How long did it take you to find YOUR sound?

[TrevorOfDoom]

I'm only concerned about finding the right sound for the song. Predetermining "my sound" and then imposing it on every song is, IMO, not the way to go.

i agree, but i don't. Marcus Miller has one sound, his sound. Jaco had one sound, Victor Wooten has one sound, JPJ had his sound, Chuck Rainey always sounds like Chuck Rainey, blah blah blah.
I think everyone has a sound, and it's necessary to find it, find your voice. However, yes, use your voice as judicially as possible for whatever you do, make it work for the job at hand, but it never ceases being "your voice".
To whit, we may play the same gear on a song and approach it the same way, but our voices will lead us to make different decisions as to how it's played, what fills to make, and so on.

Some guys only need one bass their whole life because they just instantly hear their voice and can project it; some of us have to own multiple basses to find it, and then to learn that no bass defines our voice.
There's merit, i think, to finding that voice. It's a sense of pride and ownership, knowing that nobody else working can sound like you, say things the way you do.

 

[Sunn]

I found my ONE SOUND after about 2 years of trying to play bass like a guitar and 19 years of playing crap basses, garbage effects and REALLY HEAVY and TERRIBLY stupid heads and cabinets. Once I tamed that pile of mess to a tone that I liked (notepads and sketchbooks FULL of notes about rooms, how hard to attack strings, what strings to buy, and other BS that didn't matter), got some cash, I bought a Ric (my preferred bass). Then I bought a Sunn and then a Mesa. Then I got rid of the rat's nest of effects and bought a GT10B...slowly I noticed more and more BS gear leaving the room until I got the EQ dialed in for what I personally like. And what is funny is that I wasn't TRYING for a sound, but just kind of evolved into it. One of the people at a recent show told me that even if he is in the other room, he can tell that I am on stage because of my personal tone.

And at a show--I will ALWAYS talk to other bassists about my sound/gear/etc. I HATED it when I would go to shows, be amazed and then told that the bassist didn't want to give out his "secrets". I can respect that, but I don't mind sharing info!

 

[Marty Forrer]

It's been 35 years of playing and I still haven't found it..... but I guess I aint really been looking....
As someone wellknown said (I forget who) "Just play the damn bass"

 

[Jeffrey Wash]

i agree, but i don't. Marcus Miller has one sound, his sound. Jaco had one sound, Victor Wooten has one sound, JPJ had his sound, Chuck Rainey always sounds like Chuck Rainey, blah blah blah.
I think everyone has a sound, and it's necessary to find it, find your voice. However, yes, use your voice as judicially as possible for whatever you do, make it work for the job at hand, but it never ceases being "your voice".
To whit, we may play the same gear on a song and approach it the same way, but our voices will lead us to make different decisions as to how it's played, what fills to make, and so on.

Some guys only need one bass their whole life because they just instantly hear their voice and can project it; some of us have to own multiple basses to find it, and then to learn that no bass defines our voice.
There's merit, i think, to finding that voice. It's a sense of pride and ownership, knowing that nobody else working can sound like you, say things the way you do.

Very well said.

As a gigging pro I have been called on for years to emulate the feel/groove/tone of other bassists. I've always taken that job pretty seriously, but always with an awareness that it doesn't end there. At least not for me. I completely get that for some musicians, just emulating the voices of others and doing it really well is enough. Hell, truth be told, it's damn hard, takes work and dedication and I have total respect for anyone - a great many bass players - who accomplish that on a regular basis.

But at the same time I have always aspired to develop my own, somewhat unique voice and this is a process that is much better realized (IME) when doing original music. Since I haven't yet reached a point in my career where I can do original music all the time, I do my best to strike a balance between the demands of being pretty good at covering the styles of others while at the same time respecting my own need to do something more. To a certain extent this may limit me, insofar as my ability to 'nail' the tone/feel (voice) of other bassists. But that is more than offset by the sense of fulfillment that comes from doing original music and further developing my own voice on my instrument.

As far as the gear is concerned, I reached a point a couple of years ago where the old method - rolling from one piece of gear to another - just didn't work anymore. Inefficient, expensive, frustrating. The only way forward was to take a really hard look at exactly what the heck I wanted to hear that I wasn't hearing, being brutally honest with myself about how much is 'in the hands' and how much is in the wood, metal, paper and wires, and then systematically improve each of those components to the best of my abilities. The process has been time consuming and no less expensive than the old way, but at least now there's a sense of method to the madness - with each and every gizmo in the signal chain there comes a point where I've had to say to myself "That's it. You're done. It's as good as it's gonna get, accept it, now make music".