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Not Impressed with wooten's tone

#101
My take......

Victor pro:
1) Plays mostly Fodera 4, and doesn't, for the most part, need extra strings to get his point across.
2) Respect his amazing humility
3) Always suggesting that cats know role of the instrument

Victor con:
1) Yes, needs heavier tone
2) Superchops may have created a monster, with real bad superchop clones
3) Who has he backed other than Bela and the Wootens?
 
#104
JAUQO III-X said:
Branford Marsalis
Mike Stern
Bruce Hornsby
Chick Corea
Dave Matthews
Gov’t Mule
Susan Tedeschi
Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith)
The Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band
Click to expand...

As far as I know Vic has never recorded with Dave Matthews or The Dave Matthews but has guested with DMB onstage on two songs "#41" and "The Maker" (both with bass solos) with Stephan Lessard playing bass as well.

I taked briefly with Wooten before a show in Sacramento and he actually said he would like to do more straight ahead studio bass work on pop tunes etc but that producers didn't think to call him for simple grooves/backing bass stuff. Which is a shame IMO. Yes, he's known for his otherworldly chops, but at the most basic level he's a tremendous musician who can lay back and serve the song if need be.

Wooten has joked that Nathan East has his own island while he still tours in a bus playing small clubs, but Wooten certainly could dial it back and be an amazing studio cat if he wanted to.
 
#110
Phil Smith said:
I don't think it's so much Victor's "tone", I think it's more of his delivery of the notes, or at least that's how I "hear" it. The SMV "Thunder" album is great I think for hearing these nuances in different players.

To me he doesn't have as "potent" a sound as Stanley or Marcus does.
Click to expand...

I gotta agree with you on this one, I've heard very talented bassist's play through small combo's and make them sing and sound just awesome IMP.
Victor's tone is his own, weather playing through his old Ampeg gear or now through Harke, it's just not the tone for me or probably most of us. Just take 3 bassist and put them on the same rig,ask them to play the same song, and your going to hear 3 differant results.
 
#115
Jared Lash said:
...he actually said he would like to do more straight ahead studio bass work on pop tunes etc but that producers didn't think to call him for simple grooves/backing bass stuff. Which is a shame IMO. Yes, he's known for his otherworldly chops, but at the most basic level he's a tremendous musician who can lay back and serve the song if need be.

...but Wooten certainly could dial it back and be an amazing studio cat if he wanted to.
Click to expand...


I agree. Wooten would excel.
Back in the day, The Wooten Brothers Band played R&B covers/originals w/ Victor playing the bass to serve the song.
He's plays some nice stuff on this overlooked album by Mark O'Connor-
http://www.amazon.com/New-Nashville-Cats-Mark-OConnor/dp/B000002LOL

...Glenn Worf, IIRC, is also on some tracks.

The cut ("Beaver Patrol") he played on the Jaco Big Band tribute is also very, very cool.
Amazon.com: Beaver Patrol: Jaco Pastorius Big Band: MP3 Downloads
 
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#116
7StringBassist said:
Great Bassist Horrible tone. It sounded as if there was no balls to his sound when I heard his live material Id hate to be a flamer but, I seriously had to get this off my chest.

Stated before, he is a amazing player not to be a nay sayer on his talent but just his tone and I'm very unimpressed coming from a 5K bass :hiding:
Click to expand...

You crazy. I bet you play a P with flats. That's a tone that don't impress me: hiding
 
#117
ElMon said:
In general, I don't like the thin, quasi-trombone-like tone of a lot of soloing bassists. Copping this kind of tone facilitates this type of playing and better communicates its more melodic nature, but give me a fat supportive tone any day. Of course, with guys like Victor, I"m simply an admirer of his very original voice but have absolutely NO desire to play like him or sound like him.
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THISSSSS!!!!:)
 
#118
I like Victors tone, but I wouldn't use it myself. I can say that about most great bassists. It seems like some people tend to think, that if a tone isn't one that they would use, than it's not very good. It's subjective to the player. A lot of people also seem to be approaching it as if tone is purely an EQ issue, while the hands play a much bigger role.
 
#119
I am not sure what the big deal is....I can listen to Wooten for hours but his tone is not my tone. It is a simple as that for me. I enjoy him for what he is: a fantastic musician that creates great music. What he does works very well for him and I take that at face value. I never want to emulate his sound. However I want to learn from him about music. Those of you that have made it to his music camps are truly blessed.

Besides, I am amazed that someone as technical as him can sound musical and not mechanical. That just blows me away.
 

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