What makes good guitar tone? Eye-opening video 😮

TimRussell

@qryss said:

@Telefunky said:
String gauge an material does matter a lot

I'd be interested if you can find any experiments that verify that statement. There are many that appear to refute it.

Not sure if using nickel vs steel strings makes a huge difference (many people say it does) but string construction definitely makes a huge difference, especially roundwound vs flatwound. This is undeniable
I can certainly believe that different materials could make a difference since different metals have different magnetic properties and different densities, thereby interacting differently with the electromagnetic field generated by the pickups.

cian

@michael_m said:

@TimRussell said:

@Tarekith said:
I remember reading and Eric Johnson interview where he was adamant he could tell the difference in tone between two different battery brands in his pedals. So there’s that. 😂

Not sure if it was different brands but different types of battery (mainly carbon zinc Vs alkaline) definitely make a tonal difference in certain circuits - fuzzfaces and mk1 tonebenders being the most well-known examples - and there are genuine electronic reasons why.

Not sure I agree with that. Batteries provide a potential difference, and how they do it shouldn’t matter.

If it was AC I might agree as the potential difference is RMS of a cycle, but DC from a chemical source should be constant.

Battery Voltage output can vary both over the lifespan of the battery (it declines over time), and also between types/brands. Probably less of an issue today if you're using high quality batteries, but I can see how it might have been a thing in the past. And the differences can easily be on the order of 10%, which could (in theory) make an audible difference.

On the other hand some people claim to be able to hear the difference between FLAC and WAV files - the placebo affect is a real phenomenon in audio.

cian

@michael_m said:

@cian said:

@michael_m said:

@JeffChasteen said:

@Tarekith said:
I remember reading and Eric Johnson interview where he was adamant he could tell the difference in tone between two different battery brands in his pedals. So there’s that. 😂

I wonder how he would do in a blind test for that…?

Brian May always used to say that there was an optimum amount of charge on the battery to get the right sound from his Deacy amp, so he would switch batteries out to get it right.

In theory there is a difference. Somewhat skeptical you could hear it, but I could be convinced otherwise by a well conducted blind test. Power fluctuations can have a range of effects that can sometimes be heard, or have weird interactions on analog equipment. Of course all kinds of things can have weird interactions on analog equipment including the temperature, humidity and your drummer giving it a weird look - so really who can say...

Now the guy who repeatedly told me there's a difference between FLAC and WAV files can **** off.

I can see how under-powering something could have an effect, but I’m definitely skeptical of the battery brand thing.

Well it would be probably the difference between cheap batteries and decent ones. Or a new battery, vs a 70% used up battery.

Like I said I'm willing to be convinced that this could be a thing. It does seem unlikely though.

fprintf

@michael_m said:

Not sure I agree with that. Batteries provide a potential difference, and how they do it shouldn’t matter.

If it was AC I might agree as the potential difference is RMS of a cycle, but DC from a chemical source should be constant.

They might make a difference because there is a voltage difference between alkaline, lead and rechargeable varieties. This is very well known in the radio control electric aircraft hobby. And there may be some differences in construction even within certain types, say alkaline, for marginal voltage and amperage differences but I agree with others that you would be very hard pressed to reliably tell the difference. And I would hypothesize that none of these differences would likely be notable in a double blind scientific listening experiment.

Tarekith

That’s was a great video, thanks!

michael_m

@fprintf said:

@michael_m said:

Not sure I agree with that. Batteries provide a potential difference, and how they do it shouldn’t matter.

If it was AC I might agree as the potential difference is RMS of a cycle, but DC from a chemical source should be constant.

They might make a difference because there is a voltage difference between alkaline, lead and rechargeable varieties. This is very well known in the radio control electric aircraft hobby. And there may be some differences in construction even within certain types, say alkaline, for marginal voltage and amperage differences but I agree with others that you would be very hard pressed to reliably tell the difference. And I would hypothesize that none of these differences would likely be notable in a double blind scientific listening experiment.

Lead/acid batteries aren’t used in consumer electronics, but alkaline and rechargeable batteries usually have different nominal voltages, so you would see a difference putting new batteries in a device. The reason for that has a lot to do with the way devices are designed to operate and the way that different types of batteries discharge - rechargeable batteries provide a more constant voltage near the end of their life then it drops off suddenly; conventional batteries tend to drop off voltage more slowly towards the end of their life. Many electronic devices are designed to operate at a range of voltages when they are battery powered to compensate for this. Conventional batteries generally provide higher than their nominal voltage when new, but this is consistent across types and brands, which is why I doubt that anyone can hear differences between battery brands (unless Eric Johnson only ever uses whatever cheap dollar store batteries he can find).