Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I like his playing, but not really into the overdrive/distortion pedals. I know Jaco used the overdrive on his Acoustic 360. I am just not into the overdrive/distorted bass sound. One day it may change but in my 40 years of playing I would have to get really board.
If you are defining "tone" as gear and "technique" as everything else, I choose technique. I do like to experiment with different gear, but I have found a tone/gear that I currently like. I fully expect that to change, depending on my needs and tastes. But I strive to always improve my technique. Regardless of what type or quality gear I play, I want to be the best "me". I also don't favor flashy showmanship over a great sound.
Playing slow bass lines with good consistency, attack and expression is also "technique" that has to be practiced...
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
- 20,970
- Disclosures
- I suck, but nobody really notices
You kinda missed it there buddy. Your tone is created (with or without effects) by how you play. Where you play, how hard you pluck, how your fret hand moves, simply the pure way your fingers or pick move across the string. That creates your sound. Everyone does it different. If your sound was determined by your gear, then I'd sound like I was Geddy playing a Jazz through a sansamp. Or Flea everytime I picked up a music man. The list goes on and on. They sound like them, not because of what they play. It's how they play that makes them them. Les Claypool sounds exactly the same strumming a metal acoustic 4 string as he does playing an active fretless 6. Exactly the same. There is 0% doubt when you hear him play, that that is him. You know it instantly. Technique is everything bro. $100 bass/1000$ bass, 1 watt amp/1000 watt amp, it all sounds like gold when played right.
Great tone, terrible playing? Hmmm...that would be a Squier Affinity for $199.99.
The poll was " what do you prefer " not " which is better "
I prefer seeing a super air breather that flows a little blood than a super blood flower that breath a little air
I see you've edited the question which changes the meaning and intent of many of the replies. Nice one!
I tried a lot to explain,but nobody seems to make the effort to read my posts, even the first one I have edited
I gave exemples, because people doesnt understand that I mean
" do you prefer a bassist that is good at playing and who has a specific worked tone, alchemy between gear and playing , OR a BETTER bassist that can play things considered as harder but has a OK random tone "
That was the idea
That's why I can't stand the answers " tone is useless if you don't know how to play "
SANS DECONNER
I am not talking about the finest tone of an open E played by a random no-bassist guy taken out of the street when I talk about tone
Last edited:
I choose technique, because that's the source of your playing. I focus mostly on the right hand, which is the engine of your sound and, of course, your tone.
Good tone doesn't come only from technique of course and even if you're not very good, a good tone can inspire to play more, which results in technical evolution.
So, both are important but I'll always choose technique all day everyday.
Good tone doesn't come only from technique of course and even if you're not very good, a good tone can inspire to play more, which results in technical evolution.
So, both are important but I'll always choose technique all day everyday.
OK, thanks. So in your examples, tone is the goal and trumps technique as you've defined it - I think we agree. But I stand by my view that no amount of gear can compensate for poor hands, and that technique as you define it, i.e. speed, comes from working on improving your hands - dynamics, muting/damping, timing/synchronisation, articulation, intonation, etc...
Finally, just being able to bang out a technically difficult piece with no consideration for tone, dynamics, etc does not make a player better... it just demonstrates a lack of musicianship, IMHO.
I admit, I part read the first page, then jumped to the end of the last page (Page 11, Post #216 at this juncture).
Asking whether Tone is more important than Technique is like asking whether the Chicken came before the Egg (or vice versa).
Without a good technique, you can't achieve a "good" tone.
But...
Without a good Tone, you can't achieve good Technique.
Asking whether Tone is more important than Technique is like asking whether the Chicken came before the Egg (or vice versa).
Without a good technique, you can't achieve a "good" tone.
But...
Without a good Tone, you can't achieve good Technique.
Imo technique in your early stages and tone once you have master the technique. They are both equally important when playing live. You can have great technique and a horrible tone will negate it
and you can have great tone and horrible technique and I don't have to tell you the results
I saw a guy who had a amazing tone coming out of a Ampeg Svt and he steps up to slap and was as sloppy as you can imagine no ghost notes I was like what the hell dude get it right, before blowing it through 400 watts really 
and you can have great tone and horrible technique and I don't have to tell you the results
I saw a guy who had a amazing tone coming out of a Ampeg Svt and he steps up to slap and was as sloppy as you can imagine no ghost notes I was like what the hell dude get it right, before blowing it through 400 watts really
Last edited:
Agree to disagree. Yeah, I understand you can get different tones by playing closer to the bridge or neck, with fingers, pick, even how you strike the string with your fingers, how soft you play, how hard you dig in. But you can do all that with gear that just won’t cut it and the band will sound like crap. And let’s face it, it’s really all about making the band sound good. When playing in a band you gotta play a role and do whatever it takes to make the group as a whole sound good. Or else everyone will walk away and nobody will notice your tone or your technique.
I think you completely missed my point, which is you need a bare minimum of each (technique and tone from some kind of halfway decent rig) and once you reach that threashold, it’s carrots. And also most people in he crowd are more likely to notice good tone than technique, on bass. At least in my 20 years of gigging, that is my experience.
I answered an ad once for a band that wanted a backup singer for a one-off gig. Easy money, right? Met with the bandleader, sang a few songs with him, got the gig. Show up for the one rehearsal and met the "bass player" at that time. We start to play. Everyone in the band is decent enough except- that bass player could NOT play the bass. Wrong notes, no pocket, nothing even close to either one. It was all I could do to restrain myself from grabbing his bass and showing him how it's supposed to be done.
Did he have great tone? I have no idea. Who cares? Maybe if he'd had any technique at all we might have gotten to the point where I would have cared about his tone.
Did he have great tone? I have no idea. Who cares? Maybe if he'd had any technique at all we might have gotten to the point where I would have cared about his tone.
