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What's more important for good tone - bass or amp?

Most important for good tone - bass or amp

  • Bass

    Votes: 114 43.8%

  • Amp

    Votes: 78 30.0%

  • Carrots

    Votes: 68 26.2%
  • Total voters
    260
Dave Bassincus

Dave Bassincus

Nov 28, 2006
668
224
Fort Myers, FL
#1
I was at GC the other day trying out a few basses through a Markbass rig, and found a fantastic dub tone with an Epiphone EBO, which is not generally regarded as a good bass on this forum. The lows were so deep and thick, I could easily have used the sound on any reggae track. So my question is, which is more important for a good tone - bass or amp?
 
#9
It also depends on how you gig. If you gig often with PA support and record, give priority to the bass.
If you reinforce your gigs solely with your amp then probably a good amp would be the first thing to focus on.
But you probably meant what from the two contributes more to the good tone - well, both - plus the player (playing technique, the ability to set the bass and amp controls the proper way, etc.)
 
#10
It really does depend on the amps and basses in question, but speaking in broad generalities, I would go with amp by a narrow margin as being the biggest differentiator in sound. In my experience there is a greater variance in sound when you play a single bass through different amps than when you play a variety of instruments through the same amp. All of this is IMHO and YMMV.

I figure that basic tone (timbre) of any bass amp configuration (fingers not being a factor, just open notes ringing through an amp) was 60% amp, 40% bass with the bass component breaking down to 80% pickups, 15% strings, 5% woods and the woods breaking down to 70% neck and 30% body.
 
#11
Dave Bassincus said:
I was at GC the other day trying out a few basses through a Markbass rig, and found a fantastic dub tone with an Epiphone EBO, which is not generally regarded as a good bass on this forum. The lows were so deep and thick, I could easily have used the sound on any reggae track. So my question is, which is more important for a good tone - bass or amp?
Click to expand...

I guess that really depends on who you talk to. There are a lot of
guys on the Gibson thread that might take exception
to that. For a dub sound, that bass, and any mudbucker
equipped Gibson is excellent. So my answer would be the bass,
and much of that is the pup setup.

An EBO with a DiMarzio One pup would be a great dub setup,
as it has more clarity than the EBO pup, but got plenty of
deep thick chocolatey goodness.

As for me, I found the sound of my Geddy Lee retrofiited
with SD Antiquity II pups far superior to the standard
pups it came with.
 
#12
If you play a Squier Affinity P through a good amp, it has the potential to sound excellent. If you play a Fodera through some 15 watt practice amp, you have literally no chance of getting good tone, no matter how good you are.

I'll take a great amp and a cruddy bass over a great bass and a cruddy amp any day of the week. All this being said, I haven't had a cruddy bass for almost 10 years, so apparently somewhere along the lines I've had it ingrained in me that I needed a nice bass. hmm I guess sometimes it happens that we don't take our own advice. ;)

Just my opinions, not trying to be "the answer" so no need to get up in arms if you disagree with my position. :)

Jake
 
#16
It depends a lot on the budget. With 2 grand in the bank you can have both a great sounding bass and great sounding amp if you're wise about how you allocate the funds between them.

If you're talking straight up rock 'n roll, blues, R&B - some musical setting where there is a strong emphasis on a fundamental solid tone and not a requirement to go the uber-hifi modern route - the a MIM P, pickup upgrade and some neck work will set you back $400 to $500, a GK 1001 RB II is $620 delivered, an Avatar 4x10 is what $450 ? with that setup most of us could get out and get the job done in style ...

of course the gear means nothing - an airplane doesn't get off the runway with no pilot ... it's your ears and hands that make the stuff sing.
 
#18
Dave Bassincus said:
I was at GC the other day trying out a few basses through a Markbass rig, and found a fantastic dub tone with an Epiphone EBO, which is not generally regarded as a good bass on this forum. The lows were so deep and thick, I could easily have used the sound on any reggae track. So my question is, which is more important for a good tone - bass or amp?
Click to expand...

I have found that almost no matter what gear I use, I sound like me.
Your ears want to hear something a certain way, and automatically, your fangers and hands make adjustments without you realizing it. Eventually, you find the gear that makes you do less to realize what your ears and soul have had in mind all along.
All gear is a musical instrument- a speaker, a mic, a cable, etc. Each can do good and bad to your thing. Do not underestimate the importance of that-> try to have no weak links in the chain. Sometimes a bass and amp are very complimentary. Sometimes the two are NOT. This can especially true and more evident when matiching amps and cabs up.

Ultimately, though, I say the AMP is more important than the bass (electric bass). But a dog bass can make a great amp sound like a dog, too.
 
#19
I think your ears are most important. Give me a Lakland and a boutique bass amp and I guarantee that I can make it sound like crap.

It takes tweaking and experimentation to get the ideal tone from any amp/bass combination.

Also, your idea of the perfect tone could vary greatly from that of another persons. I played one gig where I thought my bass sounded obnoxiously boomy and lacking definition. After our set, the bass player from another band told me how much he loved my tone. I guess he just likes the sound of farts :hmm:
 

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