So, like, what is 'vintage tone' REALLY?

[Slevage]

How about vintage Greg Lake, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee tone?

Probably have to vintage back ten years before anyone knew who they are.

 

[Franzenstein]

A little butter or mayonnaise on the strings oughtta do it.

nicotine on the fingers is the key

 

[bassballs27]

I agree with a lot of the comments already mentioned and vintage definitely has different meanings to everyone.
I once heard that a vintage car is something that is 30 years plus in age. If by definition today that means a car built in 1991 is vintage, I would say that ain't right! No 1991 Pontiac Sunbird is vintage in my books! LOL!
A 1954 Ford F100 is vintage.....and an all original 1960 Stack Knob Fender Jazz is vintage.

Vintage by definition is synonymous with the words old, old-fashioned, classic, recognized and retro
I believe every player can recognize a P-Bass or J-Bass...and those are designs from the "classic" era of Fender.

Tone by definition is a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength

Do we combine these two definitions above to get the phrase "vintage tone"?
Does vintage tone mean the old fashioned or classic musical bass guitar sound with reference to the basses specific pitch, quality, and strength? It just may.

It would be cool to define "modern vintage" or "modern vintage tone" as well, but I don't want to hijack this thread. Modern vintage to me is a Sadowsky, an F-Bass, Alleva Coppolo, etc. or for a modern vintage amp, I'd go for Verellen as an example...not an SVT, but a better built modern version with an different tone experience!
These are modern takes on vintage design.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Put it this way- an ash bodied active electronics bass with roundwound strings on a maple fretboard through an SWR rig will not give you 'vintage tone'.

 

[chris_b]

Everyone talks about how great 'vintage tone' is, but what is it?

IMO "vintage" tone is a description for a sound we used to get back in the day. I'd place it in the 60's and 70's. In the days before bass cabs were finally sorted out, when they were mostly just a box containing drivers. It's a bit of a myth because a lot of players back then didn't sound "vintage" at all. I guess the common thinking is Motown and Stax, Precision basses with flatwound strings, unported cabs and speakers emphasising the mids with little definition. In the Jamerson and Bob Babbitt ball park.

So vintage is warmer, fuller, fatter, with less definition and more woolliness than cabs to day and with less punch, attack and aggressiveness. It's the lack of definition and woolliness in the notes that always put me off, even in the 70's. When the management finally bought me an amp I got a Marshall Super Lead 100, it's EQ points just sounded better than the Super Bass 100. Gave me more clarity in the notes.

These days you can EQ a "vintage" style tone into most decent rigs, but, thankfully, the indistinct, woolly, lack of definition is gone.

 

[bassfreakah]

I would practice with our guitar players Fender super twin at low volume and it sounded so mid forward and old school with a P bass (dead flats)To me it sounded like old Phil from the Dead. Very cool
Very vintage sounding in a good way!!!

 

[Ric Vice]

And then there’s Finger Ease for that super slick silicon slide. Vintage tone in the studio often was the result of early use of DI’s Motown and Abbey Road Studios both did that. Stax, from what I’ve read did not and both of the Muscle Shoals Studios probably did a little of both, DI and Amp with a baffle .

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Everyone talks about how great 'vintage tone' is, but what is it?

To me it makes me think of what you get with dead strings and highs rolled off. Thumpy round tone, which I can achieve with basically any bass and any amp.

What do you think makes 'vintage tone'?

View attachment 4222880

EQ mostly with dead strings that have never been changed, preferably a mute as tight as it can get. I agree, one could make just about any bass and amp sound terrible if they worked hard enough at it. JMO.

 

[cnltb]

So, like, what is 'vintage tone' REALLY?
...to my ear, a certain focus on the lower midrange has a lot to do with it

 

[dangevans]

Jamerson (fingers), Joe Osborn (pick). Really the 2 guys who played on the most vintage popular music from the 60's-70's.
With flats, and on Fenders.

 

[Hummergeist]

An old bass and old amp captured through an old console and finally ending up on tape. The entire chain has to be involved. Or do it with plugins

 

[Kirk Bryant]

WELL.......If you have to ask....... so. Um yah sorry, NO.
the secret door of vintage knowledge is closed for the year.

 

[brianrost]

Fittingly what’s called “modern” is more commonly found in pop music from 20-30 years ago than what’s frequently used in actual modern music these days.

That's because of all the tort

Plus the rediscovery of flatwounds, short scales and faux reissues of cheesy basses like Danelectro, Kay, Harmony, Supro, etc.

Just wait for "post-modern music"

 

[bassdude51]

Pretty much the sound of bass up until the use of round wounds.

 

[brianrost]

So, mudbuckers though a tube amp?

Actually photos of the Disraeli Gears sessions show Jack with a Danelectro Longhorn

 

[brianrost]

View attachment 4223885

Digging the total lack of bass effects and only three stomp boxes for the guitar.

 

[SteveCS]

I think looking to define 'vintage' tone, or any tone, in isolation is a bit of a fool's errand. Such things invariably end up being referenced to how some old players of some old basses sounded on some old recordings made on some old equipment and heard through some old reproduction systems of unknown provenance. Even the quality of the vinyl affects the sound quality, and it is well known that 100% virgin vinyl was far from the norm in rock and pop records. Isolating and defining a single sound amongst all of these other things is almost impossible in anything but the broadest terms, IMHO.
YMMV

 

[andruca]

First thing that comes to my old dumbed down brain whenever the "vintage" tone concept is invoked is Mel playing "Creepin'"...



Overall, I agree with the many that have pointed to the apparent non-absolute nature of "vintage".

 

[socialleper]

Nostalgia and an imaginary tone in your head of "the good old days."

 

[Medicine Man]

Yes you can.

I can also say that cats are the true rulers of Earth, and we are their slaves.

My wife's cats agree.