Well, maybe it's just me then but when I'm in the audience I'm critiquing the bands' tone every time. If the bass player sounds awful, I note it (and cringe). If he/she sounds great, I'm diggin it. I can't be the only one.
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Chasing tone and killing G.A.S.
- Thread starter tb-player
- Start date
Well, maybe it's just me then but when I'm in the audience I'm critiquing the bands' tone every time. If the bass player sounds awful, I note it (and cringe). If he/she sounds great, I'm diggin it. I can't be the only one.
The cure for my bass GAS was mandolin GAS 
I have 3 basses - a passive 4str PJ with flats, an active 4str Jazz with rounds, and an active 5str with humbuckers. I figure this covers all my bases and they all feel great to play. None cost more than $1k and I feel no need to buy any more or trade the ones I have, mostly because I've found you can get awesome results with electric instruments without a ton of money. Acoustics IMO keep improving in big ways as they go up in price and the ceiling is basically limitless.
I have 3 basses - a passive 4str PJ with flats, an active 4str Jazz with rounds, and an active 5str with humbuckers. I figure this covers all my bases and they all feel great to play. None cost more than $1k and I feel no need to buy any more or trade the ones I have, mostly because I've found you can get awesome results with electric instruments without a ton of money. Acoustics IMO keep improving in big ways as they go up in price and the ceiling is basically limitless.
You know who cares about my sound? Everyone I work with. And me. And the audience cares, too, if it’s bad or isn’t loud enough or if it’s too loud. I’m not saying GAS is a great thing, but this thread makes me sad how so many of you think nothing matters about your role in the bands.
I think it's less about 'not caring about having good tone' and more about 'not chasing a hyper-specific tone you heard on a record'
To clarify - I'm not saying no one cares about my tone in the sense that I could have a terrible tone and no one would notice. I guess I'd say that, IMO, no one cares if I play an active 3-band two-pickup ash/maple bass or a passive alder/rosewood single pickup bass, if the tone is good (i.e., fits the genre/vibe) and volume is in line with the mix. In other words, if you have a decent to very good tone, most won't care or notice the subtle differences between basses or minor amp settings.
I agree that if your tone is terrible (100% mud, or 100% shrill high end), people will notice and dislike that.
I think GAS is fine as long as you know where to draw the line. Kind of like gambling, right? 
GAS for me has been about checking out basses that I drooled over as a teenager/early 20-something when I was poor and only had my 4-string Squier P bass. I wanted to try as many basses as I could and be able to bring a different bass to a gig on a whim just because a certain bass was inspiring my playing at the time. That more than anything is the thing for me: if a bass inspires you to play, why wouldn't you try and own it?
Also, I'm in a number of tribute bands in addition to my regular gigging band, so having specific basses for those bands is kind of a requirement.
GAS for me has been about checking out basses that I drooled over as a teenager/early 20-something when I was poor and only had my 4-string Squier P bass. I wanted to try as many basses as I could and be able to bring a different bass to a gig on a whim just because a certain bass was inspiring my playing at the time. That more than anything is the thing for me: if a bass inspires you to play, why wouldn't you try and own it?
Also, I'm in a number of tribute bands in addition to my regular gigging band, so having specific basses for those bands is kind of a requirement.
I've got the tones I want and necks that I like. I wanted all of my passive basses to be noise-free; I have that all sorted out now.
I was chasing less weight but I've pretty much have that now too. My heaviest bass is a P that weighs 8-1/2 Lbs. My other new P build is 7-1/2 Lbs and my revised Jazz bass build is also 7-1/2 Lbs.
I was chasing less weight but I've pretty much have that now too. My heaviest bass is a P that weighs 8-1/2 Lbs. My other new P build is 7-1/2 Lbs and my revised Jazz bass build is also 7-1/2 Lbs.
I own a few basses and they "audition" to be featured in upcoming performances. Depending on venue, tunes, other musicians feedback and my opinion, a bass might pass or be relegated to the rack. Lately 1983 vintage Ken Smith has been getting most the gigs but this week up against a SH Urge 1 bass mainly because of weight differences. Re: tone - when possible, I use a personal monitor to capture my signal and blend with house signal. After 50 years of developing my tone, I don't get real excited about what I hear coming back through house monitors so usually blend low in my ear mix.
Nice job with the weight! Lately that’s as important to me as great tone. Not getting younger
Yeah, them's fighting words to some, but it's true. Find a tone you like, get that in your stage mix and let that music flow.
Nice job with the weight! Lately that’s as important to me as great tone. Not getting younger
Light basses are a joy to play, close to effortless.
HAHAA.... I always have GAS.... but I'm old so I've had time to "trade-up" countless times over the years and I've kept quite a few. The odd thing is, now that I can do a side by side comparisons I've been able to determine that I don't even like certain high dollar toys. Yet since they are such highly regarded items I feel that I have to keep them. Yeah, I don't know why.... just to be able to pull them out and remind myself that I don't like em or in case my tastes change. I dunno.... Its a sickness....
A few years ago I was in a band and the BL was actually a bass player but in this band he played guitar because he was also the lead singer. As we played out I would bring different basses to see which one fit the music. The BL never made any suggestions as to which bass I should use but I began noticing that he always made a little face whenever I brought my P bass and he didn't make this face when I brought my Jazz. So after that I always brought my jazz bass.
I think both the OP and @JimmyM are correct. Most people don't care if it's a J or a StingRay or a P or whatever or who makes your amp or what strings you use, etc. etc. but if you're way too loud, they will definitely care.
So I'd say it like this: mostly nobody cares within certain bounds. Violate those bounds (especially volume) and suddenly a lot of people are going to care right away.
So I'd say it like this: mostly nobody cares within certain bounds. Violate those bounds (especially volume) and suddenly a lot of people are going to care right away.
I always have mixed feelings about this topic.It's no secret I've had a GAS problem for a good long while. It's been fun and frustrating. I've sold basses and bought basses for a number of reasons. One of the big reasons was this idea of 'chasing tone'. I just HAD to find the perfect tone for the perfect gigs. I would jump from one bass to another in search of that perfection.
Of course, I was playing some really nice basses and having fun doing it. But then something happened that changed my mentality. I was playing a gig and an old friend of mine was there. He's an elderly bro who has been playing bass himself for literal decades. He has a good ear but bad eyesight. He was sitting near the back, so he wasn't too close to the stage. After we were done he said, "Man, I love the sound of that p-bass!" This confused me because I was playing an active jazz which, in my mind, is the exact opposite of a p.
In his defense, for that set I was doing a lot of palm-muting and I had the highs rolled back a bit. But to me, it sounded nothing like a precision. To him, a seasoned bass player, he was getting p-bass vibes from the bass in the mix.
That's when it hit me. No one else knows or cares what my bass sounds like except me.
And my whole attitude changed. The last 5 years I've tested all the basses I wanted to test. It's been fun (and a little expensive). And since no one out there can apparently tell the difference anyway, I decided it was time to collect the basses I wanted to play... for me and me alone. I sold everything except my Mike Lull M5 and rebuilt a bass collection that I just totally dig (Don't worry. I have very good tastes in basses). Right now, I'm happier playing than I've been in a long time. People still tell me they enjoy it no matter what axe I'm on... cuz they don't really care what bass I'm playing. They care how they feel when it's bumpin'.
Did I just discover the cure for GAS? At least MY cure for GAS? Cuz it's pretty cool to scroll through the classifieds and realize nothing interests me. I'm content. That's a good feeling. We'll see if it sticks.
First - I agree that no one else cares about my bass tone other than me. No argument. Full agreement. Except in that rare case where there is another bass player in the audience.
However...
Second - That does not mean that I should not care as much about tone. I am more inspired to play when the bass feels comfortable in my hands and when it sounds how I want it to sound. Having said that, I do not have a massive collection of basses, pedals/effects, amps etc. I currently have three basses: P Bass with flats, Fretted Jazz Bass with rounds, and Fretless Jazz Bass with rounds. I have one compressor pedal and one preamp with overdrive capability. With that combination I can get any sound I need for any song/genre/gig/situation etc. And I have tweaked my tone for each of those combinations to be exactly how I like it.
I chased tone for a long time, many years ago when it was more affordable to do so. I learned from it. What I liked. What I didn't. Etc. However...
...the importance of all that to anyone but me was minimal. I could have "decided" that almost any of the basses I had were "the one." I just didn't because it was fun. Tracking. Out for Delivery. Great phrases. Addicting.
10 years ago I had my Roscoe Century Standard Plus 5 built. End of chase. Best feeling, sounding and looking bass ever - to me. It works just fine for any gig I would ever have. I also have a Roscoe Classic P with TI flats. Between those 2 basses, I'm pretty set.
...the importance of all that to anyone but me was minimal. I could have "decided" that almost any of the basses I had were "the one." I just didn't because it was fun. Tracking. Out for Delivery. Great phrases. Addicting.
10 years ago I had my Roscoe Century Standard Plus 5 built. End of chase. Best feeling, sounding and looking bass ever - to me. It works just fine for any gig I would ever have. I also have a Roscoe Classic P with TI flats. Between those 2 basses, I'm pretty set.
Welcome to the club!
IME when people talk about bass sounding good (or bad) the biggest factor is the notes being played and how they're played. Melodicity, harmonicity, timing attack, intonation: all things in control of the player.
After a certain low bar of an instrument's playability/serviceability, it's literally in the bassists hands as to how good or bad the it sounds.
I used to dabble in photography, and it's the same dynamic. Somebody once asked me what kind of camera I had, because she really liked my photos. She bought the same camera, but was disappointed that it didn't make her pictures come out like mine. Meanwhile, my pictures look similar from a phone, a point-and-shoot or an SLR, just like my bass playing sounds the same regardless of the specific instrument I'm playing.
It's fun to try and buy instruments, but how you sound playing any of them is more of a musical question than a gear question IMO.
IME when people talk about bass sounding good (or bad) the biggest factor is the notes being played and how they're played. Melodicity, harmonicity, timing attack, intonation: all things in control of the player.
After a certain low bar of an instrument's playability/serviceability, it's literally in the bassists hands as to how good or bad the it sounds.
I used to dabble in photography, and it's the same dynamic. Somebody once asked me what kind of camera I had, because she really liked my photos. She bought the same camera, but was disappointed that it didn't make her pictures come out like mine. Meanwhile, my pictures look similar from a phone, a point-and-shoot or an SLR, just like my bass playing sounds the same regardless of the specific instrument I'm playing.
It's fun to try and buy instruments, but how you sound playing any of them is more of a musical question than a gear question IMO.
My GAS is over because I found simpler is better. I bought 5-6 basses in the last 6-9 months. The last one I bought was a Warmoth build 54P with a True Custom Shop single coil pickup. I put TI Flats on it, and it just about all I play now. I am amazed how versatile this one bass with one pickup is. It can handle anything I can throw at it. Just a simple roll off or roll on, on the tone knob gets me whatever sound I need. I have thought of swapping pickups for a Sound Laboratories Chubby but honestly, it sounds so good and plays so well, I don't want to risk messing it up.
