys say how they can pick up any guitar, I've seen B.B. do it with a Telecaster!, and still get thier sound with it. They say thier tone is in thier fingers.
When I first started I was the same way. Don't fret(pun intended) you'll be amazed when one day out of the blue you start to see it.
I own an Epi LP Std., so it's not your guitar.

Is it possible that you're pressing the string too lightly, or too close to the fret? Either condition, or both together will tend to damp out the string's vibration, killing the sound. These errors can be compounded if you cradle the back of the neck in the web between your thumb and forefinger, because you tend to pull the strings down instead of pressing them onto the fretboard.

Try moving your fingertip to a point almost halfway back to the next lower fret, with your thumb on the back of the neck. Make sure you're pressing the string right down to the fretboard. Then pluck the string, and quickly roll your fingertip back and forth along the string, keeping the pressure on. You should find that ringing tone you seek.

Find the combination of location and pressure that sounds best to you. Then work on getting that combination at each finger of your chord formations, without the vibrato.

Don't get p_ssed... get better.

Elmo and Lord,
THanks for the encouragement and the ideas to try. As a matter of fact I probably do press to hard even though I try not to. I'll work on that. I agree Elmo that its not the guitar, its something Im doing. My teacher has a fine old Gibson, and when I played it I sounded flat and he just wailed on mine so its not that. By the way Lord, I really love the blues and Im gonna need a good vibrato but I need tone worst and first. Again thanks a lot guys for taking the time to reply.
Dave

well, tone has to do with everything you do...playing for a long time or however long you think long is you will develope what you want. I developed Kirk Hammett and his tones and sound etc... but now I want to explore Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, and Yngwie Malmsteen. I have not been playing there music for long so I wouldn't expect there tone. I rememberd once I tuned my studio processor like megadeth, and when I got better at playing there music, my effect sounded totally dead. I couldn't figure out why it sucked the first time.

I use to play on a little peavey amp with a preavey guitar. You would be surprised what I got out of that thing. I now own a ESP M-2 with EMG-81, a epiphone flying-v rare white, & the peavey. all through a marshall stack. valvestate. With a digitech DSP 256XL rack. Sometime that thing sounds great others I wish I had better.

Yes the guitar has to do with the tone...everything is a factor. guitar as in they have different pickups. But they all sound the same if you pick the same. My EMG-81 can really rip out the notes, but if you don't pick them right and don't give them the first boost they sound like a normal pickup.

Try working on harmonic that has a lot to do with tone. as far as fretting, you can fret a note all the hard or soft you want... to soft it won't be a note and to hard will hurt you fingers... picking it soft with gain is usually the best. That is a hint of getting harmonics. Try differnet things...

Yeah I can make any guitar sound good. Even a kid guitar with plactic strings... you can to, to the people who aren't as good as you.

anyways... there you have it

o yeah I may add,

my flying v epiphone has the awsomist sound. It has on blues toned pickups. Stronger one on the next. mixed with the ting and sustain of that guitar... because I have a mirror as a pickguard...I may recomend it to all. Plus you can reflect light at people while you are playing.

what kind of pots does you guitar have I have one with 500k and another with 600k my EMG has active. get some good ones and mess with the tones after that.

Dude,

I hear ya. It isn't the axe your playing or the strings etc... Yes, true tone comes from your heart, fingers, blah blah blah, etc...more like "true feel". One thing that I would suggest to you is to maybe try using a different size pick.

For example, using a heavy pick on an acoustic sounds like dirt compared to a medium or thin. You get a much more melodic, welcomed sound with a lighter pick-less punchy and much more musical sounding-(to me at least). Try messing with different size picks. See if it helps.

Also, remember to "warm up" before you actually start plucking away at notes. Strum a few chords etc... get things moving, get the blood moving, etc...

Good luck bro and don't get stressed out, everyone goes through these things. One time my ex-girl through my TS-808 tube screamer at me =)

PEACE!
-JP

Have you considered that it might be your phrasing? For example, I was once trying to teach a roommate to play (he was a total beginner) and I kept telling him, "Don't think in terms of this note, now this note, now that one over there. Try to SAY something with your guitar." Try taking a riff that's two or three notes and PLAY it, don't practice it. Maybe try "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. Once it sounds like the original, then you can move on to more complicated things. I hope this helps.

Greetings.
I havent' read the other posts so I hope I don't repeat info. You may be playing too heavy handed. if you're not comfortable with your chords or you're not sure of what you're doing while improvising you left hand fingering may uncosiously be gripping the neck or fingering the frets harder than needs to be. I've found over the years that my left hand has a much lighter touch now than ever before. you can give sustained notes some shake and vibrato to give the sound some depth. Even chords can be given a nice slow shake but not if you have a white knucked death grib on the neck. i guess the key is to be relaxed and that only comes with time and practice. Hope this helps.

hey man dont be afraid of trying to improve your tone with effects and amp settings. if you are playing with settings that sound like the bands you are playing along to, it is easier for you to subconsciously imitate the little things like vibrato. you will subconsciously make it sound good if you can kind of 'let go' and forget about tone it will happen. then you can take away all your effects and the tone will stay with you.

oh hey, thought of something else. something HUGE. the way i hold the pick and play the string with it makes all the difference in the world as far as tone goes. my fav way of holding the pick (i use heavy gauge pick) is i squeeze the tip of it with my pointer finger and thumb leaving about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch of pick sticking out depending on whether or not, and how much i want to touch the string(s) with my thumb. experimenting with 'thumb squeels' can really help your tone. also, on the pick hand side of things, where you play the strings in relation to the pickups also makes a big difference in the warmth of the tone. anyway, goodluck with it man, im still tryin to figure it out myself ;D

I have found that the greatest tone in the world comes somewhere between your fingers and your soul. The way you touch the strings, the way you grip the neck are the greatest facters to one's tone. I can pick up any guitar and when I play it, my tone, my voice and my soul shine through. Now I don't want to come across as some spaced out guitar guru, what I'm trying to say is be yourself. Alot of people I have taught that have had tone troubles had problems because they were trying to recreate some one else's tone, and not trying to find there own voice. That is easy to fall into, we all have our heroes. That maybe the trouble the may not be the problem. Other factor's in the tone is the cables, they can wear in little time and muddy up your sound. So then again it could be beat up cables. Another thing to do could be clean up your amp a little, spray some electro-dust gunk out in there and clean it out. Check your guitar out make sure all points on the guitar that has contact with the strings are solidly in place and everything is fastened down tightly. Sometimes rolling the sound on the guitar back a little will add to a beefer tone, I know that if you roll the sound back on a tele you can find a special spot and make it sound like a les paul. The only other thing I could say would be play very smooth it can add to a warm tone if your not getting to choppy. I hope you have luck with your problem.

Good food for thought there Raymond.