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Session legend Tim Pierce on studio guitar tones: “people have given up on the origin of the sound … they’re only interested in the sound”
According to Pierce, producers are a lot less picky than they used to be.
Guitar.com Live: Session legend Tim Pierce spoke over the weekend about the changing landscape of studio tones, and how they’re achieved. He noted that, unlike in the 1990s when there were certain assumptions and prejudices surrounding certain amps, now “people have given up on the origin of the sound … they’re only interested in the sound. They honestly don’t care anymore, how you create that sound, and that’s really liberating.”
He spoke some more about the ‘pickiness’ of producers back in the day: “It’s so great, because I lived with that… I couldn’t afford a real Gibson 335 from the era so I got a reissue and hoped that they wouldn’t say ‘what year is that thing?’ It was brutal!”
Pierce was talking to YouTuber Rhett Shull, and the pair also discussed the related topic of digital vs analogue amplification situations. “In a mix, you really can’t tell the difference between an actual amp mic’d up in a room and some kind of direct solution,” said Shull. “It’s less about sound and more about what works for your workflow.”
Pierce is quite the authority when it comes to recorded guitar, having played on countless albums by artists such as Crowded House, Michael Jackson, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper and Phil Collins. He also runs his own YouTube channel, where he gives gear tips for recording and teaches songs.
For more from Guitar.com Live, head on over to guitar.com/live.