I've been wishing there were some videos that would help newbies like me better appreciate how the different tone descriptors (e.g., fat, twangy, smooth, etc.) match up with different tones. Being able to use words to describe tones is very helpful but not terribly meaningful unless everyone agrees more-or-less on what the adjectives mean (kind of like "warm" vs "cold" colors, and is my color red the same as your color red). I've been accumulating a list of descriptors that I've heard people use (mostly in youtube videos):
Glassiness, Girth, Warm, sweet, Fat, Thick, thin, Chime, Bell-like, Warm crunch, Buttery, Tight, Bright, Round, Crisp, Aggressive, Woody, Mellow, beefy, Wooly, Definition, Smooth, Full,, Harmonically Rich, Clear, articulated, twangy, Muddy, Brittle, Clangy, Jangly.
Yesterday I found a helpful video that does exactly what I had been looking for, at least for a subset of these adjectives. I currently own an acoustic but will be getting an electric sometime over the next few months and know what kind of tones I'm looking for. One is the sound described in the aforementioned video (at 2:01) as "buttery." It is similar to my ears but somewhat different to "round" (at 1:24) and "smooth" (at 3:01) even though the guitars and pickups are different. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to achieve that "buttery" sound. [u]Is getting that tone going to depend more on a particular type of guitar or amp type, guitar or amp setting, EQ or other pedals, pickup? [/u]
I had more-or-less planned on getting a Strat (for a different sort of tone) and was surprised to see that the "buttery" tone on this video emanated from a single coil guitar that to me looks like a Strat. I say surprised because that is definitely not the sound I associate with a Strat (I note that the other two sounds I liked on this video that were similar to my ear were on a different guitar so maybe the guitar/pickup is not that critical of a factor). But anyway, if I can kill two birds with one guitar, great. Not sure and curious if and how I would get that type of sound on a Strat (or if I should rethink my guitar purchase). Please advise.
Thanks
