I am the first to admit that if someone did a blindfold test on me of recordings with a reissue Historic Les Paul and an original 1959 Les Paul, I would not always be able to tell the difference, even on live recordings. This is because there are so many factors that affect the final outcome of the recorded tone. The variables are infinite – the amp, the strings, the pick, the player (most importantly), as well as pedal effects (if any), the room, the microphones, and of an increasing importance, the studio processing. That is listening to the recorded guitar tone as an outsider. On the other hand, if I am the player, the position is a bit different. If you live long enough with a person, say your family, you get to know the person at both conscious and subconscious levels. The ability of humans to distinguish faces of fellow humans is apparently nothing short of miraculous. This is done at subconscious levels. You don’t consciously go, “Erm, in the case of James, the relative position of his nose to his mouth is such and such,” you just know it. The same goes with human voices. There are voices that you automatically recognize, voices that you find familiar in everyday life, and voices that are uniquely identifiable, such as with well known singers or actors. In some cases, guitarists, particularly blues guitarists, acquire voices in their lead guitar playing. When you hear a single bended note and say it sounds like B.B. or Albert, you are in that realm... Continue reading "Searching for Your Guitar Voice?"