I don't like your sound!!!!

[NickBass81]

Have you ever been criticized by your band mates 'cause they didn't like your sound??!
It was a few years ago, I was 19 and heavily influenced by some famous fusion players..so I was using all the time that middle-rangy sound, even if I was playing a fretted bass with a rock band..my band mates really didn't like it because it wasn't ok for a hard rock band...so one good day the singer told me "Nick, change that damn thing, your bass sounds like a f#####g duck, qua-qua!!"
Now I use a fatter sound...

[ric1312]

A quaking duck, lol. Ya, I can picture a straight up rock band having a problem with that.

[scottbass]

Congratulations on being able to accept criticism. You would be surprised how many musicians (any iinstrument - doesn't matter) are unwilling to accept input from others concerning their sound, EQ, etc.

[BrennP90]

Back in high school when I played guitar (before I ever touched a bass) I played a couple times with some local kids who loved metallica and bands similar to that. They never got mad or anything, but thought it was funny when it got to the guitar leads or we were just jamming, and my playing would sound more like a grateful dead guitar part with a bit of distortion. Opposed to a metallica guitar solo.

[calebbarton]

we had this guitard one time who liked his "levels" all at around 11. when he went from clean to distorted it sounded like someone threw a bucket of rusty nails covered in petroleum jelly at a chalkboard.

[Bob the bassist]

My bandmates have never had a problem with my tone, but I've had sound guys bitch about it. My eq is mid-peaked (quack, quack!) and I whack my strings really hard, so my playing has a lot of percussive clicking to it. It works for what we do, but try telling that to a sound guy who's used to mixing cover bands. . .

[TonyFranklinFan]

I keep my sound mid-rangy and punchy...with a slight Jaco edge to it for everything.If they don't like YOUR sound F them...think of all the all-star players we know and all love that have that distinct sound, if they always bowed down to the standard they wouldn't be recognized or just another bum with a bass..think about that

[santacruzom]

Originally Posted by TonyFranklinFan

I keep my sound mid-rangy and punchy...with a slight Jaco edge to it for everything.If they don't like YOUR sound F them...think of all the all-star players we know and all love that have that distinct sound, if they always bowed down to the standard they wouldn't be recognized or just another bum with a bass..think about that

I don't know... I'm not really too fond of using what all-star players do as a justification. My drummer does that all the time -- "What's wrong with my splash cymbals? They don't fit the music? Haven't you ever heard Glenn Kotche?" I had to tell him, "Yeah, but I have news for you: those guys are better than you. That's all I'm gonna say about that."

[Brittain]

The first band I was in with friends, the guitarist criticized my playing style because I used slap bass occasionally, to add a bit of punch or groove to his otherwise thin and boring songs.

He claimed that slap bass was 'a useless rudiment' and all that the bass guitar was for was to play the root note of whatever chord it was that he was playing.

I gave him a big FU, left his house and never played music with him again, despite all his pleads when he realized that perhaps I was a better bassist than he gave me credit for when my other bands (in which I was given a to use which ever 'useless rudiments' I liked) started to play live shows and gain a bit of a reputation.

He's never set foot on a stage despite trying to play in multiple bands and to be honest, he doesn't deserve to. Jackass ¬¬

I still hang out with him though.

[dgelting]

I love it when people I respect the opinions of will help me with things like that. I find myself getting stuck in ruts as far as that sort of thing goes, just playing with the same old sound even if the situation could benifit from a change of some sort. Sometimes it's hard to hear from the "inside" of the situation. Almost all of the time the people who give me criticism are right on.

When I work as a sound person it's harder to know how much to "help". I usually couch my suggestions politely and stress that they should ignore me if they disagree. Even then I sometimes have musicians pissed at me to even dare to share my opinion. To them, I'm just another sound guy and they don't know if I know what I'm talking about.

I just had a band a couple of days ago with a drummer singing lead. I suggested that the drummer try to figure out a way to help keep the snare and cymbals out of his vocal mic. He had a very loud snare and very very bright cymbals and he hit everything with quite a lot of force. On top of that he sang fairly quietly. It was impossible to get a good mix and the entire crowd was going to be either killed with snare and cymbals or nobody would hear him sing. He did not take my opinion (in this case even more fact - physics - than opinion) well and seemed offended.

Sometimes people are gracious and take my suggestions to heart - usually after they hear me mix once and figure out that I'm not a dolt.

[winstonthecat]

Originally Posted by Brittain

He claimed that slap bass was 'a useless rudiment' and all that the bass guitar was for was to play the root note of whatever chord it was that he was playing.

Like you, I wouldn't take tone advice from someone as idiotic as that.

But it is good to hear honest feedback and criticism about your sound every once in a while.

I was at an indie-rock show a few months back, and the bassist's tone was terrible, just a distorted boom. The band was more pop-oriented, and the bass detracted from the whole sound. He could have used some polite criticism....

[neurotictim]

Originally Posted by dgelting

I love it when people I respect the opinions of will help me with things like that. I find myself getting stuck in ruts as far as that sort of thing goes, just playing with the same old sound even if the situation could benifit from a change of some sort. Sometimes it's hard to hear from the "inside" of the situation. Almost all of the time the people who give me criticism are right on.

+1

Also, I realized that "my" sound isn't necessarily what's in the best interests of the band, when I was in one. I like my mid-range growl and a clean but not overpowering low end.

My lead guitarist asked if he could play with my rig a little bit, to see if he could get a "better" sound from it, but since I respected him, I let him have his fun - I knew my settings. He turned the bass up some, turned the mids down some, lowered the parametric sweep of my mids, and bumped the highs a lil, and turned down the "Process" on my Sonic Max circuit...

Lo and behold, he actually did make my bass sound better in the mix. Sounded like crap soloed, IMO, but in the mix it was perfect.

I was listening to Joe Bonamassa earlier today and realized I really hate his bass player's tone on solo bits, but in the mix it's absolutely perfect for the blues. Funny this thread should jump out at me today. *shrug*

[Jonyak]

I have never had someone say anything but positives about my bass tone.

[neuromancer]

Originally Posted by NickBass81

Have you ever been criticized by your band mates 'cause they didn't like your sound??!

I have, although it tends to come from a position of ignorance about bass. I like to be open-minded on things where I can, although I've gotten really good at sniffing out ignorance. If that's the case, I just ignore them.

Case in point - the famous "you don't have enough bottom end in your sound" line (translation: "we can hear you; please stop that"), which really cracks me up when the entire room is shaking.

Another reason I tend to ignore band mates who don't like my sound is that they are usually all about lecturing me on what bass "should" sound like even though they have more than enough problems with their own instruments...and that's (conveniently) 'not anyone's business.'

I can accept criticism. I can accept suggestions. I've taken plenty of both. No problems there. What I no longer have any tolerance for are ignorance and double-standards. Sorry, not on my dime. If I'm a session player and hired by someone, then I'm all too happy to play standing on my head, or whatever. Different situation.

When I joined a band 5 years back, my sound was presented as a condition of me joining and staying with them. They were (politely) informed in the spirit of good communication that my sound was audible - not that this was a bad thing. They of course got to hear it in advance and had no problems with it - but that wasn't always the case for me in previous bands, so I like to make a point of it now.

[tomvelsor]

Originally Posted by BrennP90

Back in high school when I played guitar (before I ever touched a bass) I played a couple times with some local kids who loved metallica and bands similar to that. They never got mad or anything, but thought it was funny when it got to the guitar leads or we were just jamming, and my playing would sound more like a grateful dead guitar part with a bit of distortion. Opposed to a metallica guitar solo.

if someone said i sounded more like jerry than whoever it is from metallica, i'd be very pleased with that compliment..

after i got my korg G5 synth and definately overused it since it was new, i got a few dirty looks..after that jam the one guitarist said "your not using that for the gig on saturday, are you??"

[SteveC]

My band mates usually have to tell me it sounds good and quit trying a different bass every week already.

[SwamiRob]

My band usually tell me to use my Fender Bullet instead of my ATK all the time. I think it's a little too lo-fi for my band, but they seem to like it. Probably down to my ATK having some trouble with sounding too clicky and stuff, and it sounding especially bad through an underpowered rig. Whereas Fenders seem to put up with any distortion or unwanted compression sounds you can throw at them.

After getting a Bassculture replacement, putting on 110s, getting an NV215, buying a 1500W heads that's almost the same as my current one, and installing a Quarter pounder Jazz pickup in the very near future, there should be any problems with it not sounding deep enough

They do tell me to stop playing with my EQ all the time though, they can't hear the difference. Although they should do now I've got some friggin head room.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by neurotictim

+1

Also, I realized that "my" sound isn't necessarily what's in the best interests of the band, when I was in one. I like my mid-range growl and a clean but not overpowering low end.

That happened to me just a couple of days ago. The whole gig I was thinking how much I liked the sound I was getting - lots of midrange growl and not too much on the low end. Then I listened to the recording we made.

Oops.

Too much mids, not enough lows. I was obscuring the guitars and not supporting as much as I should have been.

Lesson learned.

[Phalex]

The night we auditioned my guitar player, he showed up to the gig with his old keyboard player who was looking for a band as well. They both blew us away, but we were only in the market for a guitar. But after sitting in and then sitting back and listening for a bit, the keyboard guy told me I had too much mid range on my bass. He was right!

[BakerJ]

I think the one I've gotten most is ''That sounds like a double bass.''