organic tone Generation

SunneyBoy · #1 01-02-2006, 10:37 AM

Hi there this is my first thread , i have been playing for about 6 years and like all of us out there i am on a quest for great tone , i have purchased loads of great gear that i am extremely happy with , but i have realised the most important variable in the process of tone generation should be me . iam a great fan of players like jaco , richard bona and there tone is what i would like for myself .

are there any players out there who are after that sort of tone , and woulen i do it thed you be willing to share your findings with regards to attack right hand position and left hand muting( for a righty).

i know alot of players promote digging in hard to achieve that tone , i have been doing ,that but at my gig on new years eve i couldnt stand my tone anymore i think i may be hitting it to hard and thus destroying a sound rather than creating one .

any imput would be greatly appreciated.

FaithNoMan · #2 01-02-2006, 05:17 PM

From what I've heard, Jaco used a lighter touch...

..if you are always digging in, where does that leave room for any kind of dynamics??

bassjus · #3 01-02-2006, 05:52 PM

just experiment with different things, also try adjust your pickup level it's a pretty important factor that seems to be overlooked.

PhilMan99 · #4 01-05-2006, 10:37 PM

I'd start with strings; personally I favor flatwound, but that's just me. Whatever your desired sound, strings have a *huge* impact. Don't just settle for whatever is at the local music store; juststrings.com is a good source once you know what you want (to try). LaBella, Rotosound and TI are 3 very good brands for various types of "best of breed" tone.

If you've got "a lot of gear", like me, you may find that you've got too much electronic mumbo-jumbo in your signal chain. A lot of the old vintage sounds were just passive basses driving a good amp.

As far as "digging-in" goes, that shouldn't be your norm. If you're *always* digging-in, what do you do when you want to emphasize a note or phrase (think: dynamics).

The Clap · #5 01-06-2006, 01:22 AM

I think that to get that finger tone, it is important to be able to pluck with some strength, but not for the majority of notes. Dynamics and lean note lengths are the key to good 'organic' tone; try to maintain a light touch overall, but accents with great feel require a variety of plucking strengths to be used

SunneyBoy · #6 01-13-2006, 02:36 AM

its been a week since i started this thread , and i have done some analysis of why iam "digging in" .I think its a volume thing. i found that the minute the band starts steaming they start to play over me and then play harder without thinking to try cut through the mix. Now i have been told iam a very low volume player and that i could turn it up. In my oppinion my amp is working way harder than it should have to . i use an swr mobass with a 4x10 cab. so there should be no lack of power . but my gain is usually at 2/3 full and my masters are at 3/4 . this seems to be to much . how does one gauge what there volume should be . should i crank it up so that where im positioned on the stage the bass is in front of the mix. I must mention iam the vocalist of the band so i kinda have to hear something other than bass . it might also be an eq thing i just dont know what to do.

PhilMan99 · #7 01-13-2006, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunneyBoy

its been a week since i started this thread , and i have done some analysis of why iam "digging in" .I think its a volume thing. i found that the minute the band starts steaming they start to play over me and then play harder without thinking to try cut through the mix. Now i have been told iam a very low volume player and that i could turn it up. In my oppinion my amp is working way harder than it should have to . i use an swr mobass with a 4x10 cab. so there should be no lack of power . but my gain is usually at 2/3 full and my masters are at 3/4 . this seems to be to much . how does one gauge what there volume should be . should i crank it up so that where im positioned on the stage the bass is in front of the mix. I must mention iam the vocalist of the band so i kinda have to hear something other than bass . it might also be an eq thing i just dont know what to do.

For one thing, I suggest not standing in front of your amp. Put your amp where "you can hear what they hear".

...also, it sounds like others in the group like to play LOUD!

SunneyBoy · #8 01-17-2006, 10:49 AM

yeh! they do . i think we are trying to compensate for a sub standard PA system. our PA hasnt got enough power so we tend pump everything on stage ! this results in big time wear and tear on our gear. vocals are the only thing that gets alot of help from the pa.

i generally place the amp diagonally behind me there isnt much space on most of the stages i play to have a choice on where to put it .

What do you think about replacing my 4x10 cab with one of those jbl wedge type monitors place in front of meas a means of hearing my self . especially for smaller gigs!

temple_of_boom · #9 01-19-2006, 10:20 PM

try this.... take your right hand out of the picture for a moment and run through some cromatic finger exersises using only hammer ons. if your left hand is the culprit youll know it. my tone has improved alot since ive seen that one handed bass video and realized how weak my left hand was .

Kronos · #10 01-19-2006, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunneyBoy

yeh! they do . i think we are trying to compensate for a sub standard PA system. our PA hasnt got enough power so we tend pump everything on stage ! this results in big time wear and tear on our gear. vocals are the only thing that gets alot of help from the pa.

i generally place the amp diagonally behind me there isnt much space on most of the stages i play to have a choice on where to put it .

What do you think about replacing my 4x10 cab with one of those jbl wedge type monitors place in front of meas a means of hearing my self . especially for smaller gigs!

Actually, let me ask you something. How many watts does your guitar player run through and how many watts are you running through? He really shouldn't be anywhere near what you're playing through.