Tone...Food...
Pretty subjective things in life. One persons killer tone will inevitably be hated by someone with a different idea of what killer tone should be. It's the same in the F&B business. A dish I feel that has it all will be missing something to someone...you can count on that! I have learned, at times the hard way, there is no one recipe for killer tone or one way a dish should be.
That being said I have also learned, again at times the hard way, there is a basic recipe one must follow to achieve success. Once the basic's are covered, it's time to add your own flavors to the mix.
Start with the obvious: A guitar of your taste that will stay in tune! If it won't do that simple task do what ever it takes to get to stay in tune. Sounds simple enough but I have played with a number of players that ignore the fact there instrument won't stay in tune and spend wasted time and musical energy trying to just finish the song all the while turning the pegs and stomping on whatever tuner they bring. If they have one...but that's another day. Then in between songs the audience is subjected to "twang ding ding twang" as they finish tuning up. Don't know about you but that drives me crazy!
Next in the recipe is a well made cable. Again sounds simple but........... how many folks do you know who just walk in and buy whatever is the cheapest cable? And don't get me started on those 6 for $5.00 patch cables!!! There are many good cable companies around these days that don't cost much more than the cheapies at your music store and are all over the internet. You can log on to the Harmony Central Effects Forum and find some outstanding handmade cables at very good prices. A good cable make a HUGE difference. Don't overlook this important ingredient. All part of the recipe.
Now the BIG ONE...Your amp. This is a tough call. So many amps...so many styles...so many speakers. Lots of different voices out there to choose from. I have played allot of amps in my 50 years on this Earth, but the one's that have fit my taste and style thru the years are Mesa Boogies. I bought my first Mesa from Randall and his wife in 1974. You could only call on Wednesday to order your amp. Good stuff. I am still using that amp to this day. I'm lucky in the sense that I found my sound early and could stick with it. Obviously you will need an amp to match your style...don't buy a JC120 and try and play Black Metal...may not work out well for you. I do think allot of people buy amps with way too much power and wonder why they can't get it to overdrive at reasonable volumes and then blame the amp. I have been using an 18 watt amp at almost all my gigs and am plenty loud and the tubes are working for me. The big boys of tone are getting most if not all there tone from the amp doing it's job. Adding pedals to the mix is a great way to add some "spice" to the recipe. But if your base recipe isn't there all the Spice" in the world isn't going to fix it.
More on pedals next time.
Here is the first Basic Recipe:
Cut 1/4 cup of celery, carrots and onions into 1/4" dice.
Add 1Tbls oil to a 4 quart saucepan and slowly cook the vegetables over medium heat till soft...Do Not Brown.
Add 2- 28 oz cans of peeled whole Italian tomatoes and 1 stick of unsalted butter.
Bring to a slow simmer and cook for about 1 hour. Stir every 5-10 minutes so the tomatoes won't stick to the bottom and burn.
At this point you have a "Basic" tomato sauce.
You can put it in a food processor..in small batches..and puree it. Add kosher salt, red pepper flakes fresh ground pepper and fresh chopped basil and serve with any pasta.
You can puree it like above and strain it. Toss the solids, and use the liquid as a wonderful soup base. Add kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and a small amount of sour cream at the end. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and basil on top.