Tuesday, April 1, 2025
GuitarGuitar Tips & HacksTips & Hacks

All The GUITAR TONE WORDS Explained. “Scooped, Woody, Airy, Mid hump” etc.


#guitartone #guitar
What does scooped, muddy, airy, rich, open, woody and all those other ‘guitar tone adjectives’ even mean?? Here are the explanations and playing examples. Enjoy the video and let me know which other words you wanna see in a part 2. Leave it in the comments below.

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Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:41 Open
1:29 Scooped
2:15 Rich / Full
3:20 Airy
4:27 Honky
5:27 Tight
6:29 Muddy
7:23 Muffled
8:02 Mid hump
8:52 Woody
10:22 Sweet
11:25 Warm
12:05 Transparent
12:57 Sterile / Cold
13:58 Crisp / sparkly
14:52 Nasty

Gear used – signal chain:
(the short links are Thomann affiliate links)

-Fender Telecaster CS ’53: https://bit.ly/40qKWi1
-Gibson Les Paul Jr. https://lmy.de/UpOC
-Gibson ES-330L (2015 Memphis model)
-PJD Guitars St John: pjdguitars.com
-Killing floor Axis Fuzz: @killingflooreffects
-Cornerstone Antique v3: https://lmy.de/bSgYP
-J Rockett Archer overdrive: https://bit.ly/2Ges1z8
-Honeybee Double Trouble: honeybeeamps.com
-BOSS GE-7
-Analogman King of Tone analogman.com
-Kasleder Pelion: https://lmy.de/mYX
-Kasleder Toxic Twins: https://bit.ly/2VJRDiO
-Tone King Imperial MkII: https://lmy.de/qqrSUDcZ
-Universal Audio OX BOX https://bit.ly/2IyOeuj
-One Control Agamidae: https://bit.ly/3HHhoG3
-Evidence Lyric cables: https://bit.ly/3QJHQ40
-Evidence Audio patch cables: https://bit.ly/2Ixylo1
-DR Strings: https://bit.ly/3QcKUon
-UAD Apollo x4 interface: https://lmy.de/XmPqMQah

Other gear I use in my videos:

-Harley Benton Fusion-III https://lmy.de/NAwQC
-Gibson Les Paul CS ’58: https://lmy.de/YZPvY
-Barocsi “Frankenstrat”
-Friedman PLEX: https://lmy.de/gnJeY
-Kasleder Vintage King: https://bit.ly/3bPU0sN
-Kasleder GE Vintage King: https://lmy.de/hDXCt
-REVV Tilt overdrive: https://bit.ly/3PtrWdv
-Warm Audio Centavo: https://bit.ly/3XOmsxG
-UAFX Astra Modulation: https://bit.ly/3ycxXFu
-UAFX Galaxy delay: https://bit.ly/3KNrOFj
-UAFX Golden Reverb: https://bit.ly/3vS36JN
-Xotic Super Clean: https://bit.ly/36fsHka
-REVV D40 Dynamis: https://lmy.de/tbkQ
-Two Notes Captor X: https://bit.ly/33FPfcW

Recording:
-Sennheiser MKH 416: https://bit.ly/2w1EAMP
-Warm Audio WA-67: https://lmy.de/EQnSQVRB
-Warm Audio WA273 pre: https://lmy.de/KlgYdmEc
-UAD Apollo x4 interface: https://lmy.de/XmPqMQah

Check out the Thomann Music channel for some wicked guitar videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MusikhausThomann

Cheers,
Kris

#GUITAR #TONE #WORDS #Explained #Scooped #Woody #Airy #Mid #hump

Originally posted by UCcwL-y7JNkuQwiGXKntzpKg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc5D3K7Yg2o

50 thoughts on “All The GUITAR TONE WORDS Explained. “Scooped, Woody, Airy, Mid hump” etc.

  • Very entertaining! Yes, do the second list of descriptive words. Really wondering wtf is Brown Sound? Also, let us know how you dial in those sounds. I ,especially, liked the detail added…for example, the description of how picking technique can influence your tone.

    Reply
  • I'd say "tight" is tied to the low end. A HPF can be used to "tighten" up low end. You did clarify this when you said it's the opposite of "muddy". Great video!!

    Reply
  • “Sweet” is the most ridiculous one to me. I swear people just parrot words they hear famous guitarist use. I’ve heard people refer to the spikiest, trebliest tone as “sweet”. And then heard others call the darkest, thickest tone “sweet”. And trust me- they don’t just mean “nice” when they say sweet. Sweet means something specific to guitarists, and I haven’t figured out what it actually means yet lol.

    Reply
  • As a stoner rock/metal guitarist I like slightly muddy, moderately warm, slightly nasty, slightly muffled & slightly mid hump guitar tone.

    Reply
  • Don't get sidetracked from making a Stand against the real O'ffensors. Don't be baited into a sword ⚔️ fight against someone who just wants some human companionship. Negative attention is attention none the less. Lots of attention _hores out there. Our best defense is to ignore those type and talk about them when we are home alone.

    Reply
  • Sometimes I feel these terms are used like the little kids use lots of swear words, they think they become cooler….???? Or just mess up things what ppl don't even know

    Reply
  • Add to the list…. Dark, Bright, Dry, Wet, Crisp, Heavy, Punky, Funky, Dripping,

    Fartsy, Sparkly, Juicy, Delicious, butter-y, Mellow-Yellow,

    Twangy, Bloomy, Brutal, Savage, Barbarian, Chug, Grunty, Honky,

    Rude, Jangle, Quacky, Boxy, Airy, Metallic, Metalli-Caca,

    Mexicano, gringo-loco, Tex-mex, Psycho-delic, Hendrix-fuzzy,

    Brown-nie, Foxie-brown, Woodie, Mojo-Muffy, crispy,

    brown-sounding, toasted, Surfy, gnarly, ….

    Reply
  • Kris,
    Great video. The term I’ve heard so many times that I’ve never figured out is “pokey.” I’ve heard this used when describing some pickups, as well as some amp sounds. What does “pokey” actually mean in this context?

    Reply
  • Descriptions are wrong and the playing doesn’t match said descriptions.

    Reply
  • Please do part 2 and add strat throaty tone to the list ???? I need that tone in my life ???? and a thought- could you not only use pedals but also graphic eq or at least some sort of visualization where are the frequencies you were talking about ????

    Reply
  • Definitely need a part 2 with “flabby”, “sag”/“saggy”, “hollow”, “glassy”, “thick”, “thin”, “fizzy”, “ice-picky”, “round”, “boxy”, “square”, “metallic”, “smoky”, “boomy”.

    Reply
  • You’ve got a PhD in tone! These buzzwords are tossed around so much on YouTube they start to lose meaning. You’re one of the very few who can back it up with examples

    Reply
  • cool video! not a big fan of tube screamers but I love the new cornerstone antique ????

    Reply
  • Also let's not forget gnarly, raw, bitey, punchy, liquid, syrupy, 3D & 2D, stringy, twangy (hey, you even play a Tele, how could you miss this, haha), in-your-face, brutal and so forth… 😉

    Reply
  • I would say that there is no "right" or "wrong" tones. It is just giving what the song needs and what you like.
    Great video, great topic Kris! Keep em coming ????

    Reply
  • Great video! Please do a part 2! Can you explain "Throaty"? I think I know how that tone sounds, but I'm not 100% sure I'm right.

    Reply
  • I think you blew it with 'nasty' -I think all these tones should exclude obvious effects pedals (EQ is in, Miku is out, cocked wah in, wah wah out). For 'nasty' I think of Sympathy for the Devil solo, and New Low solo by Middle Class Rut. These are thin, angry, biting, but not really unpleasant, like a Sauvignon Blanc.

    Reply
  • Great; all the "buzzwords" unraveled. Tasty and pleasant to listen to (as always) ????????

    Reply
  • Great idea, and having loads of gear helps, but… All tones have your signature character and that's why they don't really fit into these average terms.
    I mean, YJM always sounds like YJM, SV always sounds like SV, and KB is KB, not "muddy", "woody", etc.

    Reply
  • Hey Kris, Cool Video, thank you for this!!
    Really good explanation and inspiration on how to archive these sounds!
    I am often trying dialing in a sound that has multiple types of the sounds you are describing. But I guess, I will never find it. 🙂
    What would your approach be for this kind of a scenario. For example an Airy sound with some wood, also transparent, and also tight when you crank your volume knob to get more overdrive/distortion?

    I am looking forward for part 2! 🙂
    Thomas

    Reply
  • For such subjective labels, it's incredible how similar my interpretation is to yours. The sound clips are an excellent library of tones to go with the description.

    Reply

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