Nobody cares about your tone....

[madidus]

I used to think that my pedals were mainly for my benefit. However, last year I played in a backing band for a singer on his CD launch gigs. The music ranged from atmospheric, heavily effected bass songs, to songs with mild OD on bass. Only one song had no effects on bass. At the end of our final gig I noticed while unplugging my gear that the sound guy had hooked the pre-effect bass into the FOH. I was surprised (very pleasantly) at how many people commented afterwards how different we sounded from our usual sound.

So now I agree with the previous posters who commented that, although the non-musos in the audience may not be able to tell what bass or effects we use, it will form part of their experience of the music as a whole. The positive or negative nature of that experience depends on how judiciously we use our instruments. And I have been using this story to provide justification to SWMBO for my pedal purchases ever since

 

[VWbug]

But I LIKE "Golf-Dad Cargo Shorts Rock!" Lol

( I don't golf, just don't "get it")

+ a whole lot of other kinds of music too!

 

[Kmrumedy]

I told my wife if she ever caught me playing golf-dad rock in cargo shorts, to please just shoot me in the friggin' face.

Just found my new signature! Awesome!

 

[Dave W]

I used to think that my pedals were mainly for my benefit. However, last year I played in a backing band for a singer on his CD launch gigs. The music ranged from atmospheric, heavily effected bass songs, to songs with mild OD on bass. Only one song had no effects on bass. At the end of our final gig I noticed while unplugging my gear that the sound guy had hooked the pre-effect bass into the FOH. I was surprised (very pleasantly) at how many people commented afterwards how different we sounded from our usual sound.

So now I agree with the previous posters who commented that, although the non-musos in the audience may not be able to tell what bass or effects we use, it will form part of their experience of the music as a whole. The positive or negative nature of that experience depends on how judiciously we use our instruments. And I have been using this story to provide justification to SWMBO for my pedal purchases ever since

Do you mean POST effects? If he took the feed from PRE effects then the audience wouldn't have heard any of them except for what was coming from your rig on stage.

Or am I misunderstanding you?

 

[David Jayne]

But I LIKE "Golf-Dad Cargo Shorts Rock!" Lol

( I don't golf, just don't "get it")

I'm not a golfer but have tried 9 holes a couple of times. It's a lot more fun, and a lot harder, than it looks.

 

[VWbug]

I respect that others like it. I just don't get the whole pic of grown men chasing a little white ball around but to each his own!

 

[David Jayne]

Because you've never tried it. I'm telling ya.

 

[ggunn]

But I LIKE "Golf-Dad Cargo Shorts Rock!" Lol

( I don't golf, just don't "get it")

+ a whole lot of other kinds of music too!

I don't wear cargo shorts, but I do wear shorts on stage occasionally. If it's outdoors in the summertime in Texas, I'm in shorts. I had a couple of brushes with heat exhaustion and I'm not going there again.

 

[VWbug]

Because you've never tried it. I'm telling ya.

My wife plays and enjoys it and has been after me to go with her. I apologize to you in advance. I can't take the chance my wife will see this. If it was FB I would unfriend you but I must block your posts here, you seem like a nice person but you've crossed over the line. Lol

 

[ZubenElGenubi]

Caveat: I've read just over half of the posts and I'm not a professional bassist, although I pretend to be.

I agree with the OP; most of the music-listening population doesn't care about tone. But that's because most of the music-listening population listens to pop and rock and groove trumps tone. In jazz, it's a different matter. In classical music, it's moot.

Now, when I'm covering songs, I try to find a tone that resembles that of the original recording and, like bassamatic, it usually falls into one of three categories:

• classic rock (P-bass, where my '77 Yamaha BB-400 kills),
• modern rock (mix of P and J, where I use a Peavey Cirrus), or
• upright/folk (fretless Tobias Growler)

I used to rely on pedals and amp setup to help drive the tone, but more and more I'm using only playing style and pickup selection (at least on the latter two instruments) to get the tone. I'll switch between pick, finger, or thumb to get different responses.

I think people do sense the tone on a subconscious level, but they're more aware of Timing, the Tune, and proper Tuning than Tone.

 

[bucephylus]

I love that tune too and that bassline - which is pretty much the same as the Beatles version I think. One of Macca's best - a wicked rocker.

It's not necessarily the P bass - I just like bass to sound like BASS - thick and heavy on the bottom - I'm old, and old school...

We all play in different situations. So, tonal preferences will be largely influenced by our specific needs. I happen to play generally in cover bands. That means several things. There are usually differing instrumentation from original recordings, and you have to take into account that you are working with various individual styles. Plus, there is always that precarious balance between playing a tune like a classical recitation vs bringing something new to it.

As a result, I am way past playing with either a specific tone or having "my" tone. That recording I posted just happens to have the tone I was discussing with Tom. But I also use a heavy duty P sound when I want it or more of a 70's slap sound when I want that. Or more of a plectrum thing etc. To do that, I have to use instruments that can get all those tones. This gets debated to death on here; but, I am pretty comfortable with the pickup/preamp combination I am using now to deliver the goods. So, for me it isn't one tone vs another. Rather it is more about how do I get and apply all those possibilities to suit the tune and achieve the most booty on the dance floor.

YMMV

 

[mccartneyman]

After 50 years of playing, I have to agree that most people are satisfied if the bass is loud (but not too loud) and/or can be felt. This includes concertgoers for big name acts. A musician friend raved about the excellent bassist in a local disco cover band and was very surprised when I told her that they had no bassist -- it was all keyboard bass on a sequencer. Apparently she had her back to the stage all night.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Yup, that just about says it all, in my experience.
Tone is for your own sake.

 

[slobake]

My band members comment on my tone. I get the most positive responses when I play my Squire James Johnson Jazz through a new Rumble amp with no effects. I have more high end equipment but they like this set up the best. Go figure?
It does cut through the mix well and I can hear myself over our drummer and the rest of the band.
I run into the house system but I can't hear what that sounds like from the stage. I trust our sound guy though.

 

[Guiseppe]

I remember a story about the creator of Alembic amps hearing the Dead for the first time and stating "you're a great band, but you sound like }#%^!". With higher end gear (and likely much better tone), well you all know the story...

 

[ggunn]

I care about my tone. I do not care if no one else cares about my tone.

 

[ggunn]

I remember a story about the creator of Alembic amps hearing the Dead for the first time and stating "you're a great band, but you sound like }#%^!". With higher end gear (and likely much better tone), well you all know the story...

Did the Dead ever use Alembic amps? I know that Jerry and Phil used Alembic instruments, and maybe Bobby did as well, but Jerry always had those Macintosh amps every time I saw them.

 

[madidus]

Do you mean POST effects? If he took the feed from PRE effects then the audience wouldn't have heard any of them except for what was coming from your rig on stage.

Or am I misunderstanding you?

Dave, apologies for the lack of clarity in my post. It was PRE-effects, so the audience would have heard very little, if any, of the effects I was using because our amps were all plugged into FOH and we were asked to play our amps at low volume, just enough so we could hear ourselves. This place is well known for having a very fussy sound guy, who focuses entirely on the sound out front and doesn't give a monkeys about the sound on stage. The monitors are weak, so we generally use our amps for our benefit rather than the audience's. The audience would have heard only bass without effects (except maybe the ones right up against the stage), the other guitars were connected to FOH post-effects. I was really happy that the audience noticed the absence of the bass effects.

 

[Dave W]

I was really happy that the audience noticed the absence of the bass effects.

Ah, gotcha! I'd be happy about that too

 

[StinkFoot]

We all play in different situations....

No argument. I have not played gigs in many years, I either jam with some friends or just play for myself in my man cave. So, I generally just use the sound I like. And I still have a couple of basses for different sounds. In fact at the moment I'm getting ready to buy an Epi Jack Casady bass because I want something to give me a very mellow woody tone.