Question about Tone

[Georynn]

Ray,
I have two questions:
I notice your discography covers a VAST amount of VERY differing styles of music, from Metal to Funk and beyond. I'm curious as to how much someone should be willing to change up their tone, as they play in different styles, And how much time and thought should go into developing your own personal tone?

For example Your "Groove Therapy" tone is a very snappy "mid-scooped" slap tone. Your tone on the Gary Hoey live CD seems a little more round and mid heavy. I listen to both and I can identify your playing immediately. How much time do you spend tailoring your tone for the act, and how much input from the other musicians go into your tone?

Thanks in Advance,
Jeff

[rayriendeau]

Here are some of my thoughts regarding tone:
Each situation is different...ie: Your live tone is comes from your own settings/taste and then if there is a sound man your fortunately OR unfortunately in the hands of how they eq or mix you in the front of house. I try and talk to the sound man and convey how I like my tone...do this is in a nice manner because he can make you sound great OR like **** (especially if you piss him off)LOL
Studio is the same way, I have a tone I start with, which is pretty much flat by the way, and then you work with the engineer/producer/band on what sounds best for the particular recording you're doing. Hopefully your in a situation where you can give your opinion in the mixing stages as well, otherwise, again your tone is in the hands of another.
I believe at the heart of it that tone comes from your hands and how you play. That's why a Marcus Miller or Victor Wooten or anyone for that matter can pickup any bass and sound like themselves. It's not the bass, it's the player.
For the record, this is just MY opinion...BUT... I start with my bass and amp eqs flat. I want the sound to originate from my hands. I then use eq settings to enhance that sound depending on the application. Those factors for live playing might be room size, stage construction (concrete, wood, etc), trio setting verses more instrumentation, genre of music, etc
For recording things get adjusted to "fit the mix". I've used tone that when isolated from the mix sounds like crap but when it's combined with everything else it sounds amazing. On a recording you want everything to have it's place in the mix sonically and bass is no exception.
For your personal tone a lot is just going to come from how you play (your hands), from there it's just a matter of what you add to that.
I think most musicians are always on a quest for tone because no one tone will fit ALL applications.
Hope this helps.......

[Georynn]

Thanks for the swift reply, and Keep on putting out those inspiring bass lines.
I know you endorse Zon basses, what models do you use, and do you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to grab a different model with a different pickup configuration to get a starting point more appropriate for the track?

Thanks again!
Jeff

BTW some of your lines on the groove therapy CD are killer, and tough to try to learn...