The most basic set up for an electric guitar sound has to be guitar + amp & that’s all. So why do so few people use just these 2 elements? And why do so many people use so many effects and change their equipment so often? With only a standard issue of 2 arms & one brain, why do we often own so many guitars and amps?
Of course there can be many reasons for all these things. We have to develop our sounds and discover what suits us best. That can take many years. And also of course a lot of people are looking for more than just one sound.
I’m not one of those people. For me whether it was just in my imagination or otherwise, I have sought one sound for my whole playing life. That sound “in my head”. Perhaps “in my soul” if you’ll allow me the deeper suggestion, without qualifying too deeply what it could mean.
It was just a fact of chance that I was born at what could be seen as the crossroads between the end of the great jazz era and the beginning of the great singer-songwriter era. And the guitar tones, playing styles & musical choices of several players from these eras, has always defined my personal search for tone. A single tone for my musical journey.
The theory for me is there is a sound that, when mixed with the right harmonies and rhythms, just pulls music out from deep inside and engenders a sense of peace, contentment, harmony, excitement. All mixed together and weighted to suit any environment. It was never my aim to sound like anyone else. It was my aim just to be myself and seek what elements suit that best.
The great jazz guitarists are very distinctive in their sounds: The sweet and complete tone of Jim Hall, the more harsh but playful sound of Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery’s beautiful thumb generated octave sound. Then some session players. Danny Kortchmar with Jackson Browne & James Taylor, Roger McGuinn using electric 12 string guitars in The Byrds.
Then there is the equipment they all used. Or the lack of equipment. As for me these sounds are generated from a guitar and an amp. And mostly valve amps.
So what happens after the exploration finishes? Or is there is a level reached when no more is needed other than to use what we have? After all the great players particularly in the jazz era, had a single pickup guitar and a valve amp and precious little else. Apart from fingers and a strong sense of tone and arranging skills.
I don’t believe that exploring music ever finishes. But I do believe that finding one’s tone is a holy grail. And it usually makes most things musically take on a new & more complete clarity. Perhaps it always was in my imagination. But that search has made my career in music function for around 50 years so far. It brings me peace, helps me to understand myself, others and the world around us.
And musically it has a simplicity that has been hard won but worth every tiny step or large leap. It’s so much easier to make music when there is a simple tone one knows and respects. The music pretty much then makes itself. That is the joy and the pain of music & the physical love of playing the guitar. For me at least.