"Practice" tone vs. gig tone

[William Duran]

I've been practicing with my tone knob and bridge pickup cranked and just a little bit of neck for about three months (J/J bass).

I'm not reaching for this kind of tone in any gig I have right now, but the clarity of these pickup settings makes finger noise, extra string vibration, and other noises so much more obvious than they were when I would be practicing with no tone and basically no bridge pickup blended in. The thump and warmth of the neck pick up was hiding some bad habits in my hands.

When I say practice, I mean scales, arpeggios, and specific parts of songs where cleanliness is key--I'll generally adjust my knobs when playing along with a song to match the style.

Is this something y'all have experimented with?

 

[Nashrakh]

Definitely. I like my practice amps to have an emphasis on high mids and highs to really hear any deficits like for example, sympathetic ringing going on. It (literally) highlights all the bad stuff in your technique. That's why I don't have a full size rig at home but a small 8" practice amp that cuts a bit of bass.

I play with tone wide open all the time anyway but my gig amps are quite a bit darker, and that's fine. Sorting out your issues is best done at home, however.

 

[two fingers]

Stick with your practice tone on stage. Always send the sound guy something other than just muddy thump.

Here's the thing. The sound guy can cut anything. If something is in your signal, the sound guy can boost it. But if it isn't there, the sound guy can't boost it.

Foggy enough? Let me clear it up.

Let's say your bridge-pickup-only-tone-knob-all-the-way-down tone is really too muddy for the room. Can the sound guy help you out? Nope. Why? There are no highs and almost no mids for him to boost. He can do exactly one thing for you.... adjust your volume. That's it.

BUT, if you send the board a slightly brighter signal, with some mids and highs intact, your tone is like a soft piece of clay he can mold to fit any mix in any room. Is it too bright? No problem. Simply cut some highs. Too muddy? Just figure out a good slice-and-dice frequency center for the mids and boost away (or cut some lows, or whatever works).

I've been preaching this for years to typical "bedroom tone" players. Most if them love a scooped tone, or a tone like you describe as your current stage tone. If you insist in that, and it's a muddy mess on stage, there's not a thing that can be done to help you out front. My favorite recording engineer always said "You can't polish a turd".

Send the board something with at least SOME mids and highs in it. Then trust that man/woman to do what he/she does out front.

 

[William Duran]

I've been preaching this for years to typical "bedroom tone" players. Most if them love a scooped tone, or a tone like you describe as your current stage tone. If you insist in that, and it's a muddy mess on stage, there's not a thing that can be done to help you out front. My favorite recording engineer always said "You can't polish a turd".

Send the board something with at least SOME mids and highs in it. Then trust that man/woman to do what he/she does out front.

Appreciate that insight.

 

[Lagado]

My practice tone sounds more like a clavinet than a bass. For the same reasons you have illustrated, working towards cleaner technique. My live sound is way different.

 

[JRA]

Is this something y'all have experimented with?

my stage tone varies somewhat depending on the venue. when i'm recording: i'm usually trying to find a tone suitable for the task at hand. when i'm practicing: i might be 'unplugged' (or playing at very low volumes) such that 'practice tone' isn't even a thing. my practicing is for my hands, my brain, learning, upkeep, yada yada. chasing a "tone" during practice would just be a tangent --- or avoidance --- of my practice goals. YMMV

OTOH: the use of a new ax/electronics/amp/cabinet/gizmo/etc. might necessitate some time spent learning new 'protocols' for an updated 'bass system', so various tones, gains, etc., need some scrutiny. but i wouldn't call that practicing...it's just time spent tweaking the various parts of the system.

IME:
chasing $$$ =
chasing dinner =
chasing girls =
chasing tone =

 

[micguy]

The majority of my gigs are ampless/in ears. My tone (or at least what I send to FOH) is identical at home and on the gig - I play the same bass (or basses) I'm going to use at the gig for a week beforehand through the same rig (a pedalboard in this case), so I can work on nuances that are particular to that instrument - how do I play this note here in the song on this instrument?. Practicing and playing with different setups is a recipe for confusion at the gig, as far as I'm concerned - I work hard at minimizing variables between the two situations; I would never intentionally add in a variable.

 

[Lagado]

I don't try and assign absolutes, every room I've ever played sounded different to another, I'll adjust to that accordingly. That's what ears are for.

 

[iammr2]

I've been practicing with my tone knob and bridge pickup cranked and just a little bit of neck for about three months (J/J bass).

I'm not reaching for this kind of tone in any gig I have right now, but the clarity of these pickup settings makes finger noise, extra string vibration, and other noises so much more obvious than they were when I would be practicing with no tone and basically no bridge pickup blended in. The thump and warmth of the neck pick up was hiding some bad habits in my hands.

When I say practice, I mean scales, arpeggios, and specific parts of songs where cleanliness is key--I'll generally adjust my knobs when playing along with a song to match the style.

Is this something y'all have experimented with?

I've done the same thing and found that over time, it helped clean up my technique. Actually, I think I'm due for another round of it. Hope it helps you as well.

 

[Guild B301]

99% of my ‘tone’ comes from the bass. Whatever I put it through, (including direct, or at practice volume ), will be close to what I am looking for. I have different basses for different sounds. My amps are tube Marshall Bass, and they do what they are meant to do - amplify it - make it louder. They have a great sound, and I can change their
‘tone’ to fit the song, if needed. I can turn them down for practice volume. It’s not complicated.

 

[Blue Swede]

I've been practicing with my tone knob and bridge pickup cranked and just a little bit of neck for about three months (J/J bass).

I'm not reaching for this kind of tone in any gig I have right now, but the clarity of these pickup settings makes finger noise, extra string vibration, and other noises so much more obvious than they were when I would be practicing with no tone and basically no bridge pickup blended in. The thump and warmth of the neck pick up was hiding some bad habits in my hands.

When I say practice, I mean scales, arpeggios, and specific parts of songs where cleanliness is key--I'll generally adjust my knobs when playing along with a song to match the style.

Is this something y'all have experimented with?

Do you find your gig tone benefits from it? If your technique get better and you get the results tone wise you want from it then it’s all good.

I actually find that I play in different places on the bass depending on which pickups I have selected (blend knob for me). If I have selected mainly the Neck pickup I play in front of neck pup. Bridge pickup I play closer to the bridge and if I have both equal or mixed I’m somewhere in between. This in itself alters my tone and technique even more than just which pickup is selected.

It can’t hurt doing it and getting more diverse tonal possibilities from your instrument, right?

 

[William Duran]

Do you find your gig tone benefits from it? If your technique get better and you get the results tone wise you want from it then it’s all good.

I actually find that I play in different places on the bass depending on which pickups I have selected (blend knob for me). If I have selected mainly the Neck pickup I play in front of neck pup. Bridge pickup I play closer to the bridge and if I have both equal or mixed I’m somewhere in between. This in itself alters my tone and technique even more than just which pickup is selected.

It can’t hurt doing it and getting more diverse tonal possibilities from your instrument, right?

Definitely! It's kind of like a jazz upright player practicing with a bow, even if they're rarely using it at the gig. We don't have to worry about intonation with a fretted instrument but muting is a bigger beast in electric technique than upright.

 

[Lagado]

Even playing at home along to a track requires a different EQ to define it IME, up against a sonic wall of drums, guitars and Hungarian zithers is a whole other ball game. All the definition you previously had is soaked up.

 

[dreamadream99]

I tend to find that the tone I want to hear when I play, is not the same tone that is best for the audience to hear in a band mix.