Glossary of guitar tone descriptor

[Ventura]

Right.

Organic and hi-fi.

Djent

And V, you like 'industrial' as well. Regarding the Hagen? I can't remember.

Well now, these are "styles" of music, not necessarily "descriptors" of "tone". So for the record, indeed, the Hagen does Ministry without a problem. Ministry is considered "industrial" metal.

I don't understand the majority of the crap people say. Even something as common as "warm" has absolutely no meaning to me. I'm guessing it means middy, but I really have no clue.

Yeah. Like Dry. I think dry is somehow the opposite of warm. I guess you wouldn't say wet.

I think of Fryette D60 as a dry. Bogner 101B as the opposite of "dry", which, surprisingly, isn't "wet", but "chewy". And I have described some Bogner tones to be "syrupy".

Hey, at the end of the day, we're all trying to impart or convey what it is we hear with our ears, on a public forum or face-to-face with individuals. There is something to this lexicon, as I think I'd be looked at pretty cockeyed if I walked into a booteek amp shop and asked for "something rich and warm, with a glassy sparkle clean...you know, like a JCM800".

 

[Ventura]

I don't understand the majority of the crap people say. Even something as common as "warm" has absolutely no meaning to me. I'm guessing it means middy, but I really have no clue.

Yeah. Like Dry. I think dry is somehow the opposite of warm. I guess you wouldn't say wet.

It's all subjective but, to me a Dry sound would be the opposite of a saturated sound.
for example a VHT/Fryette UL vs Mesa boogie dual rectifier

Hey, that's what I was looking for!!! The word escaped me as I was typing my last post....

 

[hellaboogie]

I don't understand the majority of the crap people say. Even something as common as "warm" has absolutely no meaning to me. I'm guessing it means middy, but I really have no clue.

Yeah. Like Dry. I think dry is somehow the opposite of warm. I guess you wouldn't say wet.

It's all subjective but, to me a Dry sound would be the opposite of a saturated sound.
for example a VHT/Fryette vs Mesa boogie dual rectifier

Hey, that's what I was looking for!!! The word escaped me as I was typing my last post....

Cool, how would you describe Kerrang, I seen it in your list, another I'm not familiar with

 

[Heritage Softail]

Hey ya know, it's all part of that guitar player sub culture.

 

[Ventura]

Kerrang? A newer Marshall style tone with a metallic sheen to it.

I one time heard/watched a clip of a fellow forumite here playing his new Fortin Bones. I think he was playing it in his garage or something, maybe a year or two ago. It was just pure "kerrang". But of a metal-bell ring to it, raw, super crunched out.

Just whipped through some YT clips. This isn't the best by any stretch, but the KERRANG is evident at 0:03, 0:07, and 0:09. That's "kerrang", and as mentioned, I am certain there are WAY better quality samples of this "tone" but this one gets the point across.

The chords played in the beginning of this clip have "kerrang":

 

[Ventura]

2:58 to 3:10, prime examples of "kerrang":

 

[petejt]

Not bad!


We need a proper definition for "3D" as well.


To me "3D" is a very wide, but solid sound. It has a lot of Depth. It envelopes you. It's the full frequency range, rather than just focused in the mids, or trebles, or bass.

 

[rockify]

Love this thread..lets not forget "spongy"

 

[rupe]

No "boxy"?

I'm really beginning to hate all of these meaningless descriptors...especially as they seem to change over the years (see "quack" above...traditionally that was always 2&4 on a Strat...now being used to describe dominant midrange as well??? That's "honk"! ).

Good call on organic...probably the worst tone descriptor ever (unless your gear was grown with no pesticides or chemical fertilizers I suppose).

 

[hellaboogie]

Kerrang? A newer Marshall style tone with a metallic sheen to it.

I one time heard/watched a clip of a fellow forumite here playing his new Fortin Bones. I think he was playing it in his garage or something, maybe a year or two ago. It was just pure "kerrang". But of a metal-bell ring to it, raw, super crunched out.

Just whipped through some YT clips. This isn't the best by any stretch, but the KERRANG is evident at 0:03, 0:07, and 0:09. That's "kerrang", and as mentioned, I am certain there are WAY better quality samples of this "tone" but this one gets the point across.

The chords played in the beginning of this clip have "kerrang":

That's what I'm talking about, Thanks

 

[Ventura]

We need a proper definition for "3D" as well.

That one's a toughie...

No "boxy"?


I'm really beginning to hate all of these meaningless descriptors...especially as they seem to change over the years (see "quack" above...traditionally that was always 2&4 on a Strat...now being used to describe dominant midrange as well??? That's "honk"! ).

Good call on organic...probably the worst tone descriptor ever (unless your gear was grown with no pesticides or chemical fertilizers I suppose).

Honk, yes. Quack? Only related to strats 2 + 4 positions, as well as halfcocked wahs left in that position for playing a la Mark Knopfler.

Organic is the opposite of hi-fi. I get it. Doesn't irk me

 

[Heritage Softail]

Oh yeah, then there is the pissed off tone. The angry Mesa tone. Did you get burn? That edge of breakup tone.

 

[Anonymous]

this almost SAYS KERRANG to me...
1:52 or so.

 

[Anonymous]

i didn't see any "crunch" in that glossary either!

 

[JTyson]

this almost SAYS KERRANG to me...
1:52 or so.

This vid was always amazing to me, I know Carl's a total pro, but the cali in this vid sounds more fluid and slightly more compressed (in a good way!)
than a lot of the cali clips I've heard. I think the early cali's were slightly different in the amount of open rawness they had. Anyone else hear that? Maybe the smallbox MKII heads had different trannies? For some reason the gain structure sounds different.
Just an observation...

 

[Ventura]

i didn't see any "crunch" in that glossary either!

Crunch and Kerrang are siblings. Can't typically have one without the other, albeit "kerrang" can be a bit more compressed and overdriven with giving up that "smacking off a concrete/metal wall" sound.

this almost SAYS KERRANG to me...
1:52 or so.

This vid was always amazing to me, I know Carl's a total pro, but the cali in this vid sounds more fluid and slightly more compressed (in a good way!)
than a lot of the cali clips I've heard. I think the early cali's were slightly different in the amount of open rawness they had. Anyone else hear that? Maybe the smallbox MKII heads had different trannies? For some reason the gain structure sounds different.
Just an observation...

Ya, this isn't as raw a "kerrang" as there is available. I'll get back to looking for some clips on "kerrang".

 

[MotoSolo]

Nice, I'm bookmarking that for when I need to explain it to someone else. Thanks!

 

[Ventura]

C'mon, this one's too good to Page2 it within 24 hours

 

[Ventura]

Oh yeah, then there is the pissed off tone. The angry Mesa tone. Did you get burn? That edge of breakup tone.

Ever see Cantrell's Marshall/modded heads?

One's labeled "ANGRY" the other labeled "PISSED"

 

[petejt]

No "boxy"?

I'm really beginning to hate all of these meaningless descriptors...especially as they seem to change over the years (see "quack" above...traditionally that was always 2&4 on a Strat...now being used to describe dominant midrange as well??? That's "honk"! ).

To me, "boxy", "quack", and "honky" are all very similar- basically different types of a boosted midrange and related to the "cocked wah-wah" sound.
And a fourth one is "squawk".

"Boxy" is a broad increase in the central midrange and lower mids, where it sounds a little bit muddy (240Hz) and murky (400Hz) , and the upper mids/trebles are dull. All that's left is this pushed up midrange around 300Hz-800Hz, like a bell curve.

"Honky" has more pushed up central midrange and some upper mids (which add that nasal "honk" and less mud on the lower mids.
I guess from 500Hz to 900Hz? The 'Rockman Frequency' lives around here.

"Quack" is similar to "Squawk"- a very spiked central upper midrange, like a steep bell curve. Say 1khz-1.2kHz? The bass and lower mids are minimal, while the upper mids are accentuated. The treble range is not as dulled/attenuated as "boxy" and "honk", which what makes these particular descriptors sound a bit harsh.




The way I perceive most of these terms, is that they are ways to describe the frequencies that are prominent and/or diminished.



Descriptions like "crunch"- to me that's more of a distortion texture than a tone description. It would be classified with "sizzle", "viscious", "sharp", "soggy", "burpy", "fizz", "fuzz", "chunk", "chug", "roar", "bellow", "grunt", "growl", "chewy", "creamy", "buttery", "smooth", "dry", "baked", "rattle", "buzzy"...