Do you vary your tone?

[Martybass]

Hi guys,
The thought just came to me, should I be searching for a particular tone that I like and would like to apply to every piece of new material that my band and I come up with? Or is it alright to fiddle around with my EQ for particular songs if I feel it suits it better? I've just found that now ive got my new bass I'm constantly changing the pre-amp settings (my old bass was a P-bass clone with a non-functioning tone pot) to find what I think suits the songs best.

What do you guys do? I'm intrigued.

Cheers,
Marty

[kaboom133]

I do it all the time. It's a lot easier now than before, since I've gotten a G&L, but even when I only used my P-bass, I change tones a lot. I do think tone is about 80% in the hands, but I take full advantage of that other 20%

[baba]

I do, but it's more of a function of setting up to cut through the mix for a particular song. If there's lots of room in the mix I like it big and warm. If it's a full on assault of sound I add some more mids and a little high to bark and cut through.

[P. Aaron]

I am always looking for ways to improve the sound in a song, and that involves tweakin' the instrument about. No big deal, but fun.

[Chris A]

If I'm changing technique, I'll change my tone. I have one all around tone that I used for fretted, I take the mids out on my bass if I'm going to slap, and I boost the mids if I'm playing fretless. On the fretless I'll move around where I pluck the strings, too, for different effects. If I'm going for a more upright sounding tone(and there's not too many other people playing because this tone tends to not cut through as well) I'll pluck up near the neck. If I want a brighter attack and a crisper tone I'll pluck down near the bridge. I usually like to leave the amp set one way and make the changes on the bass itself. I do have an effects unit that I use from time to time, usually a subtle pitch de-tune for the fretless, or if I didn't bring the fretless and the tune would call for that, I would try to eq the fretted to sound like the mid-boosted fretless and turn on the pitch-detune.


Chris A.

[Brendan]

I've worked on getting a tone I like in the first place. Why muck it up for some other song?

[JimK]

I don't twiddle knobs...if I want a different tone, I adjust what little technique I have-
Play hard
Play 'light'
Play back by the bridge
Play over the pickups
Play over the neck
Play with the Palm Mute
Etc...

Maybe, maybe...add a little more bridge pickup for some things, otherwise it's 100% volume on both pickups.

[Mon Rominee]

I change "tone" constantly...the initial amp settings remain, but as was said, I vary technique, utilize the bass' eq, use my effects and tweak those... a must, imo.

[atldeadhead]

Originally Posted by JimK

I don't twiddle knobs...if I want a different tone, I adjust what little technique I have-
Play hard
Play 'light'
Play back by the bridge
Play over the pickups
Play over the neck
Play with the Palm Mute
Etc...

Maybe, maybe...add a little more bridge pickup for some things, otherwise it's 100% volume on both pickups.

+1 Great minds....

[Martybass]

OK, cool. Thanks for the opinions guys, though any more would still be appreciated
Marty

[jive1]

For recordings, I'll vary my tone.

For live, I usually dial a sound that I like and keep it there for the whole night. I might tweak the on-board preamp a little when I move between fingerstyle and slap.

[43% burnt]

I've been on a never ending quest for the perfect tone since I began to get familliar with the bass. I temd to stick to one amp eq setting and one bass setting-everything max. I do like to have different tones for different parts of songs. I use some effects on top of my main tone for variation. However i find alot of effects suck my tone, so i'm always trying new ones. The only one I've stuck with is the boss ODB3 for overdrive. I'm looking forward to trying the programmable Sansamp thats coming out soon.

[Figjam]

I leave my EQ settings the same and change how i play.

[mike_v_s]

Yes. From bad to worse. If you're looking for suggestions, ignore this post.

Mike