What has the biggest Influence on the sound?

[Thunderbird91]

What has the biggest Influence on the sound?

[WalterBush]

The player.

[Trevorus]

That is such an open ended question. Different things do different things for different people.

[Figjam]

if we are talking materalistic things, i say electronics. It just makes sense. Without electronics, there is no sound

[steve21]

In my opinion, player, amp, bass, then other stuff.

[Figjam]

I voted for fingers. Of course.

[MODNY]

the player.

[HighwayOneJazz]

voted fingers.
then, bass design (thank you Leo).
amp
electronics (i prefer passive)
wood
strings
but, the most important thing is, do i look good! lol

[bikeplate]

Hi

Me

Rob

[lamborghini98]

Originally Posted by Figjam

I voted for fingers. Of course.

lol.

I understand why fingers are important... and of course its a very noble thing to say that your fingers determine your sound... as you put it before, no electronics, no sound. Im not advocating being lazy and let your electronics determine your sound, but the notion of your fingers being the biggest influence on sound has always kind of bugged me. i dont mean to offend anyone, of course, and the only reason why i quoted figjam was to say "lol" to what he said.

[Blackbird]

The room.

[amper]

The strings. Without strings, you have NO sound.

[Michael Jewels]

There are so many variables, but I'd say electronics edges out the others by a slim margin.

Why?

All things being equal, two different players on an EB-O will not sound like Jaco, even if they play very much like him.

You may hear Jaco's signature phrasing, but you won't hear the "burp," due to the different position of the pickup(s) on the different basses. (Jazz & EB-O)

That's my spin.

Mike

[Petary791]

IMHO, it's fingers, followed closely by the pickups.

[gambit0714]

The fingers are the key. It's not all the bass, or your pickups, or the bridge, or the strings, As much as it is your fingers.
Face it if your finger work sucks the sound sucks.
If the fingers are funky the sound is funky.

Just MHO.

[Fuzzbass]

Originally Posted by Michael Jewels

There are so many variables, but I'd say electronics edges out the others by a slim margin.

Why?

All things being equal, two different players on an EB-O will not sound like Jaco, even if they play very much like him.

You may hear Jaco's signature phrasing, but you won't hear the "burp," due to the different position of the pickup(s) on the different basses. (Jazz & EB-O)

That's my spin.

Mike

+1

[T. B. Player]

Originally Posted by jabberwock777

The player.

+1!!!!

[T. B. Player]

Originally Posted by Blackbird

The room.

+1! (The other big factor that nobody ever considers)...

(Note to Blackbird - your signature is correct...ergo, my "nihil est facile" - "Nothing is easy")

[themajorrager]

this is a good topic and one ive been thinking about quite a bit. i mean, really, how do we know what a bass really sounds like? i mean there are so many things influencing the sound:
the strings, pickups, amp, cab etc. when buying a bass how do you really know what youre getting?
sure you can test it accoustically but then you dont play it accoustically do you! and your bass will always sound different when played through different heads and different cabs so what is the true sound?
not to side track this thread but why do we have pickups on basses and not a mic under the strings? im sure there is a logical explanation but id like someone to explain it to me.

[didier]

if I get a compliment on the sound, then I'm sure it is the player. If someones says it wasn't quite on, it was probably the amp, unless I was going direct, in which case it is the bass, unless it's the bass I almost always use, in which case its the strings, which can be either too new or too old.

If you're playing with pa support, the person doing the sound is important, too. There was one one night who would randomly put a pitch shifter on notes I played and it didn't sound good at all!!