Okay, so I'm sure there are countless topics regarding "who influenced you as a Bassist", but what I'm here to ask is which bassists had influence on the tone of your instrument (and sorry if that one's been asked frequently too)? Playing style/method can be completely unrelated, it's just about that bass tone!
As for me, I think my true call for the bass was when I first heard the Ovation Magnum I in the hands of Paul D'amour from the band Tool. Yeah, I know he uses some kind of distortion effects on it so it sounds very distinct for an Ovation, but I love his tone regardless. It's punchy, it's brutal, and it sends the message straight across (as did his 1975 Ric CS signature edition in their Undertow album). I've honestly never been more impressed by any bass tone I've heard and it influenced me as bassist to learn how to use a pick (Paul does a hefty amount of pick scraping, ghost picking, tremelos, etc,) buy my own pedalboard setup, and buy a "professional" bass (mines a SBMM Ray 34, but that's close enough to being professional for me) just for the sake of emulating their sound with what I have to work with (Stingray with a Sansamp Bass Driver in my case can get you very close, but at the end of the day nothing really sounds like the original thing). Like seriously though, I can be having the worst day at work or with school or whatever and then just come home, play through a few of their songs on mah bass and feel much better
I dunno why it helps me cope with my stress ad nauseum sometimes, but it does.
Paul also happens to be one of my heroes too... Nuff said in this video:
So I think I've rambled on about my fanboyisms for quite long enough lol. Which musicians do you guys look for in helping define your own bass tone? Whether it's a direct influence or partially that lead to your own defined tone is irrelevant in this case, I just am curious to know who people here aspire to sounding like (tone wise, not necessarily how they play just to be clear) and how they achieved their tone with their own basses!
As for me, I think my true call for the bass was when I first heard the Ovation Magnum I in the hands of Paul D'amour from the band Tool. Yeah, I know he uses some kind of distortion effects on it so it sounds very distinct for an Ovation, but I love his tone regardless. It's punchy, it's brutal, and it sends the message straight across (as did his 1975 Ric CS signature edition in their Undertow album). I've honestly never been more impressed by any bass tone I've heard and it influenced me as bassist to learn how to use a pick (Paul does a hefty amount of pick scraping, ghost picking, tremelos, etc,) buy my own pedalboard setup, and buy a "professional" bass (mines a SBMM Ray 34, but that's close enough to being professional for me) just for the sake of emulating their sound with what I have to work with (Stingray with a Sansamp Bass Driver in my case can get you very close, but at the end of the day nothing really sounds like the original thing). Like seriously though, I can be having the worst day at work or with school or whatever and then just come home, play through a few of their songs on mah bass and feel much better
I dunno why it helps me cope with my stress ad nauseum sometimes, but it does.Paul also happens to be one of my heroes too... Nuff said in this video:
So I think I've rambled on about my fanboyisms for quite long enough lol. Which musicians do you guys look for in helping define your own bass tone? Whether it's a direct influence or partially that lead to your own defined tone is irrelevant in this case, I just am curious to know who people here aspire to sounding like (tone wise, not necessarily how they play just to be clear) and how they achieved their tone with their own basses!
