Do you LOVE your bass tone?

[Ggaa]

If I'm standing in the right spot, yes.

 

[Clark W]

Do you LOVE your bass tone? Do you feel joy, elation, or bliss due to the voice of the notes as you lay down a sweet groove?

Or do you not really care? Maybe it's the notes, not the tone that matters.

Or maybe you aren't happy with your tone, and you can't find that tone in your head that you are yearning for.

I have different tones from different setups that I'm really happy with...

2019 Fender California Series Kingman V2 JTB through a Keeley Compressor into a GK MB-210II
Same bass through a Sansamp BDDI direct into a Zoom LiveTrak L-20 for recording works pretty well too.

Any one of these 3 basses running direct to a Hartke HA3500C that has a Sansamp BDDI running through the FX loop and out to a Hartke 410 cab.

• 1986 EMG GZR P loaded, Epiphone Accu Bass (strung with a set of chromes)
• 2019 Fender Precision Player Series loaded with a Fender Custom Shop '62 P pup (strung with Fender nickel rounds)
• 2019 Fender American Performer Precision P/J loaded with Aguilar's hum canceling P/J pup set and controlled by a custom made control/output set using CTS, Vitamin-Q, and Switchcraft components (strung with D'Addario black tapewounds)

And again for recording, any one of those basses direct to the board(LiveTrak L-20) via a Sansamp BDDI.

Those setups mentioned are my favorite tones, and they're all so different, the two Precisions are like night and day in a lot of ways from each other.

But I also have a a 2012 Ibanez SRX2EX2 that does pretty well. And I just got a jazz style Peavey Millennium loaded with MEC Dynamic Correction pups from Warwick and a Tone Monster 2 band preamp. I'm still learning the tones it will do but it's got a nice aggressive jazz tone to it. So far I have only ran it through the GK setup, but it seems to like that rig really well.

 

[dave64o]

Here's my #1 bass, a Stingray 5HH, going into a Mesa D-800+ through a pair of Barefaced Big Baby 2s. Yes, I love my tone! And that's with ME playing this rig. I once got to hear a good player playing my bass through my rig and ... WOW!

 

[drumvsbass]

We always have PA support so volume is never an issue. I would love to try it with an 810 cabinet though!

Me too with the PA support (but honestly, it worked a small/medium sized venue with no PA support with the 2x15 config)

 

[lokikallas]

Kinda do. When I first tried the SVT7 Pro, I was like "this is it!" I still love it. I suppose I could love an SVTCL even more, but I'm not interested in the shlep.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Do you LOVE your bass tone? Do you feel joy, elation, or bliss due to the voice of the notes as you lay down a sweet groove?

Or do you not really care? Maybe it's the notes, not the tone that matters.

Or maybe you aren't happy with your tone, and you can't find that tone in your head that you are yearning for.

I love my tone. When I'm with my band though, I dont really care for what works best. But, my tone is pretty much flat. Slight bass boost, maybe a knotch up at 450hz, maybe a knotch down on treble. With my band, its scooped pretty tough with ultra high on and treble knob at least three notches up. It works best. Regardless of what's said here on talkbass. Myself, I play pretty much flat. Band setting, things change. According to talkbass, that should be reversed though. But, whatever works best. If it sounds good, it is good. Know what I mean?

 

[D.M.N.]

Do I love it? Depends on the day and the room. I am generally very content with it, especially if I get to turn my amps to a decent level so they can really open up. But it is always a constant chase trying to iron out the small niggles. I also go back and forth on exactly how I want it to sound depending on my mood, which more or less is why I have a few different basses, Precision, Tele, Jazz, Thunderbirds, etc. I'd be loads happier if I had a constant supply of fresh Rotosounds to pop on as soon as the current set started dying. Most of my finnicking comes trying to eek out that crispness of fresh strings when they start to die. If I had to put a number, at any given point if I pickup a bass and plug into my amps, I'm going to be at 90% of how I want to sound. And if I didn't have that constant little struggle, well then'd get a bit bored. But a couple Sunn 2000s and cabs along side a Hiwatt DR103 into 4x12s? Yeah, I'm overall pretty pleased.

The real challenge is when it comes to capturing my tone on record. I have never been entirely happy with it, and have yet to find a way to capture it with the same authority and fullness of what my rig can do. I've tried mic'ing it with tons of different mics, DIs, fancy plugins, guitar amps, etc, and it never is how I want it to sound. I'm quite happy with how the Tech21 DI-2112 tracks to record, but it's nowhere really in the ballpark of my rigs tone. Good, and fits in a mix really well, but not the same. It's the best bass tones I've managed to record thus-far, and certainly when it comes to sessions for other people's music I'd be more than happy with the results. But trying to condense a Thunderbird or Precision wide open into a Sunn 2000s and JBLs or a Hiwatt DR103 and 4x12s onto a recorded medium is a bit of an exercise in futility.

 

[moderatelyfunky]

The answers are really pleasantly, surprisingly upbeat.

I'm not a fan of mine and I thought most people would dislike theirs too. Like so many say about hearing their voice on a recording.

 

[Frunobulax]

Just watched a guy on FB sell all his gear, spent more money than I could imagine on buying up new gear, his "killer rig of doom" only to sell it all again 4 days later because it didn't sound right in the mix of his current band.
I think you've got to know the sound you want before spending heaps on chasing a utopian dream.
The sound I chase is the early Hunters and Collectors sound. I don't think it gets much meatier than that... I can dial it in with any of the 3 rigs I own.

 

[dusterdan70]

sure do, i just don't LOVE my playing

 

[Wesley R]

In a band setting, I am generally 95% or more their.
Practice area, 30% - 90% depending on my mood

 

[selowitch]

Each of my basses conveys a different set of tones. I like most of them.

 

[Kaplan]

Different types of tone motivate me to play different ways. If the tone is bad, I don't feel like making music.

 

[bmusic]

Yes I do. P's and J's though and Ampeg fliptop.

 

[rodsnhawgs]

A constant search for tone. And "good tone" is widely variable based upon the room, the point of your development as a player, your attack, new vs. old strings, how much air your rig pushes on any given day (which can vary with weather conditions), how far away from your rig you listen...on and on. The key, for me, is to find the basic tone you're happy with based on your rig, typical venues, playing style, and genre of music you play most and enjoy. After that, it's about tweaking things a bit.

Like most of you I'll bet, I've spent a fair amount of money (buying/selling) trying out different rig combinations. For me, some days it's killer, some days it's off....but I love those days it's killer!

 

[TOOL460002]

EBMM=win.

 

[Cut the middle]

I want a t bird!

 

[dab12ax7ef]

To me, it's a valuable exercise to chase and hone tone. Putting in the time and effort and some dollars to achieve this is good. That way one can have a sense to easily dial in a good tone. However, when it comes down to it, knowing the tunes and having a great feel is more important. Also, having good musical awareness is important. There are a lot of outside factors like a bad mix from a mediocre sound person that can negate thousands of dollars worth of amps and pedals.

 

[two fingers]

Yep! Mesa TT800 and Subway 115 cab. I've got all kinds of basses and that rig will get me where I want to go with all of them.

 

[burgerdj]

If I have my Sansamp I know what tone I'll get. For better or worse, it really determines the tone of just about any bass. The only bass I have that I really like going straight into an amp or board is my EBMM Sterling.