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Question about tone
- Thread starter the walrus
- Start date
Tone starts with the pups imo and is modified some by the isntruments wood, build and strings. Better bass amps dont color sound very much, they are more hifi. Lower qaulity amps color the sound a lot more. Ideal signal path to me is bass to processor of choice for ready for recording tone, to mixer then house PA. Add 2nd line to mixer out for personal monitor amp if desired.
No it's passive. It's a Yamaha rbx 170. It only costs like $150 so it's probably a piece of crap.
Those used to be great basses. I sold those over everything else in its price range, back when I sold guitars. If you want to change the tone, get a new set of pick ups...
nah, tone starts with the strings. It is what you are changing the length of to change pitch. What you are banging, plucking or picking to create notes.
Changing type of string from nickel to stainless or round to flat makes a huge difference. Changing gauge has a huge affect on tone as well.
From there everything has an impact on the tone in some fashion. Some things you might not be aware of make a huge difference. Someof my older basses sound very farty and annoying into lower impedance inputs that you find on certain preamps. Same basses sound great through high impedance preamp front ends.
Until you have heard the same bass through multiple front ends (or some that have switchable impedance like Summit and UA), it is hard to describe this.
Changing type of string from nickel to stainless or round to flat makes a huge difference. Changing gauge has a huge affect on tone as well.
From there everything has an impact on the tone in some fashion. Some things you might not be aware of make a huge difference. Someof my older basses sound very farty and annoying into lower impedance inputs that you find on certain preamps. Same basses sound great through high impedance preamp front ends.
Until you have heard the same bass through multiple front ends (or some that have switchable impedance like Summit and UA), it is hard to describe this.
To the original question, its everything. The amp will add it's own color to the input signal as well. So 10 different basses into the same amp will sound different. Just as the same bass into 10 different amps will sound different.
speaking as someone who spent about 10 years on borrowed gear, this doesnt fly.
A bad bass will have poor intonation and middling low end.
A good amp will faithfully reproduce all the crud of it.
Conversely a good bass can still sound good even if you have to cut all the lows to get loud without farting out.
As above. Hands. Before I knew anything about overdrive and aggressive tones I was achieving them on my passive basses by using a sharper attack with my fingers.
the walrus said:
People like to debate tone here more than they like to read messages I think, but I'm pretty sure the buzzing sound isn't coming from your hands or anything that's wrong with your strings.
Someone else suggested a grounding issue and you asked what is a grounding issue. It's an electrical issue - you should probably take both in for service, as it sounds like a wire may not be connected properly in either your bass or your amp.
However it could also be your house - before you do anything else, try plugging your amp into different outlets. Sometimes if the light switch in the room is on the same circuit as the outlet you're using, and if the light has a fluorescent bulb, you can get a buzz.
But it's more likely the ground in your bass has come unsoldered, or possibly your amp. If you're adventurous, you can expose the guts of your bass and have a look, but if you're asking a question like "what's a grounding issue" please do NOT take your amp apart.
Nothing effects tone more than the player. A phenomenal player can make mediocre gear sound good, and good gear sound great. As far as your issue, sounds like 60 cycle hum from your single coil pups. U have 3 options: 1) always maje sure the bridge/neck pup blend is even 2) get your bass sheilded (about $40-$50). 3) replace your pups with split coil 'noiseless' pups. I recommend option 2.
faulknersj said:
The buzz only happens when he touches the strings, so it's not single coil 60 Hz buzz.
Then again, with a grounding issue, the buzz usually disappears when you touch the strings...
