How to make my gear sounds better?

[Dub Wallace]

I don't know if this has already been said but... "tone is in the fingers". I have seen that line posted so many times in all these threads on my quest for a specific tone. I hate that line, it seems almost like a knee jerk response with an undertone of "just figure it out for yourself".

The truth is, that line is so true.

I've always been envious of other players tone, thinking "how can I sound like that?" Gear and EQ settings can only get you so far. I have been using pretty much the same gear for years, not much has changed in that department. But my tone has changed, immensely. Achieving the tone I want is much easier now. The more you practice and play, the more your technique develops and the easier it is to get the tones you are looking for from the gear you are playing, no matter what gear it is.

I'm at the point now where I can appreciate how I sound, I have a long, long way to go, but I'm not so discouraged because I see and hear the difference. Keep at it, keep exploring different styles and techniques. Before you know it, a few years have passed and your not even thinking about how to achieve a certain tone. You just adjust your playing style, maybe tweak the tone knob and "BOOM", there it is.

Also, explore different strings on the market, but don't get too caught up in going down that rabbit hole. True... strings can dramatically affect your tone, but in the end, new string tone is short lived and you will still sound like "you". I think once you have a good grasp on your basics and technique, then you can truly exploit the characteristics of different strings and determine which ones work best for you.

I hope you find a little encouragement in this response and don't take this as "just figure it out for yourself".

 

[MDBass]

I disagree with this. Miles Davis on Ascenceur pour l'échafaud, Will Lee on a session with somebody else poor bass, and Victor Wooten at playing a great solo with only the wrong notes. They all sound great because they control what they are playing!

None of those examples include dead strings or digital signal clipping, you're pretty obviously only responding to repeat yourself instead of actually listening to different points of view.

Have a good one.

 

[soulman969]

My approach has always been to learn to play better first THEN worry about my gear.

 

[Luigir]

My approach has always been to learn to play better first THEN worry about my gear.

I agree. Unfortunately the gear talk gives a lot of excuses on why you're not playing as you want and I know 'cause I've indulged myself a lot into it. If only I had invested the time I've spent reading about gear into actually playing I would have been a way better player.

At a certain point I've just decided to buy a middle class bass and stop thinking (that much) about it.

 

[Groove Master]

None of those examples include dead strings or digital signal clipping, you're pretty obviously only responding to repeat yourself instead of actually listening to different points of view.

Have a good one.

Yes my examples are based on musicality and not the gear. Actually his strings are really not that dead and new strings might even make it worse because of the lack of control.

I gave my advice which was make the bass sound better with your fingers, not the gear. You are not happy with it? There is nothing I can do for you ...

The guy is wondering how come he doesn't sound as good as Victor Wooten.....Enough said!

 

[MDBass]

Yes my examples are based on musicality and not the gear. Actually his strings are really not that dead and new strings might even make it worse because of the lack of control.

I gave my advice which was make the bass sound better with your fingers, not the gear. You are not happy with it? There is nothing I can do for you ...

The guy is wondering how come he doesn't sound as good as Victor Wooten.....Enough said!

Regardless of how well you do or don't play, you'll never get a clean/bright signal if your strings are dead and the signal is clipping: that's a fact, not an opinion.

You're choosing to ignore that fact to continue repeating your opinion.

He's already replaced his strings, and it made a night and day difference in the tone: in the audio below, 0:00 is old strings and 0:10 is new strings.

Much better I suppose. 0:00 old strings, 0:10 new strings.

Now can some1 explain what to do to make my technique better?

He's still the same player, but his tone is clearly much closer to Vic's after simply changing his strings.

Seriously guys, the "tone is ALL in the hands" trope needs to die: it's simply not true. The player is without a doubt the most important component to what a bass sounds like, but it is far from the ONLY component.

OP, your bass obviously sounds much more like what you're after now. Your technique is fine, just pay attention to keeping both wrists as straight as possible to avoid future nerve/CT issues: keep practicing the nuances of note control (attack/duration/etc.) and you'll continue to improve

 

[matty1039]

Yes the 'tone is in the fingers' - but learning your gear still matters.

one thing not yet mentioned: "bedroom tone" is rarely a good "band tone"
The tone you have dialed in to sound awesome alone at home is useless when playing in a band
the more instruments you play with, the more nuance a character will get swallowed up
the combined sound of every instrument will have a great impact
on what tone actually sounds good in the mix.

a common beginner mistake is to spend time crafting a great "bedroom tone"
but when they play with others they find much of it gets lost in the mix
and the foolishly simply try to turn up so they can hear their precious bedroom tone
rather than crafting a tone that has a good spot in the mix, and works for the ensemble

and that is the prime reason for spending time understanding what all your controls can do.

Any recommendations on dialing in a good live tone at home? I don't want to waste time at a gig or at practice dialing in something.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Any recommendations on dialing in a good live tone at home? I don't want to waste time at a gig or at practice dialing in something.

I do what Stevie Ray Vaughn said and, "turn the knobs until it sounds good". Every room is different. Every place is different. Inside in a small room, inside in a huge room, outside in the heat, there is no one "live sound". You just have to spend enough time with your gear to understand how to make it sound good anytime, anywhere.

 

[matty1039]

I do what Stevie Ray Vaughn said and, "turn the knobs until it sounds good". Every room is different. Every place is different. Inside in a small room, inside in a huge room, outside in the heat, there is no one "live sound". You just have to spend enough time with your gear to understand how to make it sound good anytime, anywhere.

That's what I thought. I need to let go of the urge to set and forget.

 

[Bassbeater]

Seriously guys, the "tone is ALL in the hands" trope needs to die: it's simply not true. The player is without a doubt the most important component to what a bass sounds like, but it is far from the ONLY component.

You brave, brave man...
I agree. I hate to hear people say they don't need compressors because they compress with their fingers. I'm sure they also preamp, chorus and reverb with their fingers.
I'm a very consistent player(not a wizard by any means). Compression and effects just take my live playing to the next level because I'm already a steady player. The issue with developing technique is that these same effects can mask poor technique and slow the learning curve.

 

[mambo4]

Any recommendations on dialing in a good live tone at home? I don't want to waste time at a gig or at practice dialing in something.

The reality is that you need the band playing like it's real to adjust your sound against.
Some understanding of the frequency spectrum and what zones of it the various instruments occupy is helpful.
The sticky in the recording forum is a good place to start.

In general for bass in a mix, the frequencies to scrutinize are the mids & low mids
some condier that 250hz - 1000Hz , others go wider 100 - 1500+
other areas are generally the realm of other instruments
A typical scooped bedroom tone with all its fat bass in crisp highs (i.e, using the contour button on a rumble)
typically gets eaten up by kick drums and guitars.
If you have no mids, you will not be well presented in the mix
On a rumble I would flat the bass and treble and play with those mids

One of the reasons a P bass with flats gets such love
in spite of its flat, thudding bedroom tone
is that it has most of its sonic character in those magical low mids
and thus becomes an almost bullet proof sound in the mix

The general rule is the more instruments you play with,
the less frequencies beyond those mids will be heard
Of course it varies by ensemble and how they approach their tone.
That's why there is no sub for knowing your controls and using your ears.

 

[MDBass]

You brave, brave man...
I agree. I hate to hear people say they don't need compressors because they compress with their fingers. I'm sure they also preamp, chorus and reverb with their fingers.
I'm a very consistent player(not a wizard by any means). Compression and effects just take my live playing to the next level because I'm already a steady player. The issue with developing technique is that these same effects can mask poor technique and slow the learning curve.

Yep.

There's a reason compression has been used on every recorded electric bass part in history, and it definitely isn't because the players all had bad technique and needed to practice

In this case (where someone is looking for a brighter tone) suggesting that practice (instead of a fresh set of strings) is the ONLY way to get what they're looking for is both objectively false and pretty pretentious...it also happened to be the third time this week that someone had chimed in on a TB thread with that myopic nugget.

 

[Groove Master]

Yep.

There's a reason compression has been used on every recorded electric bass part in history, and it definitely isn't because the players all had bad technique and needed to practice

In this case (where someone is looking for a brighter tone) suggesting that practice (instead of a fresh set of strings) is the ONLY way to get what they're looking for is both objectively false and pretty pretentious...it also happened to be the third time this week that someone had chimed in on a TB thread with that myopic nugget.

Compressors are usually apply at mix down for other purposes then correct the bad dynamics during tracking.

And NO the fingers don't compress the sound, they control the dynamics and the overall balance and tone. Dah!!

 

[Bassbeater]

Compressors are usually apply at mix down for other purposes then correct the bad dynamics during tracking.

-Or with high end pedals by the world's best players...

 

[Groove Master]

-Or with high end pedals by the world's best players...

For live purposes? Yes but recording, I doubt ;-)

 

[Bassbeater]

Jesus H Christ... Compression is part of the holy trinity of recording effects. (Compression, EQ, Delay) If it weren't for compression your ignorance would be deafening.

 

[Groove Master]

-Or with high end pedals by the world's best players...

I still don't know why the debate is on compressor now. I said the OP should work on his control which is the point of NOT rely on another piece of gear to correct some technical problems.

 

[Bassbeater]

There is no debate. Tone is not ONLY in the hands. Only the hands can make full use of tone shaping tools.

 

[Groove Master]

There is no debate. Tone is not ONLY in the hands. Only the hands can make full use of tone shaping tools.

Well Marcus went from EV to SWR to EBS and so on... He was still sounding like Marcus Miller even at home when he goes into a Demeter tube DI straight to the board ;-) Why? Because his sound is in his hands, just like all the great players like Jaco and Victor and...

This is actually a quote from Jaco himself: The sound is in my hands, and he was so right.

 

[Bassbeater]

If the tone is in the hands, why did Marcus Miller even bother to change amps or use a tube pre? Why not just jack straight in to the board?
Tone is not ONLY in the hands, but tone shaping tools can hide the problems that a new player needs to address to get better in order to make the most with tone shaping tools.