Tim Harding began playing guitar around age 16 got more serious as time progressed. So here is some of what happened along the way!
Tones have been in my head since the beginning. How a guitar sounded through an amp, just straight in. Before I could get to that point I had to try a lot of combinations of pedals and amps and guitars to achieve THAT sound.
As I grew as a player and started to play professionally I leaned on a large pedal board for versatility yet kept in my rear view the guys who could get that sound without all the crap. This led me on the search to see what the tone gurus used and why.
Would it work for me?
I started tinkering with tube amps about 10 years ago, changing tubes, caps resistors and speakers to get the best tone I could. I currently use two amps that I have had a hand on and in. Funny thing happened along the way. It seemed that everything I plugged into sounded like me.
Everything but acoustic guitars.
I thought that the best sound one could get with an acoustic was to fill it full of water and smash it against a tree. (We will get back to the acoustics shortly.) I played in local bands for 15 years including Blue Shadow, Peacemaker, Witness, Book of James, Jude, Andy Six, The PBT project and most recently WHOCARES. Classic/southern rock and blues are my thread but acoustic kept slipping in bit by bit.
My love for the singing tone of an electric seemed to call the backing of the acoustic, and so it started. I picked up an acoustic about 8 years ago as I began a journey as a worship leader. The full tone and timbre of an acoustic called to my soul. I am crafter of work and a perfecter of none.
Each piece I write seems to change here and there on the live side. The electric tones seem to cry as the acoustic weaves a chordal outline of structure. Alternate tunings and life experiences make up the breadth of my work. Melodies are simple yet deceptive and excuses are swept to the side.
I look for my journey to continue. There is so much that took place in between these words it would be hard to explain.
Perhaps we should try to see more with our ears and hear more through our hearts,
which leaves the looking to the searchers.
