Tone is all in the fingers

[dincz]

I keep hearing this and I don't believe it. If I hear a single note picked/plucked, I can tell a lot about the tone but almost nothing about the player's technique. I could go along with "musicality is in the fingers" i.e. phrasing, dynamics etc. but that's another topic and is not "tone".

 

[Jay Corwin]

Sometimes it's in the pic.

 

[Bluebottle]

I couldn't help posting this, sorry:

 

[Gearhead17]

The way your fingers pull on the strings in addition to your hand placement will give you multitude of tones. It's how bass players cover songs with one bass tone the entire set. Try it yourself, you will be surprised how often you do not have to change your EQ throughout a show. The hands do way more than you think.

 

[Arjank]

If it was all in the fingers you would be able to get a Stanley tone out of a P-bass......

 

[JimmyM]

It does not mean that all gear sounds identical. It means that your style of playing is way more important to the overall sound than the gear you use.

 

[ZenG]

So what do the pick players do...? Is it all in the pick?

 

[3506string]

Didn't we just do this?

 

[Linnin]

The Soul of Tone is in your Fender Amplifier!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Soul-Tone-Celebrating-Fender-ebook/dp/B002AWX742

 

[dincz]

The way your fingers pull on the strings in addition to your hand placement will give you multitude of tones. It's how bass players cover songs with one bass tone the entire set. Try it yourself, you will be surprised how often you do not have to change your EQ throughout a show. The hands do way more than you think.

Yes, I've tried it and I'm not surprised. My problem is "all".

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I would say your fingers do both. They certainly do affect tone. First, pluck at the end of the fretboard. Then, pluck as close to the bridge as you can.
If you don't hear a difference in tone, you should trade your bass for a drum set.

 

[Michael B]

Buying great equipment will NOT make up for bad form. But if you have great form, having better gear will allow you to do more with it.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Having great equipment makes it easier to develop good form.

 

[chungweishan]

[Boring anecdote]

I decided to compose and record some songs basically only using a Bass + Audio Interface + iPad (so amp emulators). I'll take a bit too long with futzing around with the best emulated settings and whatever knobs I haven't turned on the bass. Then start recording...

What I'll realize is sometimes I'll play too close to the bridge (too bright), too close to the neck (too dark), I'll pull the strings too much (too bwahhhhng), not enough pluck (too dinnnng), sometimes I'll get the "I didn't cut my fingernails Geddy Lee sound." The settings are consistent, however my tone is all over the place. My fingers are inconsistent. I did solve the fingernail problem though.

Same goes with using a pick. I can make it even more inconsistent if I switched different pick-thickness and pick-... ingredient (I blanked out on the word).

The good news is that I'm not going for anything professional, so I'll mix all of that inconsistently into an audio mess once every other instrument is recorded... inconsistently. Besides the robot drums.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Your iPod based recording is giving you a master class in technique. A good way to learn and improve. You are not alone though. Listen to soloed tracks on some well liked songs and you hear a lot of sins that get buried in the mix.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I keep hearing this and I don't believe it. If I hear a single note picked/plucked, I can tell a lot about the tone but almost nothing about the player's technique. I could go along with "musicality is in the fingers" i.e. phrasing, dynamics etc. but that's another topic and is not "tone".

I think that you answered your own question.

Some great players use heavy gauge strings, high action, and really dig in. They are required to play with great strength and precision to make their sound. How you play before and after any one note is what is important.

Playing technique isn't about how a song goes, it's more about how it comes.

 

[nostatic]

I hope not. I know where these fingers have been. And it ain't pretty...

 

[twinjet]

I couldn't help posting this, sorry:

There's one of these videos for every topic known to man. I love 'em.

 

[two fingers]

It does not mean that all gear sounds identical. It means that your style of playing is way more important to the overall sound than the gear you use.

Bingo. I don't think anyone in the other thread said that gear doesn't matter at all. Some of us said that fingers/technique are the MOST important element.

If you handed Jameson an Alembic he would still sound a lot more like Jamerson than he would Stanley Clark. If you hand Stanley Clark a P bass he would still sound a lot more like Stanley Clark than he would Jamerson. Period. End of story.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

We will find where tone comes from in the fifth episode of the new X-Files. In the meantime, keep practicing...