The futility of tone chasing

[InhumanResource]

Many of us are willing to go to great trouble and expense to find "that tone". Basses, amps, cabs, effects, strings - the list goes on. But how important is it really, and how realistic a goal is it?

I worked for a long time in the advertising and print industry, and I remember a repro guy who had been in the business for decades once telling me: "there's no such thing as accurate color reproduction". What he meant by that is that you can get in the ballpark, maybe even very close if you have total control of every aspect of the process, but that it was impossible to get it perfectly right every time, and there will always be variables that affect the result in various ways.

I've often reflected over the fact that bass playing is very similar. No matter how much we try to find the perfect tone, it really only gets us in the ballpark. As soon as we play live somewhere everything is pretty much out the window, because there are simply too many variables, and many of them are completely outside our control (this is of course a little different in a recording studio).

I actually don't mind too much. I'm quite happy if I can get my tone roughly where I want it to be, and I personally believe that the ability to get it 80-90% right in most settings is more important than chasing the last 10-20%, which I probably won't achieve anyway, and the audience won't care if I do. But I also realize that there are horses for courses here, and that YMM will, to some extent, V.

So is it crucial for you to have the tone exactly right, or do you adopt a more freewheeling attitude?

Nope, I honestly don't care. I get within the ballpark that I am comfortable with and off we go. Just need it to be not terrible.

 

[Rayjay]

Most of your tone comes not from your gear or settings, but from your hand's ability to pull that tone out of your instrument. Get that down and the rest falls in to place much easier.

 

[FilterFunk]

I'm purely a home studio guy, so I come from a recording perspective:

I insist on the tone being right to my ears and in my mixes. I have chased specific tones (e.g., the "Flash Light" synth bass tone) and haven't quite nailed them. But in striving for those tones, I've found tones that sound great and work in my music. So I'm not too worried about a nailing a "perfect" tone, whatever I may perceive that to be - I'm just happy to find the "right" tone!

 

[bmusic]

OP's point about producing that tone that's in your head in a live setting is valid. I do most of my playing in the recording environment, where all of the variables are under my control. And the tone that's required of the individual song—which varies from project to project—is what I'm chasing.

Not futile at all, but fruitful. And crucial.

 

[satantango]

I'm purely a home studio guy, so I come from a recording perspective:

this is me and my "chase" is just a setup that sounds good no matter what I plug into it (as long as it's a good sounding bass on its own). Fortunately I've amassed a nice collection of preamp pedals over the years that basically means I've got like 12 "amps" to choose from at will. I'm just always looking for new and fun sounds to add to the collection.

I guess because I'm not in a position to need one "perfect" tone I'm just always searching for *more* tones. I don't get a new bass or guitar unless it's significantly different than what I already own.

pedals though...

And the tone that's required of the individual song—which varies from project to project—is what I'm chasing.

exactly!

 

[Phaidrus]

@JakobT

Plato, the philosopher of antiquity, is famous for exactly this reason. He proposed the so-called "theory of ideas", according to which there's the idea of a thing and there's the actual thing, which is a simulacrum of its idea. The actual thing will never reach the utter perfection of the corresponding idea. The maker of the existing thing can only try to get as close to the idea but will never get there. The more one becomes a philosopher (i.e. gets to know about things), the closer one will get to the ideas of things but even s/he will never reach them. Critics, like Friedrich Nietzsche, call this school of philosophy "dualism" because it introduces a division between two worlds: the world of eternal ideas and the mundane world of mortal existence, where the latter is doomed to forever strive to reach the former, which, alas, is a priori unattainable. The great drama, the tragedy I say, of western thought.

 

[Pings Bass]

If one needs some very particular set of electronics to sound like oneself, I would argue that one is more technician than musician

Beyond being audible and balanced in the ensemble, I have no idea what "tone" even means. No amount of signal chain gadgetry can make up for tasteful note choice with good articulation.

 

[Jefenator]

IME it's only ever perfect by accident.
But what would I be if I didn't try?
(Set for retirement... Still working with that one guitarist... In a relationship...)

 

[ElectroVibe]

I can run 10 kilometres barefoot but I'd much rather get some Nikes

Yes, that would be Abby normal.

 

[Giff]

I was/am waaaay more persnickety with my guitar tone. It might simply be a function of playing bass more frequently than guitar, but I have 6 great presets on my Helix for bass and only 2 for guitar. And those two guitar presets took a while to dial in! Granted, there are also a lot more guitar models than bass models on the Helix to work through.

 

[SteveC]

Most of your tone comes not from your gear or settings, but from your hand's ability to pull that tone out of your instrument. Get that down and the rest falls in to place much easier.

Someone once told me I sound like me no matter what I'm using. I'll take that.

 

[bwildt]

I'm more interested in what is being played, not the tone. As long as the sound has some decent definition and is not just mud, I can go for it.

I hear a song played well with a p-bass. OK, that sounds cool. Then I hear it with a j-bass. OK, that sounds cool. Then I hear it with a Stingray. Ok, that sounds cool also.

 

[Cleezmo]

Tone really is…….in our hands. That has all ready been mentioned in this thread.

So why do we always look for a new bass to find it?

Not to digress, but the whole 'your tone is in your hands' thing I think gets thrown around a lot and IMO misses the point here a bit. I agree that me playing Bass X will likely sound a little different than somebody else playing the same Bass X because of our different right and left hand attacks, placement, etc. But I don't agree that me playing a P with flats will sound the same as me playing my Modulus with new rounds, or the same as my L-series fretless in active mode. Same hands, same player, but different basses can and will sound different. Yeah, I'll sound like me playing any of them, but it won't sound the same. Not arguing that the audience notices or cares - I'd argue they probably only notice when the tone/sound is 100% terrible - but I notice.

To the OP's question - I'll agree with a few others who stated that there's value in twiddling knobs and setting on your amp for your different basses at home, so you know what you like and you know what general tweaks you need moving from, say a passive J to a hot active bass, so that you have your baseline settings. But yeah, in a live setting, getting 80%ish to what I want to hear is cool and works. I've also stopped chasing 'the right tone' for different songs live - rather than rolling back and forth from neck pickup to blended to bridge for what was on the tune, I pick one setting (usually both pickups) and just play the whole gig that way.

 

[Mastermold]

Many of us are willing to go to great trouble and expense to find "that tone". Basses, amps, cabs, effects, strings - the list goes on. But how important is it really, and how realistic a goal is it?

I worked for a long time in the advertising and print industry, and I remember a repro guy who had been in the business for decades once telling me: "there's no such thing as accurate color reproduction". What he meant by that is that you can get in the ballpark, maybe even very close if you have total control of every aspect of the process, but that it was impossible to get it perfectly right every time, and there will always be variables that affect the result in various ways.

I've often reflected over the fact that bass playing is very similar. No matter how much we try to find the perfect tone, it really only gets us in the ballpark. As soon as we play live somewhere everything is pretty much out the window, because there are simply too many variables, and many of them are completely outside our control (this is of course a little different in a recording studio).

I actually don't mind too much. I'm quite happy if I can get my tone roughly where I want it to be, and I personally believe that the ability to get it 80-90% right in most settings is more important than chasing the last 10-20%, which I probably won't achieve anyway, and the audience won't care if I do. But I also realize that there are horses for courses here, and that YMM will, to some extent, V.

So is it crucial for you to have the tone exactly right, or do you adopt a more freewheeling attitude?

I don't know about "that" perfect tone, but I get tones I like, and they make me happy. I own lots of basses and amps and enjoy the variety.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Many of us are willing to go to great trouble and expense to find "that tone". Basses, amps, cabs, effects, strings - the list goes on. But how important is it really, and how realistic a goal is it?

I worked for a long time in the advertising and print industry, and I remember a repro guy who had been in the business for decades once telling me: "there's no such thing as accurate color reproduction". What he meant by that is that you can get in the ballpark, maybe even very close if you have total control of every aspect of the process, but that it was impossible to get it perfectly right every time, and there will always be variables that affect the result in various ways.

I've often reflected over the fact that bass playing is very similar. No matter how much we try to find the perfect tone, it really only gets us in the ballpark. As soon as we play live somewhere everything is pretty much out the window, because there are simply too many variables, and many of them are completely outside our control (this is of course a little different in a recording studio).

I actually don't mind too much. I'm quite happy if I can get my tone roughly where I want it to be, and I personally believe that the ability to get it 80-90% right in most settings is more important than chasing the last 10-20%, which I probably won't achieve anyway, and the audience won't care if I do. But I also realize that there are horses for courses here, and that YMM will, to some extent, V.

So is it crucial for you to have the tone exactly right, or do you adopt a more freewheeling attitude?

Freewheelin, here.

 

[FilterFunk]

Not to digress, but the whole 'your tone is in your hands' thing I think gets thrown around a lot and IMO misses the point here a bit. I agree that me playing Bass X will likely sound a little different than somebody else playing the same Bass X because of our different right and left hand attacks, placement, etc. But I don't agree that me playing a P with flats will sound the same as me playing my Modulus with new rounds, or the same as my L-series fretless in active mode. Same hands, same player, but different basses can and will sound different. Yeah, I'll sound like me playing any of them, but it won't sound the same. Not arguing that the audience notices or cares - I'd argue they probably only notice when the tone/sound is 100% terrible - but I notice.

^This. Otherwise, a great player would just play whatever cheap bass and amp they happen to find in a pawn shop and be done with it.

Playing technique and ability are the most important things, but they aren't the only things.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

I know when my ear is happy with my tone. I also recognize that circumstances beyond my control will impact that every time so I accept close is good enough. Even through the course of a night, as crowd size varies, etc., has a profound impact, not even considering the specifics of the actual performance space. Sometimes I hit "the spot" early in the night, other times I can't quite zero in at all. I'm gettin' better at it though...

 

[Alkali Ike]

I told a paint store I needed a gallon in an exact match to a Pantone number. They laughed at me.

 

[gcbake]

Once you get to a certain volume alt all sounds like Sh1T anyway...

 

[Morningside]

But how important is it really, and how realistic a goal is it?

I was on stage recently using someone else's gear: a short-scale Ibanez from the '90s that would probably sell for $150 on Ebay, and a little Rumble combo. I'm not a tone obsessive, but I usually play Fenders that cost five or ten times as much and enjoy seeking out the best pickups, strings, amp, etc. So I thought it would sound meh.

Turns out, the little Ibanez sounded just fine. The intonation was slightly off, but it had a solid low end and enough definition that I had no trouble hearing myself. There's no way the audience noticed that the tone was sub-optimal. I didn't even notice myself after the first verse.

A good reminder that a decent player can make almost any electric bass sound pretty good. A lot of what we pay for in basses is just appearance, playability, and (hopefully) reliability.