11 FREE Tips To Improve Your Guitar Sound

11 Tips To Improve Your Guitar Sound (For FREE!)
Want better tone? Today I'm giving you tips on how to improve your sound, without any money, and you can do these now. Some take some time, but they'll all help.
Hope you enjoy, and I hope you find this helpful!

[Fret-knot]

Good Tips. GAS is a real problem with a lot of guitarists (me included). Focusing on the points on this video and not on the next guitar, amp, pedal, etc is definitely the way to go, to improve your sound & technique. There is just one more overdrive pedal I need though, then I'll be done. Probably. 😁

[robertpurdy]

Learning how to mute the strings while playing cleans up your tone so much! I work on that every time I play and practice.

[drpfrutti]

This is the kind of video I really appreciate. Useful tips for players on a tight budget. Thank you, Elmo.

[carman]

great tips, it's all in those little things that make a big difference

[senseiruss]

Elmo — thanks for this excellent list of ways to sound and play better. I can relate to all of them…some I already do, some I don't, but will. My only edit would be on #11— I would change "Stop worrying about your gear!" to (for me, anyway) "Stop OBSESSING about your gear!" That one is a very easy rabbit hole to fall into, for me! Thanks for this great collection of wise advice!

[darylconny]

great tips. very very usefull. thanks again

[DisruptedSinner]

Great video and tips as always, Elmo! I just got back into playing about a year ago after about a 7-10 year break. I've tried to limit my gear to a BOSS Katana MKII-100, a GT-1 effects processor and a Focusrite 2i2 interface into the computer. That's it. This has purposely made me work more on my playing rather than spending time and money on collecting gear that I will probably never use much.

Also with that mentality, I have been able to focus on specific daily practice routines to work on my weak areas (I have lots to work on here but it's coming along). Oh... and one thing to mention is that I downloaded TempoPerfect Mentronome. It's free and a great help in building chops and muscle memory.

Your videos are always inspiring so thank you!

[mattsikes]

Elmo, great video. I honestly never thought about how much I actually mute with my fretting hand but what you said makes sense. The only caveat to number 11 is that I would say that if someone is worried about their gear, which budding guitarists will be, keep practicing l but if you're going to buy gear anyway thinking that it's the holy grail to your sound, buy used or inexpensive. Most guitar shops will have an inventory of used gear and if the time comes when you want to upgrade you can trade it in saving even more money. Also there are a lot of brands out there that make really solid pedals that are inexpensive. I still use my Joyo delay because I paid $20 for it and it works great.

[alessandrotorrescampos]

Precious tips that make all the difference, mainly the last one!

[alienfretboy]

YES ELMO !!! Great advice. Use less gain!! Every time you play or practice, back off the gain just a little. You will get used to it and your playing and tone will improve. Eventually you will find a new sweet spot. Your guitars actual tone and your technique will not be buried in distortion and you will sound better.

[gregperkins]

Love to see that EART behind you! I have two and totally enamored with them. Great tips..always checkout your posts, they are quite good.

[Crunchifyable]

I have been trying for years to sound like Black Sabbath. And the secret to the tone is A448 tuning. Strangely enough many records are sped up and being in standard will never sound right if you have a good ear.

[Olaussen]

Recording yourself is a great tip. It is like hearing your voice recorded. It probably doesn’t sound like you thought. At least it was like that for me

[cygnus-studios]

Hola mi Amigo, great video as always!

Just a suggestion, but Burt’s Bees works awesome for lubing the nut. There are a lot of varieties available, but the stuff I use during string changes is called “Burt's Bees Natural Moisturizing Lip Balm”, and specifically the one that comes in a round tin with a bee logo on top. It costs about $1.50 for 8.5g, enough to last a lifetime. It’s sorta like a gel, just dip a toothpick into it, apply to the slots then wipe away any excess.

[bentbelly]

Great tips! BTW love that scalloped fretboard.
What guitar is it you're playing in the vid? Hard to see the logo

[streetlegal]

Good stuff Elmo! Maybe you would consider devoting an entire video to the subject of muting. A lot of guitar players ( like me ) - who come to the electric after years of playing accoustic don't appreciate how important muting is to the tone produced. It's a different way of thinking about music making - a kind of 'negative energy' that balances things out.

[ingve]

Excellent. This video should be shown to everyone before they buy a guitar. And the point about intonation is a real issue for me. I can't believe the number of YouTube videos I have seen that would be otherwise excellent, only the guitar is out of tune! How can people post stuff that is obviously out of tune? Maybe they just can't hear it. I saw Yngwie in concert one time, after some serious whammy action he snuck a quick listen to his tuning and the G was way flat. He charged on without re-tuning, just compensated by pushing the G string deeper into the scalloped fretboard so that it sounded in tune. Rising Horse indeed.

[Cayres]

I've noticed a problem here in the UK where I live due to an ever changing climate, my guitar when the weather is cold plays worse than when it's warm, I imagining things? As I've noticed this many years now but people say to me the weather can't affect your guitars playability?

[wilsonjames]

Love these videos..I ain't been getting notifications please let me know when they are new one's..thank you 2thumbs up...

[SantoRedentor]

Nice one Elmo! Now time to put it in practice ;).

One question, when adjusting the action, would you start with the truss rod or at the bridge?

I have some buzz in some of the bigger strings.