There is one aspect of guitar playing that can be quite elusive, even for professional guitarists It can even become an obsession for those who can never seem to find it. This crucial and pivotal aspect of playing the guitar is the tone. Every individual who is serious about the guitar who strives to master the instrument understands that playing guitar is not simply about skill, but about playing that sounds good.

Trying to discover the perfect tone is like searching for the Holy Grail. You're not sure if it exists, but there are a lot of myths and stories that seem to offer clues about where it can be found. There are a lot of myths about how one can achieve the perfect tone and sound from their guitar, and just about all of them are false.

One popular myth about achieving great guitar tones is that you have to have a certain type of pickup. While certain brands and types of pickups can improve the quality of your overdrive tones and give you some nice bottom end and some sweet highs, these pickups still won't give you great tone. There are a lot of individuals who think that getting a new set of humbuckler pickups will solve their tone issues and that immediately they'll begin playing like Eric Clapton! These individuals drop a lot of money to get these pickups put into their guitar, only to plug in and find that the sound they're looking for still isn't there.

Another popular myth about guitar tone is that you have to have a Marshall half stack in order to get professional, warm sounding tones. A lot of individuals get duped into thinking that if they buy the most expensive amplifiers from the biggest brand names it will automatically give them professional quality tones. While it is true that top notch equipment can really help you to fine tune your sound and help you expand your creativity, it's still not going to make you sound like a professional, and it's still not going to give you the sound quality you're going for.

The only way to truly achieve professional sounding guitar tones is to focus 100 percent on your playing abilities! As they say, the tone is in your fingers! You can have all the best selling, top of the range equipment there is and still sound like a complete amateur. In order to develop a great sound and a nice tone, you really have to hone your playing skills. The reason some of rock music's greatest guitarists sound so good is because they are good! You simply just cannot purchase the exact same setup and gear, expecting to sound exactly like them. If you want great sound, focus first on how you play and on mastering your instrument and that will take you down the path to achieving great sound.