how to judge sound when buying a first bass?

[transition]

I've been playing for about four months, and have made some decent progress, but (obviously,) I'm still not getting the quality of sound that an advanced player would.

I'm planning to buy my first bass in the next month or so, and know (thanks to reading and rereading a lot of the info here) that I should bring someone to play for me so I can hear the out front sound; my teacher has agreed to come do this for me.

I also know (again, thanks to reading and rereading a lot of the info here) that every player is going to sound different on the same bass with the same strings.

As I progress, I know I'll begin sound sound better, but "better" doesn't necessarily mean "like my teacher" (or does it? I'd have no complaints if it did...)

So... how do you judge the sound? Would I want to go with a bass that sounds best when he plays, or the one that sounds best when I—with my developing but still limited skill—play?

Or am I (as is often the case) overthinking this?

[alanchia67]

Either get your teacher or a friend who is more experienced than you, to play the bass and comment. It's the same buying any music instrument (such as guitar).

[spoonido]

It's interesting that the same instrument can sound so different depending on who is playing it. Every bass I've tried sounds much better when someone else tried it!

So yes, by all means, stand back and listen to someone else playing each bass. Also be aware of the room you're in. The surroundings will very much influence the tone as well.

Back when I used to sell acoustic guitars, we had a special room for auditioning instruments. It had other good guitars inside that helped sweeten the tone of anything you played in there. If you're able to, get the bass away from other basses when trying it out for a less influenced result.

[longfinger]

It can actually be quite hard to mentally process and understand what one is hearing. A lot depends on how the bass is setup, what strings are on it, what room we're in, how we play a bass, as well as what we expect a bass to sound like. Perhaps it will be best to go with the recommendation of your teacher, provided that he is thinking of what's best for you and not for him.

[nicechuckh]

Another point to muddy the water lol, if you have the sound of a bass with gut strings in your head, you're not gonna hear that with a bass with steel strings and vice versa. I'd say tho, if you hear a bass that sounds just right to you, when you or your teacher is playing it, then you've found it. And if that one looks good and feels right, all the better. IMHO

[Eublet]

Developing an ear for good bass tone happens over time, and is highly dependent on so many things you just can't nail it down early on. As long as you like the tone now, then you are judging it correctly. Time my change your mind, but don't second-guess yourself. But generally speaking, pick a jazz or precision style instrument that sounds good to you. Hard to go wrong there as they've stood the test of time.

Much more important in my mind is getting a bass that plays well so that you can learn more quickly and not develop bad habbits to compensate for a poorly playing instrument. This is where an experienced player can help the most.

[nicechuckh]

Very well put Jason

[transition]

Makes sense. I do aspire to a similar sound to his, so hopefully that will help.

I guess the concern I have is that I'm unsure of just how much the player dictates the sound. I'm an experienced saxophonist (and a bass newb at 40); having someone else play a saxophone for you is pretty much pointless. So much of the sound comes from the person: the shape of the lips, the size and volume of the oral cavity, the throat, and even the chest are as much a part of the sound as (and are literally an extension of) the instrument.

Add to that mouthpiece and reed choice, which are extremely personal, and ideally should be matched to the horn (like strings). Two different people using widely different gear can end up with a similar sound, just as two people using identical gear can end up with very different sounds.

It's really more about finding gear that facilitates getting the sound in your head with the least amount of work.

I guess the bottom line is that, like any inexperienced player trying to find "the" instrument, it's a leap of faith.

Given that I'm starting later in life and am just doing this for my own enjoyment, I don't need the best ever instrument. I would like to just find a good one that suits me, and grow into it, focusing on my playing and not on my gear.

We'll see how that goes.

EDIT: ah... a bunch of you posted while I was typing. Thanks! I do think, like a few of you mentioned, that I might just know. Or I might not.

It took me five tenors and fifteen years to find the perfect one for me; on soprano, it was five horns and seventeen years!

But over those years, my tastes changed, and I was growing into the music as I grew as a person. I don't think I'm finished with my "journey" but I am a lot further down the path than I was as a kid. I'm thinking I won't need as much churn on the bass.

[nicechuckh]

Great attitude

[drurb]

When you develop a sophisticated ability to make the discrimination, you can pretty much "hear through the player" to the fundamental characteristics of the sound of the instrument. Sure, the sound of my own bass changes with players, strings, etc. but there is a set of characteristics that are quite constant.

[ronned2tm]

Your teacher is definitely more experienced than you in this area, and will be more qualified to judge an instruments playability and sound than you. Of course you should be the one who decides which instrument you buy, but help from an experience player to guide you to the right bass is very good indeed.
When I started out playing bass, I didn't have a clue as to what sounded good (I was in 4th grade though) and I couldnt really hear any difference when I switched between the J and P pickup on my 3/4 Samick P/J bass. After a couple of years I bought an ESP LTD B-154 bass online, luckily the bass was excellent, in terms of build quality and feel. After owning that bass for a couple of months, I actually found the sound to be quite far away from my liking. My point is that I was lucky with the ESP bass, but I could just as well have bought a ****** bass, which I would come to hate after a short period.

As I have become a much more experienced and varied bass player (I used to play metal, now I play anything from metal, to jazz, to childrens music, prog rock) and have bought much better gear, I have got a better understanding of what I personally like in terms of sound and feel of an instrument and how I like to play it. As a beginner I didn't have a clue as to what an instrument should sound and feel like, for me it was just about how good it looked. I couldn't really feel the significant difference between a chinese made 150$ and a quality Fender, Läkland, etc. at the time, but that definitely came as I did get better and more experienced, and I would've been tired of the crappy cheap bass (NoNames, Supreme, StarSound) much earlier than if I bought an excellent cheap bass (Squier, etc.) It may even have thrown me off playing bass, if it was too difficult to play and I couldn't get any decent sound out of it.
The problem is, while you may know what you do like to play on the bass, you may not have the experience and knowledge to actually know what kind of bass that would suit your playing style and musical taste. As a beginner you should be very careful when going to the local guitar store to buy an instrument, as many salesmen are not necessarily interested in helping you making the best purchase, as opposed to selling a bass that the store haven't been able to sell to others because of poor quality.

Take your teacher with you to the store. He will probably have more interest in you getting the right instrument, than the salesperson at the store who might just want to sell you some crappy instrument no other will buy.

[ronned2tm]

Buggar! Didn't notice this was in the Double Bass forum. I think my answer is more applicable to bass guitars...

[transition]

No worries, ronned2tm! At least your first sentence backs up what drurb was was saying... my teacher will likely be able to hear through my playing and to the bass.