Many guitarists will often hammer out exercises in an attempt to play faster and longer than the next guy. Or they go the Miles Davis route and try to make a handful of notes say a lot more. Both of which are great skills to have. Playing fast can certainly evoke different emotions and sometimes a simple melody can bring people to tears. However, one very overlooked thing amongst many guitarist is their tone. But where does tone come from? Well... everything. Every aspect of your playing goes into tone.
Initially, tone begins in your head. Not to sound all "zen" but it's true. In your head, you have to be thinking of the sound you want to produce. Do you want warm? bright? twang? From there, everything else will flow. Then is your hands. Things like how you depress the strings, where your right hand is, and where in the fret you place your finger can all make a huge difference in your sound.
Next is your pick; something that far too often gets overlooked. However, I know many guitarists who are constantly trying new picks. Most of the time, the differences truly are just in our heads. But, every once in a while you stumble across one that truly makes a difference. For example, a pick made from ultex produces a really warm sound as compared to a nylon or celluloid pick. Also, thickness; a Jazz III will produce a much warmer tone than a Jim Dunlop Nylon (the grey ones). Basically, thicker pick-thicker sound. Thinner pick-thinner sound. Find the balance between sound and playability. Also, how you hold the pick affects a lot. A pick held parallel to the strings will create a harsher pick attack as opposed to angling the pick at a 45 degree angle against the string.
Also, consider your string gauge. 9-gauge strings are the industry standard. They are light and comfortable but not too flimsy. However, as string gauge increase, so does tone. Like picks, thicker string-thicker sound. Thinner strings-thinner sound. Example: Joe Satriani uses 9's as do most "shredders" who stay in standard tuning (whole other topic). John Mayer uses 11's (and has killer sound). Stevie Ray Vaughan used 13's and had one of the best tones ever IMO. Of course, he also tore his fingers to shreds on a nightly basis. Just find the balance of playability and sound. 13's may sound great but if you can't play them then go smaller. Also match your pick with the strings. I've found that thick picks do not go well with thin strings. There seems to be too much "tug" on the string. Likewise, thin picks often dont' evoke the full richness of a thick string. Just experiment. Strings are cheap. Certain gauges sound great on a Tele but too muddy on a Les Paul. Find YOUR preference.
My big thing for tone is to first make sure you love the sound you get when your guitar is unplugged. People may not always pay attention to the sound of an electric guitar unplugged but, think about it; an amp is simply making the sound of your guitar louder. If your guitar sounds bad unplugged, it will still sound bad when amplified. I, for example, bought my Telecaster because before I ever plugged it in, I loved the sound of that guitar. Remember, we play guitar. We don't play pedals.
All these things are what goes into making your sound recognizable to you. Pedals and amps simply follow and will be discussed in the next part which is later to come. Til then, hope my rambling helps!
-Lance
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