Is anyone else completely in love with their tone?

[bking0217]

I had a bit of a realization earlier today while I was practicing. I don't need to buy any more gear. The tone I'm getting from my Spector NS Ethos HP 4 through my Ampeg RB-110 is that "pure magic" I've been looking for for the last 30 years. Is anyone else fortunate enough to find their magic?

 

[shadven]

I’m happy with my tone. My time changes a bit between the different bands / styles I play.
I mostly play old P-basses. My 1966 P sounds perfect through most amps. The best sounding amp I’ve ever owned was a 1970’s Ampeg V4B with a 2x15” folded horn cabinet.

 

[Whale]

Over the past 15 or so months I’ve come to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the tone I’m getting. The funny thing is, I haven’t changed my bass, my strings, or my amp in three or so years. Even the settings on my bass and amp have remained the same. Instead, I feel like the tone I’m getting is coming from my hands. I am simply playing better and that is bringing out much more punch, more articulation, and a wider variety of sounds.

 

[dmt]

I think all my stuff sounds great. Haven’t bought anything new in a couple of years now.

Actually, I’ve been in more of a "selling off the excess" period, getting down from all sorts of stuff I’d acquired to only the stuff I’m happy with (which is still plenty). Meanwhile, there are certainly other good and interesting tones and sounds out there to be had, but I simply don’t need to own them all. I’m basically a P bass guy, anyway. P and rounds; done I figured that out with my second bass, 20+ years ago. Then I got into short scale and got those sorted out by about 5 or so years ago. My acoustic basses are completely satisfying to me…

Then, besides having more basses than I need, I’ve got a pedalboard full of great sounding effects, most of which I don’t even need.

But, even though I am "in love with my tone", I could still do with one more amp for a change of pace (something with some lightish tube poweramp overdrive available would be cool) and more volume (if needed, which it currently isn’t), and maybe some kind of tube DI or some kind of great sounding amp emulation box for easy recording. But… I dunno, I’m not saying I’ll never buy any bass gear ever again, but I’m not itching much for anything, really. Overall I’m very content and have been for a while now

 

[RomanS]

Yes, ever since I got my Aguilar TH500 - no matter which one of my basses I plug into it, they always sound exactly like I want them to.

 

[JRA]

The tone I'm getting from my Spector NS Ethos HP 4 through my Ampeg RB-110 is that "pure magic" I've been looking for for the last 30 years.

pretty cool! congrats! it's nice to arrive at a place that provides some comfort after a long journey!

Is anyone else fortunate enough to find their magic?

i'd have to say that any "magic" i find with my axes has less to do with tone and more to do with being in the right 'zone' and choosing the right notes. tone has to figure into the experience somehow, but i gave up chasing tones about the time you began looking for them: ~30 years ago. or, i might say: i'm happy with a bunch of tones and my axes always provide some good ones, i.e., good enough for me and my pursuits.

 

[DanAdams]

I've never tried to chase perfect tone. I dont think that it matters.
Once the instruments are playing, a perceived 'perfect tone' is lost. That dreamy solo at-home tone can make the notes fade away, or obscures other instrumentation.
Bass is just one part of a song. I don't want to decide what my tone should be before hearing the song.

 

[Socobass]

Close but no cigar lol

 

[Geri O]

As much as I love my Mesa Subway WD/pair of 115s, I concentrate on my tone through my IEMs and the studio.

I can honestly say that I’m complete satisfied with my tone for the last 3 or so years. It’s a very simple set-up. I use my own Khan Tube DI straight to the console (never leave home without it). I just can’t imagine needing to deep-dive any further with the tones of my Mike Lull Jazz bass (Lindy Fralin single coil pups, Trickfish IPA pre) and my bone stock Stingray Special.

This makes it crazy to get a good stage sound from my Mesa rig when needed. Here, the most adjustments needed are the high-pass filter to account for stage acoustics.

This has all made it very conducive to concentrate on my playing.

 

[nozkcb]

Over the past 15 or so months I’ve come to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the tone I’m getting. The funny thing is, I haven’t changed my bass, my strings, or my amp in three or so years. Even the settings on my bass and amp have remained the same. Instead, I feel like the tone I’m getting is coming from my hands. I am simply playing better and that is bringing out much more punch, more articulation, and a wider variety of sounds.

It's interesting. I am 50 something, I have been playing bass most of my life and have never been completely satisfied with my tone. I've tried numerous basses, strings, amps, playing styles, and while sometimes I get close, I always manage to find some sonic imperfection that will slowly make me crazy.

One thing I have learned is it's more about me than the things. Everything makes a difference, but primarily it comes from the player.

 

[nozkcb]

I've never tried to chase perfect tone. I dont think that it matters.
Once the instruments are playing, a perceived 'perfect tone' is lost. That dreamy solo at-home tone can make the notes fade away, or obscures other instrumentation.
Bass is just one part of a song. I don't want to decide what my tone should be before hearing the song.

it took me a long time to figure out the perfect tone in my home studio, is not necessarily the perfect tone in a band situation or recording.

Listening to isolated tracks of some of my all-time favorite players and the parts that inspired me over the years has taught me that the tone out of context of the music, is usually a lot different than I thought it would be.

Listen to Chuck Rainey's isolated tracks from the Steely Dan Aja album. It was nothing like what I was expecting.

Same with Tiran Porter from the Doobie Brothers. His isolated bass tone is nothing I would have aspired to sitting in my basement.

 

[mambo4]

Completely in love? No
But it’s good enough to stop spending money on

 

[Five or Six]

I'm happy with "my tone". I don't try to emulate what someone else puts out. I do my own thing and am happy with it.

 

[JMarkD]

It is a bit of a moving target, but yes I have been very satisfied with my tone options since finding an old Alembic Spoiler. Along with a TH500 amp I am rarely dissatisfied with the result. The bass is more important than the amp but having said that, I recently left a band largely due to my utter and complete hatred of "ampless in-ear monitoring". I found it impossible to get a tone I loved with ear buds or headphones. At least within my budget.

 

[dustinymichaels]

'95 Ray-compression-Tone Hammer. I think so, but I'll still experiment with some different combinations.

 

[Standalone]

GK 700RBii, Two single Bag End fifteens, and an '85 Ibanez RB850. Just perfection.

 

[Ritter667]

It varies, sometimes I think I got the absolute perfect tone, at other times I come in doubt.

And regardless I still suffer from GAS, and ever so often get ideas of how to improve it.
Usually it turns out that it's in fact not an improvement at all, and I revert back to my old setup.

I utilize an amp-less setup, and a great deal of thought, time and trial/error went into perfecting it.

My basic "clean" tone is mildly overdriven, with a nice slight grind to it, but very clear and articulate , and really punchy and snappy, just as I like it.

And due to the fact that it is an amp-less setup I get approximately the same tone, whether I practice at home through headphones, at jams/band rehearsals through my poweramp and passive FRFR PA speaker, or go through a full PA.

 

[bucephylus]

“Is anyone else completely satisfied with their tones?”

There; fixed your Q.

I love my people, and use my bass instruments / gear.

My bass instruments and gear satisfy every performance aspect I could ever hope for. Of course, I’m constantly on the lookout for new opportunities.

 

[lordradish]

I had a bit of a realization earlier today while I was practicing. I don't need to buy any more gear. The tone I'm getting from my Spector NS Ethos HP 4 through my Ampeg RB-110 is that "pure magic" I've been looking for for the last 30 years. Is anyone else fortunate enough to find their magic?

My basses are mostly a Wal and some Stingrays. If I'm not happy with my tone, something is clearly wrong.

 

[burgerdj]

Goodness, no. That’s why I’m on Talkbass