That guy from Shipping News had a good tone.

Anyway, is it not a matter of production anyway? I mean, the guy can have a good quality guitar and distinctive playing style, as well as an impressive chain of effects, but it's the production that can either bless or utterly fuck up the final sound of the record, isn't it?

Great tone:

Gary Mundy (Ramleh)
Kurt Ballou (Converge)
Sir Richard Bishop
John Sharkey (Clockcleaner)

M. Ward, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Tvp4LfUpc

Also countless surf bands, The Lively Ones being a good favourite. John Fogherty from CCR. Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. Jonas Stein of BYOP/Turbo Fruits. Greg Ginn. Lee and Thurston. The guys from The Strokes. D. Boon.

Oh hell yeah!

fucking champs fucking suck


terrible tone

Zakk Wylde (onetime Ozzy guitarist) fucking horrible guitar tone.

Larry Parypa - The Sonics ('Louie Louie')
Keith Richards - Stones ('Satisfaction')
George Harrison - The Beatles ('Paperback Writer')
Dave Davies - The Kinks ('You Really Got Me')

I like my tone.

Justin Broadrick (Godflesh) - Devastator/Mighty Trust Krusher
Steve Albini (Rapeman) - Super Pussy

It works two ways, I'd say. There's no producer in the world can make a shit band sound good. If it's not right when it's being played, there's no way the producer can change that fundamental wrong-ness. There's always records - the recent Stooges one, for instance - where the producer gets it wrong, to my ears, but it's almost impossible to say 'Albini made a great record shit' because, ultimately, he made some decisions and the record would probably have been equally as lacklustre if someone else did it.

Anyway. I tend not to like the idea of fetishising tone, but Franco has my favourite.

You're right that a good producer can't polish a turd. But for certain bands a specific kind of production plays a particularly significant role in the overall quality of their product (alot of Doom/Sludge, for example.) A band like Electric Wizard, in the hands of an unsympathetic producer would almost certainly sound horrible regardless of the underlying merit of the songs themselves.

one that i havnt seen mentioned is the dude from couch, forget his name though. but he had some of the most overbearing wild skronk riffs ive ever heard. they were quite a band, easily the best out of that whole chicaco no wave thing (and they wernt even from chicago, twsited world we live ein).

Oh yeah, I agree with all that. Different bands, different production values. I would say that sympathetic production is a massively important part of a band - for SY, f'rinstance, I really dislike the production on EJST&NS but love the Evol/ ATL production. I really dislike the production on NYCG&F, but I love the album. It's a real shame that so many bands seem to treat production as an after-effect, rather than a critical part of the sound. Or maybe they never produce enough albums for that to be a thing. I mean, the first Ash album was recorded on some turd, but it's a great album; nuclear sounds was shit, and sounded like a bag of particularly shiny shit.

But that's heading towards an entirely different debate, so I'll stop.

I've recently been impressed specifically by The Birthday Party's guitar tone. I can't not notice it anymore.

gibson studio custom with zack wylde shitty pick ups played clean thru a Fender 59 bassman clean 1 trick pony with the bad monkey overdrive and the holy grail reverb pedal = my tone. & I fucking love it.

besides that....um....

dick dale

lee over thurstons tone

albini/thru santiago/thru cobain

thee oh sees guitar tone

cole from the black lips tone

john lennon's tone on white album and abbey road and some of revolver/rubber soul

george's stuff NOT on his solo albums but actually the early beatles pop stuff, especially all my loving with the vox amps....when he does triplet rhythms....great shit!

Good tone:

How could no one have mentioned David Gilmour? The only person besides Hendrix to make a Strat sound good...

Also:

Kurt Cobain (on Bleach and most of Incesticide)
Joey Santiago
Adam Jones (Tool)
Will Sergeant (Echo and the Bunnymen)
Robert Smith
Johnny Greenwood
Dimebag Darrell
Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree)
The Edge
Slash
Tony Iommi
Ian MacKaye with Fugazi
Most Korn up to Untouchables
Graham Coxon (Blur)
Of course all of SY

Bad tone:

I hate to admit it, but I really don't like Johnny Marr's tone on most of The Smiths' songs...I really don't like 100% clean tones unless they have some sort of modulation effect on them.

Most 80s pop/rock-the compressor is NOT your friend unless you're trying to get a sustaining lead tone with the neck pickup a la American Woman.

Anyone playing open or 6-string barre chords using the bridge pickup on a Telecaster-too bright/shrill

The general sound of EMG pickups-sterile cleans, muddy distortion

Keith Richards. There, I said it.

Matt Bellamy

great+bad tone=d. boon

i liked "III" a lot and still do at times. i saw them live about 7 years ago and they were pretty good. i haven't heard much of anything by them since.

jimi hendrix
grant green
tchavolo schmitt

I'll try not to mention too many that have already been said. These lists are nowhere near comprehensive.
Great tone:
Marnie Stern
Corgan/Iha when they fuzzed everything to the max
J. Mascis during solos

Horrible:
99% of "shredders" and "metal players" I can't stand all that nonsense.
anyone who plays PRS guitars