The way bass "should" sound

[DJ Bebop]

Lee Dorman (on the in a gadda da vida album)

Marcus Miller (his great slap tone).

And Lee on this:

 

[Grimbly]

Hi all,

To me this is a very cool sounding bass

 

[dr doofie]

What a ridiculous and subjective question. It is like asking what piece of art is the right art? To indicate that one bass tone is the right one fundamentally ties the hands of the musician, throws out a huge array of music styles and genres, and for all intents and purposes narrows the mind to a point where creativity is completely stifled. All you have to do is look at this member's Forum name to see that his mind is already closed to diversity. I would go so far as to throw out the term "Tone Racist".
Music should have no limits, borders, absolutes, or "rightness". The lack of rules in music is what makes it great.

Umm..
Reading through these threads I don't sense one bit of animosity, hostility, narrow mindedness, or snark.
I see bass players sharing ideas and opinions, and doing so in a spirit of conviviality and fun.
Maybe you've misunderstood the OP's intention?

 

[BellsNWhistles]

Since nobody has mentioned Mark Sandman of Morphine with his 2 string slide bass, I feel it's my responsibility to put this in here. This has been my favorite bass tone since the day I heard it back in 1993.

 

[Btbp]

Joe Puerta's tone is just pehnominal
on Bruce Hornsby and the Range with Jerry Garcia - Across the River


Dee Murray's fantasitc growl, like around 3:30
Elton John - Love Lies Bleeding


While I'm a very infrequent pick player, Roy Schulman's sound is killer, the live version is equally as good
Gentle Giant - As Old As You're Young

around 00:45

Rocco's buttery tone just oozes funk
Tower of Power - Only So Much Oil In The Ground 1975 Remastered


Cool 80s obscure artist Actuel has some cool bass sounds
Actuel - Monuments (1984) Post Punk, New Wave

Second song at 3:30, and the first song

John Siegler's simple, fat tone has the right amount of thump and clarity
Todd Rundgren - Just One Victory

 

[The Bass Clef]

What a ridiculous and subjective question. It is like asking what piece of art is the right art? To indicate that one bass tone is the right one fundamentally ties the hands of the musician, throws out a huge array of music styles and genres, and for all intents and purposes narrows the mind to a point where creativity is completely stifled. All you have to do is look at this member's Forum name to see that his mind is already closed to diversity. I would go so far as to throw out the term "Tone Racist".
Music should have no limits, borders, absolutes, or "rightness". The lack of rules in music is what makes it great.

This is the dumbest thing I've read on here in a while. Congrats. OP is a ridiculous "tone racist" because he asked what other people's favorite bass tone is? Gotta hand it to ya, you're pretty creative in the way that you can manufacture something to get all weird and bothered by out of nothing.

 

[nooffswitch]

Joe Puerta's tone is just pehnominal
on Bruce Hornsby and the Range with Jerry Garcia - Across the River


Dee Murray's fantasitc growl, like around 3:30
Elton John - Love Lies Bleeding


While I'm a very infrequent pick player, Roy Schulman's sound is killer, the live version is equally as good
Gentle Giant - As Old As You're Young

around 00:45

Rocco's buttery tone just oozes funk
Tower of Power - Only So Much Oil In The Ground 1975 Remastered


Cool 80s obscure artist Actuel has some cool bass sounds
Actuel - Monuments (1984) Post Punk, New Wave

Second song at 3:30, and the first song

John Siegler's simple, fat tone has the right amount of thump and clarity
Todd Rundgren - Just One Victory

I could listen to 'love lies' for hours... Dream Theater did a great cover a while back.
And 'only so much' may be my fave Roco song... well posted.

 

[Bruce]

Best. Bass. Tone. EVER.

But also, I love how the first few posts in this thread all have wildly different bass tones - all great.

I agree. A masterpiece!!!

 

[Bruce]

Two of my fav tones-

P bass-



Status sound-

 

[DJ Bebop]

Bernard Edwards


And the "chucking" technique

 

[nooffswitch]

Two of my fav tones-

P bass-



Status sound-

Status tone FTW. The only bass i can consistently hear above the mix...

 

[Btbp]

Two of my fav tones-

P bass-

Great sound.Had not heard that version. What a great medley.
Have you heard this version?

 

[DJ Bebop]

July Slick

 

[DJ Bebop]

Dave Parlato

 

[Chad Michael]

Bass should sound like your signature looks, there is no right or wrong. Benefits for those who are versatile. Benefits for those who are individual.... sound YOUR way and go...

 

[DJ Bebop]

Abraham Laboriel Sr.

 

[Spectrum]

Caravan always had a bass sound that seemed simple, yet inspiring. Never found out what exactly the bass player was playing.

Ah yes, Caravan. Check this out, especially when he turns his volume knob up at 1:28. Pure bass sound heaven from there on.

 

[DJ Bebop]

 

[Ian Lewis]

And on the other side of things, I always dug this tone, too....



And this...



And I'm fairly certain that was a Stingray, not a P. This pic I think was during the recording, but I wouldn't swear to that ...

Also fairly certain that Born To Be Wild wasn't recored on a Ric, but a Ric can certainly get that sound. Don't know of P ever that that Le Freak sound live though.

I don't think that Stingray is plugged in, but you're right Bernard played (mostly) Stingrays.

 

[Ian Lewis]

Obviously there is no single answer to this, but I thought it would be fun to get people to post clips with their favorite bass tones. I'll start. The first 1:20 of this is pretty close to the "sound in my head."

I have many favorite bass tones. Some just don't suit the band I play in, so I stick to a full tone with just enough highs to cut through.