I'm cool with most any tones that work in the structure of a particular song. I personally don't care for thin, trebley, harsh sounding distortion that jumps out of the mix in a not so pleasant way. The solo on Sympathy for the devil is a good example of what I'm talking about, although I can still listen to that song... the solo tone annoys me.

these is a middle ground between the mud and the ice.
of course it is about what sounds good to you but most guitarists seem intent on trying to replicate clapton which seems like such a pointless endeavor.

im just sick of everyone(in general not just here) singing the praises of all these classic rock tones
they bore me to tears and back...

Any songs in particular so i know what tone you mean?

I pretty much mean anything in the era
santana and clapton seem to be the ones they all love the most
so lets go black magic woman
and sunshine of your love
for some obvious examples

I suppose my main problem is with blues rock guitar tones the guitar world seems obsessed with.

personally, i like those tones, but for those things.

if someone comes up to me and plays Roll Over Beethovin using clapton's tone from sunshine of your love, i'm gonna hate it.
at the same time, if you play Sunshine with chuck's tone? that won't sound good either.

so when it comes down to it, perfect soloing tone comes down to context

I love the rich bluesy psychedelic tone, like "Strange Brew" on Disraeli Gears. It actually makes me feel the emotion in the guitar more often than other guitar tones. But I like pretty much any guitar tone anyways.

i get what whatsitoosit was saying about sympathy for the devil
i hadnt listened to it in a while
damn its harsh

i spose my dislike boils down to me being bored of classic rock and how much everyone creams over it...to the extent that they seem to think its an impossible feat to create a better record than one made in the late sixties
so essentially i agree with...whatever fits the song
i just favour more experimentalism.

I think Clapton - Santana are like two bookends for all the possible tones that come in between. One is thin and blah and the other is thick and rich... I bought a PRS thinking I would dig the different (thicker) sound, I played it in the store and thought it sounded cool but when I brought it home and began using it for my own songs I realized it just wasn't right so I returned it.

yeah, for me... part of the fun of being the guitarist is experimenting with different tones for different songs and finding what works in the songs context. Those effect machines that allow you to choose sounds that replicate famous tones from known artist are good for wedding bands and such, but for an independent song writer... what's the point? granted I use a Vox amp and own the Brian May guitar but trust me, my sound isn't anywhere near Brian May (I wish it was though :))

i love some of clapton's tones
i hate others.
honestly i really really hate the tone he uses in Layla (which happens to be the only song Duane Allman plays in that i dont like). But i love the tone in White Room


And, one more thing:
Tone is mostly about the way you pick and use your fingers. Sure, theres a lot u can do with amps and pedals, but I will always sound like me whether i'm playing a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Strat. All of the pedals, pickups, and whatnot are more fine tuning than anything.


Btw, Double X, that is an AWESOME pic