I'm curious to see who else-if anyone-has run into the same situation: you hear a bassist and love their playing, but if you plugged in and their tone came out you'd break down and start to cry.

For me, it's Meshuggah. I absolutely love their music (esp. Catch 33) but if I found myself with Dick Lövgren's pissed-off ball bearing sound, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

I'd also like to list some metalcore bands, but I don't think I've ever actually heard a metalcore bassist.
:hiding:

I saw Andy Hess (Govt Mule) several weeks ago in Chicago. Great player........but his live tone sucked. His studio tone is pretty good.

Jaco could have some nasaly tone. However, that was his 'sound'. It's just not for me! I think Jaco's tone was extremely limited by the quality of gear being developed during his 'hay day'. Had Jaco been born 20 years later and was just now busting on the scenene he might have a completely different sound compared to what we are used to hearing. Mainly due to the abundant choices that bass players currently have regarding the many different manufacturers who produce quality gear.

I love Billy Sheehan's playing but sometimes I listen to his stuff and I'm disgusted by the tone that's coming out. His fingers are flying but his bases are so distorted that it really doesn't do him or his bass any justice.

Sometimes I'll be listening to Bela Fleck and some of Victor Wooten's lines sound very clacky and thin. Again, another case of monster chops going down the toilet IMO.

Les Claypool.

Big fan of his music but i do not think his tone would be good for Sludge/Doom :hmm:

agree with the les, sludge doom comment.
somone's going to say jaco. oops , i did. but i dont think i love him.
my one is cliff burtin. ok im not a die hard fan .but he was the reason i got an aria.( more since) mine sound sweet , his sound s#!t

Stanley Clarke. Great player but jeez, who told him that was a good bass tone? He certainly gets an...uh...interesting tone, but it sounds more like a berimbau (or a rubberband strung over a cigar box) than a bass. No way I could work with that little low end foundation.

Stanley Clarke. Great player but jeez, who told him that was a good bass tone? He certainly gets an...uh...interesting tone, but it sounds more like a berimbau (or a rubberband strung over a cigar box) than a bass. No way I could work with that little low end foundation.

Stanley has one of my all time favourite tones. Admittedly I wouldn't use his tone in my band but then he fulfills a rather different role, and IMHO his tone suits his style and role perfectly. Saw him recently, he played one note and that was it for me.

I'm also not a big fan of Victor's tone, Billy Sheehan's or Marcus Miller's. Great players all, but their tone just doesn't do it for me. Not overly keen on Jaco's either, other than for soloing.

I don't much care for Steve Swallow's tone, but he is a phenomenal player.

Chris Wood (Medeski, Martin and Wood) is probably my favourite player around at the moment but his electric tone just doesn't do it for me the same way his upright does.

Methinks the man doth need some flats.

Geezer.

I love, love, love his playing. But his tone is way too round and warm for me. I prefer something more along the lines of Justin Chancellor or Frank Bello for tone.

Jonas Hellborg is one of my favourite bass players. But I wouldn't want to have his tone, even if I could... Same thing with Matt Garrison: also one of my favourite bass players and yet, I don't find his tone particularly appealing. In fact I really don't like it, most of the time, but I really like the music he does. Currently I have Improvision on heavy rotation... wow! I can't get enough of it.

The reverse is also an interesting question: tone you like, but music you don't care for. For me, Marcus Miller comes to mind immediately. Magnificent tone (extremely competent musician, no discussion there) and yet.. doesn't do it for me. But I wish I could sound like that - which obviously goes beyond having the same gear.

Just goes to show, as I love Geezer's and Matt Garrison's tones, despite them being world's apart, and as I said, am not keen on Marcus's.

I always think it's fascinating to find that a tone that you love someone else thinks is terrible, and vice versa. I wonder where that comes from; possibly defined by the music you've listened to? Or does it run deeper than that? Is it inherent?

I can't get into anyone who's sound (tone as you say) irritates me. I simply would not listen enough to appreciate anything they might be playing.

Chris Wood (Medeski, Martin and Wood) is probably my favourite player around at the moment but his electric tone just doesn't do it for me the same way his upright does.

Methinks the man doth need some flats.

I agree, except for some stuff where I believe he was using a Longhorn w/flats . ..

I don't care much for Wooten when he's being super fast and flashy. He sounds more like a bad drummer than a legendary bassist :hmm:
That being said, I LOVE Marcus Miller and Les Claypool! :bassist:

I'm curious to see who else-if anyone-has run into the same situation: you hear a bassist and love their playing, but if you plugged in and their tone came out you'd break down and start to cry.

For me, it's Meshuggah. I absolutely love their music (esp. Catch 33) but if I found myself with Dick Lövgren's pissed-off ball bearing sound, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

I'd also like to list some metalcore bands, but I don't think I've ever actually heard a metalcore bassist.
:hiding:

the guitarist does all the bass on the albums so probly explains why it sounds like a train hitting a wall

I don't much care for Steve Swallow's tone, but he is a phenomenal player.

+1 Swallow is so highly regarded, but I don't get his tone at all. It's mushy and has no focus or punch.

John Patittucci. I don't like his electric tone. Actually, I prefer his upright playing and totally dig that tone, but his electric tone doesn't work for me.

steve harris, his tone sucks. same for frank bello, and duff mckagan. chris squire, jaco, billy sheehan. james jamerson, bill dickens, victor wooten, the guy from foghat, upright bass players, etc. all their tone sucks.

the only way to get good tone is to play a washtub with a stick and a string, through a behringer head with the treble all the way up, no mids or bass, but use the ultrabass and crank that, gain to eleven and master to 3.

anyone who doesnt use this configuration sucks.

Hey another Meshuggah fan! I've been wanting to figure out how to get that tone, it's almost like Rex Brown's tone only a little heavier.

As for me, I'd have to say Steve Harris. I love the way his P-bass sounds, but I wouldn't know what to do with that sound.

Jaco's tone sounds way to floppy for me... like his strings are rubber or something.

And I cant say that I like the pizzicato tone of upright basses form the most part. love it with a bow though.

As for me, I'd have to say Steve Harris. I love the way his P-bass sounds, but I wouldn't know what to do with that sound.

you could play some maiden tunes. or just pound out some triplets and/or gallops, preferably in Em

Billy Sheehan's distorted sound.
Mark King's earlier chorusy sound and newer ultra buzzy sound.

Mark Wilson - JET excellent live tone, the tone I love from a P check out the Family Style DVD and the Rock Am Ring 2004 gig

I LOVE the Ox, but I'd have to say Entwhistle's sound, later in his career. Mind you, his sound on Who's Next, and Quadrophenia I absolutely adore, (and the really early stuff too), but I could never warm up to his tone he got into later on---it seemed like it had so much going on frequency-wise, that it lost the focus and roundness of the earlier tones.
(But that's a pet peeve of mine anyway--bass that has such a wide frequency spectrum that the end result is it gets kind of . . .lost in the mix, ironically.)
Quadrophenia ranks as one of my all-time fave bass sounds. Eminence Front on the other hand, is one of my least favorite. But I'd listen to him play anything, anytime, regardless.

Page 2 and I can't believe no one has mentioned John Myung! Amazing player but...

...The king of lifeless horrible tone (at least on the last 3 or 4 albums). Why JM why?!

The Bongo did not help.

Jeff Berlin...killer player but lose the 80s chorus.
And gary willis....oh wait gary has AWESOME TONE and he is AN AWESOME PLAYER...kind of an anamoly i suppose

Keith Duffy, the live bassist for The Corrs! Awesome player, but his tone is just too 'normal' to me. He sounds good on the band's "Unplugged" album, though (acoustic bass).

Also, Sting's tone on some of The Police's live recordings around 1980, where he's using a phaser effect.

Steve Swallow... amazing notes, muddy tone... not bad on recordings, but horrible live for the most part.

If you really want your EB to sound like a DB, learn to play DB:D

Les.

Fieldy.














































Seriously, just kidding. I don't like Fieldy, but love his tone.

















Again, kidding. ;)

John Patittucci. I don't like his electric tone. Actually, I prefer his upright playing and totally dig that tone, but his electric tone doesn't work for me.

Agree 100%. I love the actual content of his lines, but I just can't stand the clacky-ness of hie electric tone. Ruins it for me.

Three players come to mind:

Steve Swallow: Ugh! What can you say? It sounds like a bad recording of an upright done in the 30's. I know he's a big proponent of the Parker Fly. I payed one once and it sounded like a bad tub of mush. Just the ticket to get that "Swallow Sound":D

Jimmy Hislip: He's a great player and his solo tone is fine. But his ensemble sound is typical of a big modern sounding electric that gets zero definition or cut. He gets buried in the mix.

Todd Smalie: Another very good player who gets buried in the mix. In his case he plays in a "roots" band with a Modulus bass. Has he ever heard of the Fender Jazz? Another case of a player with a modern sounding bass taking advantage of the full-wide frequency range of his instrument, the result a fine digital recording of the bass drum.:D

Steve Swallow... amazing notes, muddy tone... not bad on recordings, but horrible live for the most part.

If you really want your EB to sound like a DB, learn to play DB:D

You know that he does play upright(or at least did), right?

You know that he does play upright(or at least did), right?:hmm: Maybe he doesn't:rollno: I remember the first time I heard him with Gary Burton. :eek:

Jeff Berlin...killer player but lose the 80s chorus.

Has Jeff actually used a chorus since the 80s?

Page 2 and I can't believe no one has mentioned John Myung! Amazing player but...

...The king of lifeless horrible tone (at least on the last 3 or 4 albums). Why JM why?!

The Bongo did not help.

John Myung was the first (and I think only) bassist that comes to mind... I like his tone sometimes (especially on Falling Into Infinity, Train of Thought and When Dream and Day Unite), but other times it's just flat out horrible. The worst case for me is the solo in "Dance of Eternity". It's completely and utterly ruined by the horrible tone.

out of bassists that i love:

john entwistle - his latter tone with the distortion was pretty nasty
john paul jones - just sounds like a dead thump to me
lemmy - love his tone and style, but radically different from my tone and style

Stanley has one of my all time favourite tones. Admittedly I wouldn't use his tone in my band but then he fulfills a rather different role, and IMHO his tone suits his style and role perfectly. Saw him recently, he played one note and that was it for me.

I'm also not a big fan of Victor's tone, Billy Sheehan's or Marcus Miller's. Great players all, but their tone just doesn't do it for me. Not overly keen on Jaco's either, other than for soloing.

i would agree with most of this and i can only assume you mean victor wooten, not victor bailey. i've never been a fan of the tone you get from a precision/jazz combination. thin and planky is the best way i can describe it. billy sheehan? phenomenal player, worlds worst tone. in a rock mix, maybe. lead and soloing with that tone, and slapping and tapping? i'm sorry doesn't work for me. but at the other end of the spectrum, marcus' tone is how a lot of bassist identify the "jazz bass" tone.
of course ...ymmv

Agree 100%. I love the actual content of his lines, but I just can't stand the clacky-ness of hie electric tone. Ruins it for me.

+1

Cliff Burton....his thin rubber band tone got buried so far under James & Lars ego mixes it was scary. So much talent that you have to strain to hear. Same could be said for Newstead on the And Justice LP too...

Gary Willis... Best five string fretless improvisor alive with great tone, but has a completely different technique than I use(very light 3 fingered picking). I rely more on growl and attack. Love listening to him but could never sound like him...

Sheehan. Great player, landmark bassist, I wish I had half of his finger control, but that fart noise he gets from his rigs?, bleh. Must sound good live,maybe?

John Myung...you can barely hear him in this last tour.

+1 for Myung. I wish I had 10th of his technique, but his tone is...

I LOVE the Ox, but I'd have to say Entwhistle's sound, later in his career. Mind you, his sound on Who's Next, and Quadrophenia I absolutely adore, (and the really early stuff too), but I could never warm up to his tone he got into later on---it seemed like it had so much going on frequency-wise, that it lost the focus and roundness of the earlier tones.
(But that's a pet peeve of mine anyway--bass that has such a wide frequency spectrum that the end result is it gets kind of . . .lost in the mix, ironically.)
Quadrophenia ranks as one of my all-time fave bass sounds. Eminence Front on the other hand, is one of my least favorite. But I'd listen to him play anything, anytime, regardless.

+1. I wonder how much of his increased nasally tone had to do with his hearing being shot.

And he's one of the reasons I gravitated to bass. I bought the "official bootlegs" that Pete Townshend & Roger Daltry put out of their last tour. I got the Detroit show. It kills me to admit I liked Pino's sound much better. Sounds kinda like a bass player or something.

I'd also like to list some metalcore bands, but I don't think I've ever actually heard a metalcore bassist.
:hiding:

i do agree with you on that account, most bands i've found myself getting into seem to have their bassists lost in the wonderful world of 2 guitars hellbent on maximum gain and overdrive so there is hardly any room for the bass to cut through anywhere.

It's still refreshing to hear the occasional band with a bassist who knows what he's doing (Between the Buried and me, Dillinger, Black Dahlia, Etc.)

Cliff Burton....his thin rubber band tone got buried so far under James & Lars ego mixes it was scary. So much talent that you have to strain to hear. Same could be said for Newstead on the And Justice LP too...

There was bass on "And Justice for All"? ;)

Newstead's playing was also hampered by the fact that he was doubling the rhythm guitars instead of playing an actual bassline...

Les Claypool.

Big fan of his music but i do not think his tone would be good for Sludge/Doom :hmm:


haha i love his tone, very unique and often like he's playing on old rusty dead strings.


Gotta go with Jaco for this one though, or bootsy

Sheehan. Great player, landmark bassist, I wish I had half of his finger control, but that fart noise he gets from his rigs?, bleh. Must sound good live,maybe?

it doesn't...but man is he wicked on the fretboard.

I like the tones of Bootsy, Jaco and Lemmy who are all monsters, but I wouldn't know what to do with those tones myself.

+1 for Steve Harris...now if i had 25% of his strength and stamina...

+1. I wonder how much of his increased nasally tone had to do with his hearing being shot.

And he's one of the reasons I gravitated to bass. I bought the "official bootlegs" that Pete Townshend & Roger Daltry put out of their last tour. I got the Detroit show. It kills me to admit I liked Pino's sound much better. Sounds kinda like a bass player or something.

I think I'm in the (possible) minority of people who prefer Entwistle's sound from his Alembic period onwards (his Alembic tone being my favourite; in fact one of my all-time favourite bass tones. The sound he has on the old "America" live VHS is stellar). But I like big, bright, aggressive & twangy. As for Pino, he's a good example of someone whose sound I wouldn't know what to do with unless I was playing old Motown stuff or something. In the Who he's just completely wrong, stylistically & sonically, IMHO. Entwistle drove the band, he lays back waaaay too much for my taste. Great player otherwise though.

I love JPJs Jazz/flats tone (and Lenny Kravitz and Jack Daley) but I couldn't use it myself, and I've tried!

Bill Wyman - The Rolling Stones -love his short scale bass use and sound/tone all those years with The Stones-but could not and would not use the basses or tone/sound Bill did.
Jack Bruce-cool fretless sound (Robin Trower albums) on an off thru time-sounds gr8 with his style-but i could never pull it off and be satisfied with that bass tone.
James Jamerson-love the legend! and his low flat an fat tone/sound with Motown Artists but "dead"heavy gauge FLAT WOUNDS I could never swing with myself.-James owned that sound!

ENTWISTLE

love the playing, the tone is hard to listen to. too damn bright.

Les Claypool.

Big fan of his music but i do not think his tone would be good for Sludge/Doom

Sludge/Doom? :confused:


Oh, and for the sake of contributing to this thread, I don't like Cliff Burton's tone while soloing with distortion.

And I like John Myung's tone, especially in Dance of Eternity...

Billy Sheehan. That guy can play, but I don't like his sound too much.

John Myung. I can't HEAR him in the mix most of the time, which is a shame, because when I DO, it's pretty awesome.

Lemmy. It's not as bad as the vocals for turning me off Motorhead's music, but it's close. It's a shame because some of the music I actually might like.

Peter Hook... during the "Warsaw" days, on all of the recordings I've heard it just sounds way, way too "honky".

Billy Sheehan. That guy can play, but I don't like his sound too much.

John Myung. I can't HEAR him in the mix most of the time, which is a shame, because when I DO, it's pretty awesome.

Lemmy. It's not as bad as the vocals for turning me off Motorhead's music, but it's close. It's a shame because some of the music I actually might like.

Lem has one of my top 5 tones. Now that's a tone I can use! :bassist: Agree on Billy Sheehan though.

Harris' sound... ever
Burton's distortion...

For me really it's any sound that sounds too thin or clangy...

Another vote for John Entwistle's later tone. I bought the Hot Licks DVD he put out. Can't listen to it. At least buried in the mix i can listen to Who songs from that era, but on it's own on the DVD it's just painful.