Re: distortion, overdrive,fuzz,crunch,special sauce, secret goo

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Rainer Straschill wrote:
>> Electric Guitar is the only instrument where "tone" is generally held 
>to come from "gear".
>> For all other instruments "tone" is referred to as an ability of the 
>player.
> 
> Sorry Andy, but I believe you're wrong about that.

well let's not forget that I prefaced that statement with
"It seems to me that:-"

> It is
> well-understood among pianists that e.g. a Bösendorfer sounds
> different (and better) than a cheap Kawai and different (though not
> necessarily better) than a Steinway. 

yes, that's rather obvious.
The "sound" is very different.

I've always heard "tone" being referred to as an ability 
of the pianist, even though the nature of the piano mechanism
would seem at first glance to preclude that. 

> And the same is true for
> trombones (and trombone mouthpieces), saxes (and sax mouthpieces and
> reeds), 

brass players too..
"he can get a great tone out of any reed"...etc

> and don't even start to discuss the "tone" of different
> violins...

...and so many stories about the violinist who could borrow
a student's instrument an still get " his amazing tone"


> 
> The difference with electric guitar with regard to other instruments
> is that tone also comes from gear that is not considered part of the
> instrument (amp, effects).

Doesn't whether the amp/fx is considered part of the instrument depend
on who does the considering?

I think you're right though, that the use of amp/fx has significance
regarding this point.

The difference that I'm referring to is that players of other instruments 
make a more
definite distinction between "sound" of an instrument and "tone" of a 
player.


andy