This is an honest question,why does it sound so thin?...especially during the solos.
Did they one day just stop using pedals and overdrive? Is it pure laziness,or am I missing something? For example,there is zero balls,and next to no sustain in Ronnie's tone in WAY from this tour.

I just got done commenting in another thread about Ron's improved sound on this very song. The Les Paul sounds SO MUCH better than that thin Strat sound that he was favoring for many years.
But I know what you mean - the Stones are very much scholars of thew organic guitar sound. That is their credo; and more power to them.
I think we have become so conditioned and too dependent on the phat, over-processed, saturated sound through many F/X into an Orange. Every amp that dad buys his littel 8 year old now has a massive flanged, distorted, T-wah sound built in. You hit that pay-off powerchord for the chorus and you're home free. It's too easy.
I am glad that Ron and Keith work for their sound, and in turn make us work for appreciation. It's better.

I understand what you are saying,and by no means is it bad,but...it's not killing it for me...it sometimes makes them sound like they are fumbling. I am not a fan of over processed tones,or unnecessary distortion,believe me,but i just wish some more balls were present.

I applaud the purism of it,but damn it,a little back-line help would really make it sound better to my ears.

Guitars sounded very fat when I saw them three times on the winter tour. They sound much better in person than on an i-phone recording.

Do you guys really want to hear less keyboards?

The sound is not thin, but rather fat AND trebly. I've never heard Keith play with this sound before.

Ronnie playing a LP really has affected his sound in a good way, as Palace pointed out.

There is less distortion overall, though.

I saw the two London gigs and this was the best, strongest and loudest guitar sound I have ever head the Stones (since 1990, did nont see them live before)

I saw the second London gig from the upper ranks and the sound was pretty thin, trebly, mediocrely mixed and for the most part simply not loud enough. Compared to Cologne 2006 where they created a massive wall of sound, London 2012 left a lot to be desired in terms of sound.
I'm sure the London gig sounded way better from the lower ranks, but in an arena I expect crystal clear and massive sound everywhere.

Their Fender amp sound vs. the Ampeg amps on those early 70s tours. Yeah big difference!

Or vs the Mesa Boogie in the 70s. El Mocambo!

I like what Ronnie's doing with the LP,( I still think Ronnie is the MVP). I agree about Keith's tone; The fat/bone dry sound is great for JJF, but it could stand to be a tad warmer and wetter. Gimmie Shelter or IORR for example.

Les Pauls, Teles through a Boogie or Ampeg. Dump the Fender amps. We know thoses days are long gone!

Keith's guitar playing is still evolving.

I don't think he could ever go back to the straight chord playing on or near the beat without getting bored to death.

He could make an awesome country/western album in my opinion.

His youtube stuff with other players in that genre is outstanding, both singing and playing.

I can see what you're pointing out. This time out, they don't have Blondie Caplin to add whatever noise he was producing standing almost back stage with his acoustic. Also, Chuck (thankfully!!!) doesn't seem to be up in the mix as much. I thought Keith & Ronnie sounded pretty heavy and loud at the Las Vegas show. But, as much as Keith is back in a healthier space in general, he just doesn't 'slash' the way he used to. Both of their arthritis issues are noticeably worse.
I'm just thrilled that I hopefully will never hear the snoozefest of an arrangement that 'Let's Spend the Night Together' was during the ABB Tour. Chuck Leavell & his special guests, 4 English chaps & a very funky American session bass player....

The guitarsound is different in some songs compared to previous tours as RW plays the Les Paul a lot more and KR uses the Les Paul junior a lot more than he has done before. I was at the first O2 show and it didn`t occur to me that the sound was thin, but I was thrilled that both KR and RW used those two guitars more than before (as far as I know).

I don`t know if KR plays the Gibson ES guitar a lot on this tour, but that makes a different and thicker sound than the LP junior and that can be one of the reasons why the sound is different in some songs (together with amp-settings and use of effects of course).