1 Pick Out a Winner
Many underestimate just how much their choice of pick affects
their tone.
Not so with jazz legend Jimi Hall, who carries a pocket full of
them in
different gauges: light ones for strumming, heavier ones for
single note
picking. Indeed, switching from a medium to a heavy pick, while
requiring
an adjustment of technique, can do as much as to thicken your tone
as
installing a humbucker in the place of a single-coil pickup.
(Meanwhile, opting for a light-gauge pick on a strummed acoustic in a
band
setting well help the part sit better in the mix.) And you can't
complain
about the cost-there's no cheaper way to change your tone.
2 String for Your Style
Strings come in flavors as well as gauges. If you're seeking a
classic jazz sound, flat-or half-rounds will get you close to it without
to spring for an arch-top. And if you want to sound like Stevie Ray
Vaughan, .009s ain't going to cut it-try using at least .011s. You'll also
want to tune down a half step, not only to further deepen your tone but
also to ease the added string tension that come with bumping up your
gauge.
3 Learn to Unwind
If you play really loud or with gobs of gain, stay away from over
wound pickups-they'll only muddy your sound. A lower-output pickup, on the
other hand, will help maintain clarity while the volume and gain, or both,
supply all the girth and sustain you need. The greatest rock tones of all
time-including Eddie Van Halen's "brown" sound were created with
relatively weak pickups.
4 Go Wireless
In other words practice without plugging in. The reason being, you want to
make sure you're not using the mask of high gain to cover sloppy or uneven
playing. Try to get the best sound possible out of your instrument before
you plug in, with just your fingers, and the rest will follow.
5 Speaker Up
Perhaps you like the way your old combo feels when you play, but just
aren't crazy about its tone. Well, before you trade it in for a new one,
first consider changing its speakers. A more efficient speaker model can
make a huge difference: in addition to taming nasty high end or beefing up
the lows, it can actually make your amp louder.
