Tone Compliments

[Old Fart]

For some genres, bass tone is somewhat in the background. Round, full and hiding behind the kick drum. For some other genres, crazy effects are used which cannot be ignored. Guitarists get a lot of attention, including compliments on their tone.

But guitarists are NOT the only guys who care about tone! WE care about tone! But how often does our hard work on bass tone get noticed? Well this is a thread where we can report the frequency of compliments we receive at gigs. This can include compliments from audience members AND other members of your band. If desired, you can also mentioned your formula for your tone. Bass brand and model, strings, pickups, etc.

 

[Wasnex]

It depends on the type of gigs, make up of the audience, and if I interact with audience members. It ranges from almost never to frequently.

In regards to bass, I think regular audience members respond more to quantity than quality. If the quantity meets there expectations, they love it. For many younger audience members, more is better. However, I performed for lots of seniors from the silent generation and they generally disliked audible bass. Boomers don't generally like super heavy bass.

 

[jimmydean]

Three people came up after a gig last night and complimented me on my tone . I was playing my new Sire V3 JB for the first time , took about an hour to break in the strings........it did sound pretty good.

 

[DavidG]

During a jam a few weeks back my guitarist said "that bass sounds great!" He didn't however comment on my playing!

 

[J Wilson]

I was different. While I appreciated the occasional compliment from civilians, it meant a lot more if another musician was in there and said something nice.

I always preferred a Jury of My Peers.

 

[Pings Bass]

By far the most frequent kind of compliment I get is about my playing, specifically bowing.

I think because people don't expect to hear bowed bass in an Americana context. It's certainly not because I'm any good at it.

I don't think anybody has ever said anything about my tone.

 

[darwin-bass]

This question is convicting. I work hard to craft a mix-ready tone. And yet, have never received a compliment on my tone. But I have on my playing.

 

[matthewbrown]

I tend to get compliments on my EB tone on jazz gigs, perhaps because I avoid a twangy, bright tone and use flatwound strings. Most of my other gigs are music theater, and I may get a nod from the tech about my tone. One tech absolutely loved the tone of my MTD Kingston Heir, which was set up for a big, fat, mid-scooped tone. The only complaints I get are when bandmates on casual dates "can't hear the bass." For them I turn up the mids, because they've probably lost some hearing, I think. I certainly have! But I still work to get the best tone for the situation.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Just last week from my lead guitar player playing some Santana songs : that tone is so sweet and fits perfectly in the mix ! (p bass, pure vintage 63 pickups, Fender flats)

 

[frankie5string]

I get compliments quite often. ...and I let my favourite players know how much I love working/playing with them or hearing them all the time.

The ones I truly appreciate are the compliments that come from the MDs/band-leaders or fellow musicians. So far I've been able to deliver whatever they need.

 

[mambo4]

It happened a coupe times, maybe. Hard to feel like I deserve any credit beyond choosing gear and setting the knobs.
Assuming you are asking about "gear" tone and not "in the hands" tone.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

When I gigged this setup I got compliments from either the bar staff, the chefs, or patrons just about every gig. Still have the P, never getting rid of it. Super old Labella Olinto Flats and a Seymour Duncan Antiquity II. It just WORKS.

 

[logdrum]

I am playing in a conduction ( conducted improvisation ) band and the cello player who is classically trained liked and commented positively on my tone and playing and it was really surprising to me. I bowed about 75%. I also had to tie in with the drums and percussion at times and the drummer like my groove lines.

 

[Mastiff_5]

I get compliments when my tone is “growly”. My Maru frog 5 with BassCulture 35’s and Delano sonar3 does the trick and gets compliments… however, I gigged a Warwick Thumb 5 BO for a decade, and that axe got more consistent compliments on its “dark” and “growly” tone from other musicians than any other bass I’ve played.

 

[Spectrum]

Once in a while I get comments on my Rickenbacker tone, when using the Ric-O-Sound. Haven't been gigging lately, though.

 

[spiritbass]

I've gotten a number of 'sounds good!' observations from audience members (non-musicians) over the years which I did not put much weight on. Being my own worst critic, I know when I'm sounding good and don't rely on feedback from any other source...

 

[Chicken Wing]

Not sure if this counts, but usually get compliments on playing not necessarily the bass tone.

 

[retslock]

Playing, yes but tone? Not really. I think maybe twice or three times since about 1973. One person described it as good definition so not really tone I suppose.

 

[js1]

When I got back to gigging about 20 years ago, I had to put together a rig quickly for little money. Picked up a beat up Eden 2x10" and 1x15", and paired it with a 62 Bassman I had that had been converted by a previous owner to 100W. The amp didn't have enough headroom to be clean at volume, but it sounded great. I got compliments on my tone frequently.

But 130 lbs of cabs got stale fast. My first foray into ultralight cabs made me almost miss the carry. Dumped those, got a couple of Subway cabs, and much better. I do occasionally get positive tone comments, but not like I did with the Eden/Bassman rig.

 

[LowActionHero]

I got a couple compliments from our soundguy. Mostly about how easy my sound was to work with, which I took as a very good compliment. Up until then I wondered if I was on the right track at all.