It goes without saying that Jake Kiszka, the six-string slinger behind the roaring attitude inherent to Greta Van Fleet and Mirador, knows a thing or two about tone.
In fact, Kiszka believes he used more toys than ever while recording GVF’s latest offering, Palace for the People.
It’s with that in mind that GW tabbed Kiszka to offer up his top five tone tips. Take it away, Jake…
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1. Rely on the amp and less on pedals
There’s a purity between playing and the directness from the heart to the hands to the amp. Anything in between maybe distracts from that. When you’re first learning to play and really, in general – you can sort of expand from there, but there’s a directness to that, too.
2. Start acoustically
My father basically took away my electric guitar when I’d first gotten it, which was quite a bummer. [Laughs] I’d just received it, and he was like, “No, no, no…” So, there’s some sort of disciplinary action that happened. I thank him for that now because it taught me the foundation.
We all want to be Jimi Hendrix or another great guitar hero who played electric guitar, but I would say that starting acoustically, and playing some Bob Dylan or even something rudimentary, is a good foundation for tone.
3. Choose your guitars wisely
There are many different ways of looking at this. There’s the guitarist, the guitar player, the collector – and there’s the dentist. [Laughs] Now, I’m just kidding, but for me, if you’re looking at guitar playing for the sake of the “soul of playing,” and what can be accomplished through playing the instrument, choose your weapons wisely.
For instance, if you have two 12-string guitars and one is a baritone and the other is a straight 12, and then you’ve got one classical guitar and one parlor guitar… you’ve one of each of these things because they’re all tactile.
They all have their own qualities and do something different, but you don’t need two of the same thing. So, in some ways, if you’re specifically looking at guitar playing for that reason, choose your guitars wisely and love them equally.
4. Use combo amps
If you’re playing a solo that requires more nuance and single strings, as opposed to chord structures and that sort of thing, I would suggest combo amps. I actually would suggest combo amps overall, in general. Period. [Laughs] There’s just something great about them.
And for what they’re used for, and for as much as they’ve been used in the past, I think they’ve been forgotten about in our generation. So yeah… crank up that little combo amp and play through that. I think they do a lot. They simplify what you’re hearing, but they also magnify you as a player and add nuance.
5. Pull the mic off your amp
For crying out loud, pull the mic back and embrace the room! Embrace the breathing of it, you know? If you’re going to record in that way, if it’s guerrilla warfare out there, and you’re doing it in your garage or anywhere in your home or whatever space, distance adds depth. Pull the mics off and let the amp breathe.
