Isn't this tone thing an endless cycle? Personally, I keep seeking tone nirvana and I'm not sure if there's ever an end to it, and I don't think I'm alone. There are some nights that what I hear is nearly, 'kind of pretty close' to what's in my head, but more times than not, the room doesn't cooperate. There is ONE place I've played where I live that actually makes my bass sound ALMOST exactly what I want it to sound but still, I feel there's something missing. I can't even describe what's missing most of the time, but that's what makes this endless 'holy grail tone' thing an endless search. Couple that with all these descriptions of tone bass players tend to use, such as 'grunt' 'punch', 'tight', 'tubey', etc. and I go into a tailspin trying to figure out what gadget, amp, cab, string, is going to get me "closer".
I also feel that, of all instruments in a typical cover band, the bass is the hardest to get a good tone from, only slightly rivaled by getting a good kick tone, but bass is definitely harder.
I might be saying this because I'm not a guitar player, but in my mind they can easily get a pretty decent tone with most any well-repected amp-speaker setup.
I wish I had the chance to take 3 amps and/or 3 cabs to a gig to compare through the night.
It's frustrating because music stores typically have very few brands/models to choose from in stock and even if you try them out in a store, that's nowhere near how they'll sound on a gig.
Now I see why so many people are trading in the classifieds. Youtube videos don't seem to help, either.
Guess I'm going to exercise the 'if you don't like it, send it back' option some online retailers offer. I never have done this because I feel like if I try something and send it back, it's typically USED, right? And the retailer takes a hit, right or wrong?
Maybe this search for tone is part of the journey, and I should just enjoy the trip rather than find the destination.
RTS
