Tone Report Weekly Issue 162 | Page 32

No , it doesn ’ t mean the guitar is covered in whipped cream . When somebody describes a tone as creamy , usually it means it ’ s very mid-forward , with rolled off highs and deep lows . Of course the saying and interpretation can vary from person to person , but more times than not it usually describes a tone that ’ s thick and rich . Think Clapton ’ s tones on 1966 ’ s Fresh Cream ( no pun intended ).
This is a really popular one I ’ ve been seeing a lot this year . When a pedal is called transparent , it usually means that it leaves your relative guitar tone untouched , and adding a little more of everything that ’ s already there . Having a pedal or an amp that is perfectly transparent is near impossible , since all the different components color the sound in many different ways , but that hasn ’ t stopped manufacturers from slathering the word liberally all over their marketing copy . When talking about transparent in guitar tone , usually it means it accentuates all the right frequencies in all the right ways , without changing your fundamental tone too much or favoring one frequency over another .

CREAMY :

No , it doesn ’ t mean the guitar is covered in whipped cream . When somebody describes a tone as creamy , usually it means it ’ s very mid-forward , with rolled off highs and deep lows . Of course the saying and interpretation can vary from person to person , but more times than not it usually describes a tone that ’ s thick and rich . Think Clapton ’ s tones on 1966 ’ s Fresh Cream ( no pun intended ).

“ When somebody describes a tone as creamy , usually it means it ’ s very midforward , with rolled off highs and deep lows ."

TRANSPARENT :

This is a really popular one I ’ ve been seeing a lot this year . When a pedal is called transparent , it usually means that it leaves your relative guitar tone untouched , and adding a little more of everything that ’ s already there . Having a pedal or an amp that is perfectly transparent is near impossible , since all the different components color the sound in many different ways , but that hasn ’ t stopped manufacturers from slathering the word liberally all over their marketing copy . When talking about transparent in guitar tone , usually it means it accentuates all the right frequencies in all the right ways , without changing your fundamental tone too much or favoring one frequency over another .
32 TONE TALK // A Beginner ’ s Guide to Guitar Buzzwords