Finding tones...break between settings?
 

So as I am experimenting with finding different tone settings on my fretless (quasi-upright, Jimmy, plain old fretless) I find after a while it all starts running together a bit.

Do you guys try to find a tone and then walk away for a while, kind of a palette cleansing for the ear and then come back, or do you just keep at it?

If you take a break, how long? An hour, a day?

1. set everything flat
2. play a bunch to learn what the bass does - could be hours or weeks
3. pan to the neck pup
4. go to step 2
5. pan to the bridge pup
6. go to step 2

I find that I really only want to use eq to deal with a room rather than revoice the instrument. Technique, pup pan, and passive tone give a ton of colors, especially on fretless.

Though I'm least qualified to comment, I agree wholeheartedly with this.

Tried sounding like Jaco/Pino/Jimmy et al, but I just sound like me (for better or worse).

What do you hear in your head? Perfect THAT sound and work it!!

Happy New (Roscoe) Year!!

I went to flat EQ and even pan this afternoon. I'll try to leave it alone for a while.

I did like the neck pup for an uprighty kind of sound.

Yeah, that's usually what happens to me, too.

Here's another bit of wisdom from another friend of mine. It is a new instrument, made of wood and metal that have recently come together, and you don't know. Instead of immediately trying to make it sound like some other instrument, play it with no expectations and see what it tells you. All of my instruments have a temperament and if I try to force the issue it can get ugly. After I got the Lull, I found myself kind of lukewarm to the tone on my YYD. For whatever reason, the ash/maple Lull was really speaking to me and leading me in different tonal directions. I didn't really pick up the YYD much for a week or two. Then last night I had a gig and took the YYD to use in the second set on a few tunes. I fell back in love right then and there, in part because I just let the bass be the bass and not try to shoehorn it into some "sound."

A good bass will sound good on almost any song if you let it. And a good bass can sound bad on almost any song if you force it. The instrument is the vehicle to serve the music rather than our idea of what it "should" sound like. I've lost track of the number of times I've been in the wrong head space, thought things sounded "bad", then listened to the recording of the gig and went, "damn, that sounds amazing."

Use the force, Luke...

You are wise Obi - won...or something like that. :-)

Right hand placement is a big variable. Over the neck is very mwah-ey and back by the bridge is very not.

Words of wisdom here ^

Let the bass tell you what it should be doing. Little changes can go a LONG way, if you let them.

I tend to find A sound that works well for me, then use my hands (like your right hand positioning discovery) to change my tone as much as possible. Typically the ONLY control I ever use is my blend, once I get "tweaked" for the room I'm in.