Tone Knob... Use it or lose it?

[msb3671]

Heya.

I never use the tone knob on my bass. Always rolled up to 'full'. I think it's a carry over habit from my metal/punk guitard days. I just change the 'tone' with my plucking.

How about you? Do ya or don't ya?

Peace, love, and thanks!

[kraigo]

I rarely use it on my bass. I could do without it. It's fun to play with it if you're messing with reggae or an old school tone, but for the most part it's just an extra knob. The one on my P-Bass has been broken for a couple of years, stuck wide open. I haven't been compelled to fix it.

[msb3671]

Originally Posted by kraigo

I rarely use it on my bass. I could do without it. It's fun to play with it if you're messing with reggae or an old school tone, but for the most part it's just an extra knob. The one on my P-Bass has been broken for a couple of years, stuck wide open. I haven't been compelled to fix it.

Interesting you say that about a P. I think I'm going to add a humbucker to a Squier P, and I have been debating on adding a knob or just going with two volumes and ditch the tone.

[kraigo]

Check out a G&L MFD humbucker. Those things are monsters and are usually around $50 from a G&L dealer. I think I could be happy with two switches: Pickup selector (bridge, neck, neither/mute) and a coil switch for the bridge humbucker. As you can tell, I've thought about it.

KO

[bassophil]

In can honestly say i never used a tone knob in my 15 years of playing. At least not for any recording or live purposes, not even for rehearsals, only for noodling around at home...to see what it does.

[Muckaluck]

Tone on full all the time for me. I'd never miss the tone knob if it wasn't there.

[Crazy_Jake]

never use the tone knob - I try to get whatever sound I need just out of my fingers

[warnergt]

For a long time, I didn't use my bass tone control knob because
I needed it to be consistent for dialing in the controls on my
amp (Ampeg).

Then, I switched to a Fender Bassman. Now, I leave the
amp alone and my P Bass tone knob is the only tone control
that I use.

It just seems that the Bassman is a perfect match for the
tone control on my P Bass. I turn the tone up (tunes with
prominent bass parts) or down (most regular tunes) and I
don't feel a need to fix anything on the amp side.

[oldcatfish]

I use it all the time at church...usually 3/4 to all the way up (depending on how new my strings are) for the upbeat songs, or those with a prominent bass line; but rolled all the way off to 90% off (again, depending on the strings) for slow or traditional hymn type songs.

[nashman]

For me about 1/2 to 3/4 open for finger style, 1/4 the way open when I use a pick (with flats).

[Jinro]

If by "tone knob" you mean the treble knob, then it depends. On my starter bass (passive) I never used it--tried it and the sound of my fingers sliding across the strings was terrible. Now that I have an active bass.......I still really don't use it.

[BassPlayer900]

I can't keep the tone up all the way on my P bass. It sounds too clanky, trebly and annoying. I like to either have it halfway or on full bass. If I had a bass with treble and bass tone knobs, I'd probably go full treble with some bass, but on basses with 1 tone knob, I have to use it.

[lowfreq33]

I had an MIA Jazz that needed the tone knob rolled off about 30%. just too bright otherwise.

[topo morto]

It's useful to get different sounds out of your distortion, or to get nice, deep dubby sounds...

I use mine a lot, different positions for different songs.

[scaldin]

Had a volume and tone installed, after 15 years of having my EMGs wired straight to the jack. I kind of like taking the edge off on mid-tempo songs.

[BassOfSpades]

i use mine, it helps a lot when you play different genres with the same amp settings