Help me understand what "tone" is when applied to bass..

[dbflats]

In the many styles of music that incorporate a drum kit or electronic or digital facsimile, I find that the kick drum sound has a great impact on the perceived tone of the bass.

Not to refute anything said above, but I think this aspect is worth noting, if not necessarily actionable.

 

[brianrost]

I find that the kick drum sound has a great impact on the perceived tone of the bass.

Any time you play a note at the same time as the drummer plays the bass drum, the two are perceived together and makes both sound bigger. That's part of what "locking with the drummer" is about.

 

[Docduval]

No one can hear the bass, so tone doesn't exist

 

[iqi616]

But out of curiosity, do you invest some serious thinking / time in how you sound (note not in a techinique sort of way), are you anchored to any specfic settings?

I spent some time working with the settings on my basses to try to find where each one sounds its best. I used to fight my instruments trying to make them sound like other people's tone but I stopped doing that and life got easier.

My P-bass is pretty flexible but my passive J-bass took a while to come up with volume and tone settings that make it sound its best. One thing I learnt was to listen more for the subtle frequency peak of the passive tone control than the frequency cutoff. Also, on the J-bass the pickup volume controls affect the tone in more ways than just balancing the two.

Beyond that, it's just down to the way I play (floating thumb gives loads of tonal options).

Edit: string choice makes a difference too - type and size.

 

[mikeoso]

I own three basses, all ABGs. I almost never amp or mic them, and never use a pick. My technique is the same regardless of which one I play. All three are spruce tops on mahogany bodies with Roto tapes. The reason I have three is that they all sound different...each gets used in a different type of music. If I play my Mota Monster at a blues gig, it sucks. If I play my Tacoma in an Old Time band it sucks. If I play my Martin in a folk circle it sucks.

Same notes, woods, strings, attack...totally different sounds. Tone? Timbre? Whatever.

 

[TomB]

I pick up a bass, play it, do I like the way it sounds? That's about it for me. If I have to struggle to get a sound I like, then it's not for me.

As far as specific settings, for live it's mostly about the room. Otherwise, I use the same settings on both the bass and the amp. For recording, I use a DI all the time, so open the volume and passive tone controls up all the way, for active EQ set it for no boost or cut. Let the engineer do the tweaking.



For me, that's all it is. I don't know if anyone recognizes my sound, audience members seem to be more interested in how the bass looks than how it sounds

I'm similar. I usually get an impression of a piece of gear very quickly, and it's usually borne out as I play it more. Maybe because I've been doing this for 60 years and do know what I'd like to hear. This applies to basses, amps and cabinets; pedals are an exception - they need a lengthier assessment. I acknowledge all the art and science that preceded my plugging in, but a pass/fail direction is usually reached pretty quickly, especially in regards to tone. I guess this addresses one of OP's paths.

 

[SactoBass]

My two "silly" answers:

Tone is what many of us Talkbassers chase which leads to endless purchasing of various basses, strings, pickups, amps, cabs, and effects pedals. The continual cash flow helps keep the economy moving and helps keep our wallets from gaining too much weight.

Tone is what gets sucked when using certain effects pedals.

My one "serious" answer:

Tone is the sound you and your gear make that fits the song the best. Season to taste.

 

[StatesideRambler]

All the talk of "good tone" and "bad tone" is all subjective. Tone is just a descriptive term. There's no such thing as good tone or bad tone. Tone is subjective; tone is contextual.

+1
My thoughts on "tone" are summed up in:
When recording, obsess all you like about the timbre thats going into the mix but respect the other musicians and give them, the producer and engineer their due.
When playing live, do just what it takes to be heard clearly while not stepping on the rest of the ensemble.
Understand that your work is PART of the final product, not the be all and end all.

 

[mambo4]

IMHO "tone" is one of those wiggle words around TB, defined differently by everyone
yet all insist it is of primary importance and without it we are lost ( see also "groove", "time" )

For some it means the EQ spectrum (tone knobs, effects, recording and FOH engineering)
for some it means articulation and technique ( tone is in the fingers )
for some it means a major second ( tones and semi tones )
for some it means a specific pitch ( a 440 hz tone )

it is too vague a term for productive discussion without more careful definition in the question
unless you are going to specify more usefully what you are talking about,
"tone" may as well just be called "sound".

 

[Gopherbassist]

Tone, as guitarists and bassists refer to it, means timbre (which is confusingly pronounced "tamber" or "tambour.") It means every part of the sound of your instrument that is not the fundamental pitch. If you want to get a sense of timbre, play the A on the 12th fret of the third (A) string, then play the A on the 17th fret of the fourth (E) string. The first will sound "brighter" or "clearer" or "more articulate." The latter will sound "warmer" or "rounder" or "duller." They have the same pitch, but they do not sound the same.

Some terms you might hear attributed to a bass' tone are as follows:

Positive​

Warm (opposite of bright)
Bright (opposite of warm)
Dark (also an opposite of bright, but not the same as warm)
Clear (opposite of dull or muddy)
Articulate
Jangly (most basses are not jangly, this refers more to guitars)
Growly
Burpy
Piano tone/Piano like (also referred to as "shimmering overtones")
Punchy (hard to explain, bug you'll know it when you hear it)
Upright like (sounds similar to a double bass)
Zingy
Rich (this has many meanings)
Boomy (can also be a negative)
Mwah (typically used when discussing the articulation of fretless basses, but some fretted basses can have a bit of mwah)
Wably/warbles/beating (refers to a sound artifact that occurs when two notes of similar pitch are played together. Technically this is an aspect of pitch, but it also kind of isn't pitch)
Tubby (might also be a negative)
Crisp (generally refers to the attack)
Smooth
Aggressive
Chimey (not very common in basses, more relevant to guitars)
Woody
Rumbly

Negative​

Dull
Muddy
Thuddy (can also be a positive)
Farty (very rarely can be a positive)
Clanky
Clangy (sometimes can be a positive)
Boomy (can also be a positive)
Bland
Inarticulate
Inharmonicity (a kind of chorusy sound that occurs when a sting is too thick. Might be useful in some cases, but generally should be avoided. Playing higher up on the lower strings adds to this attribute)
Flabby/Flubby
Ice picky/icepick highs (more an issue with guitars, but basses can have it too. Typically remedied with amp EQ)

Most of these are kind verbal attempts at onomatopoeia, many are self explanatory, and typically you will know them when you hear them. There are many more as well.

 

[J Wilson]

It's everything at once:

Your hands and how you actually play, the strings, the pickups and the bass itself, and the amp and cabinet or combo, plus effects.

ALL of that is your instrument.

And therefore, your tone, which while entirely portable, can be highly affected by room acoustics, and generally far more than any instrument on the bandstand. This is what happens when as big as 40 foot plus wavelengths get folded and bounced around whatever room you're in.

Aside from acoustics, tone is the sum total of everything else, and in my experience, the truest way is to get a bass that you like the sound of and an amp that hits you as well, and adjust only what's needed to suit where you are.

Ultimately, tone is what YOU sound like.

 

[jtg]

Tone is what you do with your hands and your gear to get the right sound for the group and the song in context. Some folks have a distinctive tone and identity that the context adapts to for them. For many of us, tone is what we work with the bass and the gear and most importantly the hands and the heart to give what is needed. Sometimes that means presence. Sometimes it means disappearing. Sometimes it means becoming one with the kick and sometimes you get to bounce off it or glide around it. In the end if the band smiles and the audience smiles you did good.