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Nobody cares about your tone....
- Thread starter JSandbloom
- Start date
I have to admit I didn't read all the posts in this thread so something like this may have already been said *** Ever been to a YES concert? I've been to many of them & know it wouldn't just be the bass players in the audience that would notice if Chris Squire suddenly started playing through a Carvin or Hartke amp.
CS has used the same Rickenbacker bass and Marshall bass head for most of his career. The marshall is used as a preamp , he has used many different speaker configurations over the years, everything from Fender, Sunn and more recently Ampeg, but the rick and the marshall amp are the key components to that signature sound.
I asked my guitarist last night at rehersal if my bass was cutting thru and if he liked the tone of the particular bass I was playing. He said "it hurts my teeth". Not sure if that was intended to be a compliment, but I'll take it as one.
Nope, pianist, guitarist and drummer. So may be they just liked it because it's been a few months since they had a bassist play with them in church.Wait a minute! Was it someone who also plays bass? That would explain it!
Which means they don't care about my tone as long as I don't sound bad, or something.
Although I did sound really good tonight.
So, yeah...
JSandbloom, I'd say onstage, in the live gig realm, I agree with you. And most Guitarist's I've played with would rather that I couldn't be heard at all! Most preferred that I played a P-Bass with dead strings, never play above the 7th fret, and played nothing more than eighth notes, a few preferred a Jazz Bass, but the same fret range and note restrictions.
Most Drummers I've played with dig good bass tone, however. and obviously, most audience members will declare a band "good" or "bad" according to the band's ability to groove, which I feel is very dependent on the bass' tone. But most audience members focus on the songs being performed and the quality of the vocalists.
All in all, I believe most folks, besides the bass player in the band, really don't care about the bass' tone.
So, my goal in a live situation, is to provide a tone that I can hear amongst the other musicians, yet not overpower them with too much volume.
In a Recording situation, depending on who is in charge, there's a bit more attention paid to bass tone.
Most Drummers I've played with dig good bass tone, however. and obviously, most audience members will declare a band "good" or "bad" according to the band's ability to groove, which I feel is very dependent on the bass' tone. But most audience members focus on the songs being performed and the quality of the vocalists.
All in all, I believe most folks, besides the bass player in the band, really don't care about the bass' tone.
So, my goal in a live situation, is to provide a tone that I can hear amongst the other musicians, yet not overpower them with too much volume.
In a Recording situation, depending on who is in charge, there's a bit more attention paid to bass tone.
A lot of people in the audience couldn't tell you which is the bass and which is the guitar, much less whether the bass sounds good or not.
But a lot of people can tell if the bass doesn't sound good (and not just musicians). I have had people tell me before that they couldn't hear me or make out what I was playing because it was all rumble (thanks sound guy...).
But a lot of people can tell if the bass doesn't sound good (and not just musicians). I have had people tell me before that they couldn't hear me or make out what I was playing because it was all rumble (thanks sound guy...).
You should have seen the people's smile yesterday when I started playing with that big, raspy, comfy bass tone. It was like they suddenly felt home.
it's a guy thing. i put the attention for the audience and bragging rights. my "secrets." it's a like pimpin out a car. along as it drives then why does it matter. if we didn't out the effort we'd be kiss but without the make up.
This is an epic thread, but Ill add that if you pay professionally A LOT of people care about your tone. Engineers, producers and artists for example.
Also, if you have a great tone your playing will be better since you will not only hear yourself better but a great tone inspires greater playing.
Also, if you have a great tone your playing will be better since you will not only hear yourself better but a great tone inspires greater playing.
Is it just me or does Chris look a little like Alex Lifeson in that pic?
He reminded me of the guy in the drinking game in the movie Raider of the Lost Ark. He's in Tibet, gets real drunk and falls over, lol. Sorry, Chris.
I did a quick home recording last night. Played with some tracks that had everything but bass. I added the bass line on these instruments:
G&L LB100 (P bass) with flats.
Fender P bass old rounds
Carvin SB5000 (Jazz) neck pickup
Carvin SB5000 both pickups
Carvin SB5000 bridge pickup, tone off.
When soloing each bass on playback they all sound different. Once it is dialed into the mix almost all of the details get burried. You could tell the SB5k J pickup sounded different than the others but that was about it.
True, it wasn't a pro recording but it is probably closer to what happens live. Basically, the nuiances which the player hears, disappear by the time the sound makes it out of the mains and you're lucky half the time if the audience can even hear the bass notes amongst all the mud.
G&L LB100 (P bass) with flats.
Fender P bass old rounds
Carvin SB5000 (Jazz) neck pickup
Carvin SB5000 both pickups
Carvin SB5000 bridge pickup, tone off.
When soloing each bass on playback they all sound different. Once it is dialed into the mix almost all of the details get burried. You could tell the SB5k J pickup sounded different than the others but that was about it.
True, it wasn't a pro recording but it is probably closer to what happens live. Basically, the nuiances which the player hears, disappear by the time the sound makes it out of the mains and you're lucky half the time if the audience can even hear the bass notes amongst all the mud.
Deeper then that. On stage it matters to your band and sound men in a pro environment. I did tours where the sound guys would talk poopie about players tones because they had to deal with them in a mix.
Fans are fans. I don't really worry about their thoughts about my tone because half of them were hot chics who thought I played guitar.
But if you are interested in being a pro player, then you will want to have great intonation and a great tone. Tone is a huge part of how players are judged by Producers/Engineers/other players..etc since technique is a big part of it as well.
In my experience a lot of guys can't intonate well and they never address that. They just keep buying gear and trying to polish a turd, when the reality is that their right and left hand technique is not optimal and is causing them tonal issues.
I'm bad enough to know how right you are. Clean playing is the foundation of good tone. I played for a long time with an active bass - then I switched to a passive Fender - I was amazed at how much of my cruddy technique was getting covered over by electronics. I always knew my mechanics were not good but it didn't seem to make much difference until I started playing on an AStandard JBass.
