Improve Your Electric and Acoustic Guitar Tone At Home (Expert Interview)

##Let’s start with the basics. What do we mean when we talk about a guitar’s “tone”? Dylan: Guitar tone is essentially just the sound that’s heard when you play the guitar and the quality of that sound. Pitches or notes give us the colors but tone shades them into a painting. A specific tone can be an incredibly powerful element of guitar playing and can point to a specific time and place or conjure images in the the mind’s eye. A fuzzy, overdriven tone might make you think of punk rockers in leather jackets, or a reverb-drenched guitar tone might make you think of surfing the waves. All this and more means guitar tone is REALLY important!

##What are some factors that affect the tone of the guitar?

Dylan: Just about everything affects the tone of a guitar! The type of wood used to make the guitar, the string gauge, the pickups, the amp, the way the guitarist plucks a string...even cable length can affect tone! However most of these factors only result in very minor changes in tone. If you’re playing at home the biggest factors are probably the type of guitar and amp you are using.

##How can I easily improve my tone at home?

Dylan: There’s a lot you can do at home to quickly and easily improve your tone. Changing your strings if they haven’t been changed for a while can help dramatically. Most guitars & amps have tone and volume knobs that allow you to change your tone quite easily. Adding effects such as reverb or overdrive can have a huge impact on your tone as well. If you have a Mustang amp, you have a ton of options to easily change up your tone by choosing from a wide range of amps, effects, or by using one of the thousands of tone presets now available.

Try Fender Play today, you can get 3 months of unlimited access free no credit card required.

##What are tone presets, and how are they created?

Dylan: Presets are basically just pre-determined settings that we’ve uploaded that you can download onto your Mustang amp. When you plug in, these settings will allow you to get you as close as possible to your favorite guitar tones at home!

To create presets, we isolate the guitar tone that is being recreated. Next, we’ll select the amplifier that best accommodates the character of that tone (this is where spending time listening to the various amp settings available in a Mustang pays off!). Then we’ll add any modulation effects if necessary, such as chorus or flange, and finally we add any time-based effects like reverb & delay. Each preset is meticulously adjusted to try to get you as close as possible to the original tone!

##What if I play an acoustic? Can I adjust my tone at all?

Dylan: Absolutely! If you play an acoustic you can still adjust your tone at home in many ways. What you use to strum or pluck your guitar has a HUGE effect on your acoustic guitar tone (ex. fingers vs pick) . Where you strum the guitar also makes a difference - for instance try strumming closer to the bridge and you’ll notice a much sharper, twangier tone. Even something as simple as the room you play in makes a difference. Try playing in your bathroom and then play in your bedroom and you’ll hear big tone changes. And if you really want to take your tone to new dimensions, you can try amplifying your acoustic and adding some affects!

##What do you think is the value of having a similar sounding tone to your favorite songs?

Dylan: Sometimes players can get discouraged when they don’t sound like the song they are trying to play. Hearing your guitar tone sound like that of your favorite artist or song while you play their riffs is a magical and inspiring experience!

##What do you think the most important thing to keep in mind when working on your tone?

Dylan: Use your ears! Just as your nose tells you about food, your ears tell you about sound. Aspire to recreate the guitar tones of your favorite players then use what you learn to create YOUR sound. And because your ears are different than the next players, go with what inspires you and keeps you playing!