TL;DR: how the heck do I start getting one guitar's tone to sound more like another's?
Or, if it's easier to share, how did you go about finding your favorite tone?
I've been learning on an LTD viper-400 for the past few months, and then bought an epiphone SG g-400 recently because 1) I really, really, really wanted this look since forever; and 2) one finally popped up locally at a price point I've been waiting for.
Just talking about the difference when unplugged:
The epiphone sounds exactly how I've heard it in videos, but I didn't realize guitars could sound this different. I just like my viper's sound so much better, and... I'm ignorant enough to not know how to describe why. The SG just sounds... Airier? Lighter? The strings are definitely different. The sg has some smooth feeling to it, maybe because they're new strings, according to the seller. Do I just start with trying to figure my viper's string gauges or something and buy those for the SG? Though they both have almost the same low action, the strings on my viper feel more taught; might be just because of the jumbo frets, but is tighter-feeling strings a thing?
And when plugged in, I like each of their clean sounds, but favor the viper's a little more. I'm even less sure how to describe why or what the difference really is. Is there a process to fiddle with knobs? At what point do I start considering switching pickups? I can't tell what pickups the SG has, other than they're probably the originals. The viper's should be original too, seymour Duncan custom-5 (bridge) and jazz (neck) pickups.
Even though, generally, I've fallen in love with the viper, there isn't enough room in my home for two guitars at this time. That's a c/relationshipadvice issue, lmao. I'm keeping the ~~Homewrecker~~ iconic SG and selling ~~Sexy~~ my viper once I figure this out, and that's that. But yeah, tone. How does it work
Different guitars are meant to sound different. If you want a backup guitar that sounds like your primary then get at least the same model/type or something that has the same pickups and wiring. If you're intending to buy guitars by the looks and expecting them to sound all the same, nobody can help you and nobody will because we all want a strat to sound like a strat and an SG like an SG. A world where every guitar in the world would sound exactly like some noob's only LTD that he likes so much because he never played anything else might be a plot for a small niche horror movie of very limited entertainment potential at best.
I mean, that's kind of uncalled for. It's completely valid for them to like an LTD over an Epiphone SG if that's what they like.
That's not contradicting to what I've written. You're free to like any guitar over any other, just don't expect them all to sound like the one you have.