How To Get That Blues Guitar Tone

Blues is one of the most popular genres for players learning guitar, and for good reason. Blues offers streamlined, steady rhythms with mind-blowing solos and unmatched rhythm. It’s no wonder that blues is so famous.

However, it’s still tough to find the perfect tone for blues. This guide walks you through the process of mastering blues guitar tone, so you can start playing and sounding great soon.

What is “Blues Tone”?

Blues is one of the most open styles when it comes to guitar tone, but there are a few guidelines to keep in mind. Firstly, it’s important to not drown out the natural sound of your guitar with your effects. Blues is about soul and feel, and with too many effects you won’t convey as much feeling.

Most blues players opt for a tone on the edge of breakup, with some grit for leads and solos. It’s important to cut through a mix without sounding too bright. In general, blues guitarists prefer smooth, warm tones to bright and sharp ones used by bands like The Beatles or R.E.M.

Finally, your tone may shift throughout a song. While it’s common to dial in some compression and overdrive for solos, clean tones are often standard for rhythm parts and background accompaniment.

If you want to get blues guitar tone, you’ll need to focus on amps and pedals. Guitars with either single-coils or humbuckers can sound great for blues, so it’s more important to focus on the rest of your rig.

Amps

Your amp is the most important piece of tonal gear, because it determines your “base” tone and influences the character of transparent overdrives. In blues, the character of your amp will often shine through — so it’s important to find an amp which sounds great to you.

American-style amps, like Fenders and Mesa/Boogie amps, are more common for blues than British-style amps like Voxes. However, some blues legends like ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons have used Marshalls. If you want a crunchier sound with more presence and attack, a Marshall will work well.

Pedals

No matter how big your pedalboard is, a couple essential pedals are important for blues. One is a good, classic overdrive. Models like the Ibanez Tube Screamer or EHX Soul Food fit perfectly. They’re focused on low-gain clarity and give you plenty of flexibility to use them as clean boosts or low-gain drive pedals.

You’ll also want to find a good compressor pedal. Compressors increase your guitar’s sustain and can add more grit as well. They’re perfect if you want to get a thicker, fuller sound without needing to crank up the gain.

The MXR Dyna Comp is the pre-eminent compressor pedal among country players and blues guitarists. It offers plenty of compression, with a distinctive character that thickens your sound perfectly.

Finally, a slight bit of reverb might also help achieve your blues guitar tone. A slight touch of reverb will give your guitar a bit more depth and space, for a natural, organic sound.

Many blues players don’t use a separate reverb pedal, but if you don’t have reverb built into your amp a pedal might do the trick.

Conclusion

Out of all the genres which use guitars, blues is known for its soulful, expressive tone. If you’re looking to develop your own voice on the guitar, it’s a great genre to learn. Pay attention to these tips to get the best platform for blues playing.