s0c9
Supporting Member
Given that 98% of punters are tone deaf and the other 98% are sound engineers... you may be right!
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Does it REALLY make a difference?
- Thread starter sedan_dad
- Start date
The audience is not listening to your bass specifically so it makes little difference but for you the player it does and that translates to better performance that the audience will notice.
Now if you ask anyone in any field of expertise what the last 5% means in their chosen profession the answer is usually "everything".
Now if you ask anyone in any field of expertise what the last 5% means in their chosen profession the answer is usually "everything".
With a quality PA & a properly trained Sound Engineer you WILL hear the differences.
I'll comment again not to assume your audience is a bunch of -whatevers- who are so unsophisticated they just don't know and don't care. Sure, some guys are just there to get tore up and pick up chicks, and some folks don't know and don't care, but some do. I suspect that number is higher than most of us think.
Quit playing to the lowest common denominator. When you do that, you lower the bar for everyone. Make the best sound you can - the folks who are paying attention will appreciate it, and the folks who are not can still have a good time. Dumb it down, because nobody can tell the difference anyway, is a good way to run off good fans.
Raise your expectations, raise your game, and you never know - your audience might just respond!!
Quit playing to the lowest common denominator. When you do that, you lower the bar for everyone. Make the best sound you can - the folks who are paying attention will appreciate it, and the folks who are not can still have a good time. Dumb it down, because nobody can tell the difference anyway, is a good way to run off good fans.
Raise your expectations, raise your game, and you never know - your audience might just respond!!
Worked for me. The successful bassists I know care very much about how they sound and how their sound is working with everyone else. Assuming that nobody but morons attend your shows is a one way ticket to Palookaville.
Right.
I've always felt very lucky to get to do what I get to do. One of the greatest pleasures and privileges of my life, especially the fact that people are willing to spend their time and coin to watch me do my thing.
I try to have respect for that. For me, that means doing my best. Being prepared, making good tone, dressing for the gig, putting on a show, giving it the respect it deserves - paying attention to the small stuff and working at the craft.
John Coltrane said "The main thing a musician would like to do is give the listener a picture of the wonderful things he senses in the universe."
Meanwhile in 2019, some dude said "who cares, nobody in the audience can tell a difference anyway."
Your audience might not be able to tell the difference between rosewood and maple, but you bet they can tell the difference between someone who doesn't give a poopie, and someone who gives the craft the respect it deserves.
s0c9
Supporting Member
Indeed they can.. but (IME) the majority mostly knows if it sounds good or not.. and that means the end result, not just a specific tone or instrument. Often genre specific, but they know what they are used to hearing and can tell whether the end result is good.. not which bass, type of wood, # of strings, type of string, amp, etc.. tho' there are those who will ask about those things.
I had been using either my MIJ Fender Precision Lyte or one of my Sterlings on gigs for the last 8 years and have been happy with my tone. Two months ago I bought a Hofner Ignition Club bass on a Black Friday sale ($249) since I always thought they looked cool. I knew that the sound and playability of the Club would be miles apart, and not in a good way, from my regular basses but I loaded it with some LaBella Beatle Flats and took it to a gig to try it out on a few songs. Surprisingly, the solid fundamental of the short scale seemed to work in the trio that I play in, filling out the sound nicely. Some fellow bass players in the audience and both my band mates loved the sound and look. I'm not considering phasing out my other basses, but the short scale and light weight (4 lbs!) is very comfortable for a three to four hour gig and I really didn't expect to like this tiny bass as much as I do. Long story short, I get as many compliments on my bass sound when I use a "budget" bass as I do when I use more "professional" equipment. It really must be in the fingers of player.
+1.
It's more what you do with what you have. Two of my basses are absolute polar opposites, one entirely made of cocobolo, neck, finger board, body and all, fitted with original EMG PJ pickups, the other a P knockoff with a maple neck and fingerboard, passive Wilde P46 pickup, both are set up with flats, and both sound great, albeit slightly different. Not one better than the other, just different; probably determined by the pickup differences more than anything else.
Judging by the latitude of bass cabs, amps and bass instruments, pickups and strings available, there really isn't any particular "ultimate" best sound, otherwise everyone would be buying the same thing trying to zero in on that sound. Additionally, many get very similar tones in very different ways with very different gear.
That being said, to say "fingerboard A is better than fingerboard B, or these strings are superior to others, or pickups, bass rigs, etc." is being overly simplistic. The sound as a whole is determined by a combination of many different things, and the musician's input and skill isn't a small part of that sound. The hardware part of it is a personal choice of what you personally like and what you are comfortable with.
