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Nobody cares about your tone....

#61
I care only because I (think) I play better when I like my tone. I like having a good bit of EQ control because every room seems to react a bit differently to the sound.

That said, I can say with total confidence that the worlds best tone will NOT make up for bad timing, poor technique and poor note choice. Good musicianship always carries the day once the tone is within the very wide berth of acceptability. This is why the P-bass is the go to instrument for so many players. The sound is always good enough.
 
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#62
As much as I enjoy playing for others (and getting paid for it), the reason I play is for ME. I can tell the difference, and when I sound GOOD, I play BETTER. When my audience can sense my joy in the most delicious grooves that I am playing, they enjoy and appreciate it, too. I will say I gave up packing the $5,000 stack to bar gigs, my Portaflex is more than sufficient in almost all cases...

So, in short, I pick gear for me, not just my audience/venue.
 
#63
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#65
JSandbloom said:
Its not a question of caring. Its a question of good enough tone for reasonable price vs. good tone for outlandish money.
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Sure it is.

Good enough vs good? I'll take good every time. Maybe that's arguing semantics but I don't like to settle. It has nothing to do with money. If I can good good from cheap that's cool. If I get good enough from spending a ton that's a waste.

It's just feeding into the bassists are lazy stereotype. We're all fat, dumb, failed guitarists that don't care about anything because nobody else cares about us.
 
#66
Mechanical said:
Because the audience pays you to play your music?
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I have a hard time saying anyone is an artist if he does it to please as the "artist" will obviously bend and do whatever as long as it gives money. Who knows what *insert any mainstream act here* would compose if he/she didn't try to have that hook that will give him/her money.

I still think music is one of the "artistic" thing that as less and less anything to do with being an artist. I have a friend who paint and do exposition to try to sell her painting and not even once did she did whatever to please someone. She does what she does and cool if it sells but the point was to express herself.

I think music would be better if it wasn't about being a star and being loved on a stage.
 
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#69
JSandbloom said:
except for you!

So now that I have your attention, I have come to the realization that people who come to your shows couldnt care less about your bass tone. I have found that if they can hear you, it sounds good. If they can't, they still think it sounds good! Musicians that see your shows are exempt of course.

So why do we spend our lives buying expensive gear that will give you a 400hz notch instead of a 800hz notch on the amp you just sold at a $500 loss to get the amp with the 800hz notch. The people we are playing to realistically have no changes in the experience in the show.

So is it we are doing this to amuse ourselfs? Is this another form of playing with our peckers? Do we try to get better tone then other bass players, Just so you can say "so, how about those new pickups I installed....I bet your jealous, it gives me a crystal clear terrible boost at 6.5khz"?

Really? Give me feedback and hate comments!
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Perhaps, you just don't have much experience yet?

My $0.019: Tone matters:
1) For auditions (do you want the gig?)
2) To any experienced band leader. Since that person is the one getting the gigs, it does matter if they have confidence in their bass player.
3) To your band mates. You as bassist are supposed to drive the band. Lousy sound and feel translates into poor combo sound.
4) To sound guys. they can be tough enough to work with. Having a sound that they like translates into your bass being where it should be in the mix.

To the paying audience; I guess that depends on the gig. I guess there are bands and gigs where the bass is lost in the mix, and that's their sound. There, you would be correct that your tone doesn't matter. For the rest of the gigs out there, your bass sound and feel directly translates into whether or not you fill up the dance floor.

Seriously? Is this a test?
 
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#70
The audience, at least some will hear if the bass sounds good or not, when playing my Sadowsky I always get compliments from someone that my bass sounds really good. But as soon as we are talking sound on a really mikrodetailed like rosewood vs maple or bodywood its just ridicilous. Now If your bass sounds nice and defined vs a mix of diarrea and fart, now that they will hear.
 
#71
This is a very philosophical thread. The average non-musician does notice your tone; they just don't know it. It has a subliminal effect at the subconscious level. The average person doesn't think, "Hey, great tone," they just think your band is better than the ten other bands they've seen before you. They can't explain what it is that makes you better; they just know there is something good there. So, for those who think tone doesn't matter to the average person, just keep doing what you're doing, and let the other guys who focus on their sound steal the limelight and really amaze the crowd.

Edit: BTW, this is one thing I never worry about, cause I got the best damn tone there is!
 
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#72
JSandbloom said:
except for you!

So now that I have your attention, I have come to the realization that people who come to your shows couldnt care less about your bass tone. I have found that if they can hear you, it sounds good. If they can't, they still think it sounds good! Musicians that see your shows are exempt of course.

So why do we spend our lives buying expensive gear that will give you a 400hz notch instead of a 800hz notch on the amp you just sold at a $500 loss to get the amp with the 800hz notch. The people we are playing to realistically have no changes in the experience in the show.

So is it we are doing this to amuse ourselfs? Is this another form of playing with our peckers? Do we try to get better tone then other bass players, Just so you can say "so, how about those new pickups I installed....I bet your jealous, it gives me a crystal clear terrible boost at 6.5khz"?

Really? Give me feedback and hate comments!
Click to expand...

1. Yes. We play instruments to make US happy. The audience is the enemy. Remember these words the next time you hear "FREEBIRD!"

2. Tone comes more into play on recordings me thinks. Live shows can always distort your tone via PA, room size/shape, soundguys, acts of nature.

3. Your confidence level is higher when you KNOW you sound awesome. This comes through in your performance.

4. To Be
 
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#73
JSandbloom said:
...I have come to the realization that people who come to your shows couldn't care less about your bass tone.
Click to expand...

Your personal quest for tone is jus that, personal. The audience could care less, as long as your tone works for the music! In, other works, you don't want a Geddy tone for playing top 40 at weddings. Your tone is all about chasing the sound in your head. That sound that really makes you totally dig what's coming out of your amp. The tone that inspires you to play better. That is something the crowd does notice. If your up on stage playing and all your thinking about is how bad your amp is sucking, or that you can't hear the high end when you slap, then you aren't focused on the music and it will be noticeable to the crowd, because the rhythm section ain't happening like it should.

On the other hand, when the sound you have is the culmination of years of work determining just what your sound is and achieving that, then when you are on stage you don't have to focus on anything but the music and how much you are digging the sound coming from your amp. Your'e inspired to play your best because you no longer feel like the gear is a "limitation". Your'e up there having a grand old time, locking in with the drummer and everyone in the crowd is picking up on the vibes you are sending out to the universe!
 
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#77
I always feel that the important aspect of a good tone is that
a) it is not boomy and not "in the way" masking other instruments
b) it fills out where other instruments leave a hole - that's where you get heard.

There are a lot of systems out there with a very pleasing tone. What makes the difference is on how it fulfils the two criteria above.
With my setup (mostly Euphonic Audio amps and cabs)I find that I can play very loud and not be in the way, but also be very quiet and the bass can still be heard. With other setups it sometimes goes to the other extreme:
You are already too loud and mask other instruments but still can't hear what the bass is playing. So, while the sound may not matter as such, or not a lot of people pay attention to it, I think it does make a difference that with a good tone you are more likely to be heard. And if you are not heard, what matters then?
Oh, on the last two gigs in a row the sound engineers mentioned the great sound I get out of my G&L 2500 - "I did not have to do anything. Sounds great" So...some people pay attention.
That my NS design is an attention getter is sure, but it doe snot help if you can't back it up with a stellar sound.
 
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#78
Surfbr said:
The producer working on your record would probably walk out of the studio if you ever make such statement...
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Actually, as most people probably have experienced while working with a producer. You walk into a studio with a high end bass. Say in my case was a Modulus Q5 and a Genz Benz GBE1200. They stay in the case as the producer walks in with a P bass and an SVT from the back room. Producers wanna here a round tone, not the staleness of a hifi bell like bass tone.
 
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#80
Doing original music gives you an oppurtunity to add a little something to the mix, there are numerous players that seem to have a distinctive sound that we as bass players seem to tune into becuase thats just the sort of thing were interested in. Its hard to say weather or not Chris Squire intentionally wanted to sound the way he does or if it was just some chance he decided to play a Rickenbacker through an old Marshall amp or maybe thats what happened to be available to him at the time. At any rate, originals gives you the oppurtunity to set yourself apart if you so desire and maybe someday they will be talking about your tone on bass chat forums such as this. On the other hand if your in a local bar band doing covers your garden variety bass sound is more than adequate.
 
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