If you’re a serious guitarist whose intent is to make music, as opposed to squeezing as many meaningless notes and sweep arpeggios as possible into every measure, tone is king! Although speed and technique are invaluable tools to have in your playing arsenal, even the cleanest, fasted scalar runs can’t make up for great note selection and sweet tone.
When it comes to being a guitar great, it is more often tone than technique that separates the great guitar players from the ones that are only “good.” For instance, you can go on YouTube and find literally hundreds, if not thousands, of teenagers all around the world who can play the most difficult classical compositions on guitar note-for-note — and do it with incredible speed and amazing clarity. Yet, players like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck are greats who could never even come close to playing those tunes.
What makes them great is their creativity, note selection, and tone, which they achieve through real tube amps and vintage guitar effects pedals. Today, you can get the most popular vintage electric guitar pedals rolled into wide via state-of-the-art guitar multi effects pedals. Whether your sound is based upon iconic guitar distortion pedals or old analog delay pedals from the 1970s, today’s wildly popular multi-effects are capable of nailing classic tones rather convincingly.
However, if you have been striving to create your own, personalized tone for years, the best standalone pedals like the Pigtronix Disnortion, T-Rex pedals, or Tortuga effects pedals may have exactly what you looking for housed in their durable metal casings. Then again, when it comes to guitar tone to die for, you can never overlook a quality set of DR handmade strings.
DR guitar strings are even available in drop-tune sets. When coupled with active EMG pickups, a set of DR drop-B or drop-A strings will emit a tone so fierce that it will melt the faces and rip out the hearts of even the staunchest heavy metal mavens.
Whether you’re a guitar player who is into the crisp, clean finger-plucked guitar stylings of Mark Knopfler, or the wailing tone of the late, great Dimebag Darrell, today’s most cutting-edge electric guitar pedals can provide you with the tools you need to dial in the perfect tone for whatever musical style tickles your fancy.