Tone

[biguglyman]

Best compliment I ever received was when a locally famous and very well regarded guitarist remarked to me: "great tone... love your sound" after I sat in with him and a few others at a buddy's wedding. What sux is when the FOH, for whatever reason, butchers that great tone. I saw Rush back in 2015 and was very disappointed in the mix. I think if Geddy knew what it sounded like out front he would have objected.

 

[smtp4me]

How many guys worry about thier Tone when playing out in a bar or a live audience? It seems that unless your audience is quiet and the room is just right, then it doesn't really matter much.

I don't gig any more. When I did, I cared about my live tone. Maybe the audience didn't notice, but I seek a specific tone for my satisfaction. If other people hear and like it, great, if not, I'm still happy.

 

[two fingers]

I guess I was just wondering if it matters live and 'tone', regardless of preference, gets lost in a noisy bar crowd.

Nope. I run sound on occasion as well as play bass. If your tone "gets lost", either you've sent me a mud sandwich to work with or I haven't done my job.

You send me some clarity to work with, and I guarantee the jass won't "get lost". Period.

 

[BassBrass]

I guess I was just wondering if it matters live and 'tone', regardless of preference, gets lost in a noisy bar crowd.

As a child I was given a little book titled "The Boy Why Didn't Care" or something like that. This kid who "didn't care" was fine until he got eaten intact by a lion. Happens. Then he Cared.

Your tone is your tone and it doesn't matter what venue or sound system or crowd noise you have to play through on occasion, it's still your tone. Why would you Not Care? Your dogma (i.e. baseless conclusion) is just nonsense and maybe just an excuse for laziness.
I would bring a lower value bass to a noisy crowded venue in case an accident happens, but I wouldn't bring a bass that doesn't cut it.

 

[packhowitzer]

my "tone" or sound doesn't get lost in a noisy bar environment, because I am far and away the loudest sound in the room. if you are in a 5 block radius, you can't help but hear what my bass sounds like. pow!

 

[CallMeAl]

I've been using a P bass and a Rumble combo. I like the simplicity. Its pretty much plug n play, essentially takes "worry" out of the equation. Also, BL had suggested/recommended both- doesn't hurt that I know the boss likes it too!

Last gig I played, coincidentally, there was a local bass player in the crowd. BL called him up to play a tune. It was really cool to go hear my rig with my exact settings. Dispelled any concerns or speculation about what it sounded like!

 

[lfmn16]

So the crowd noise doesn't diminish the value of the tone. Interesting. I think that I personally overate it. I don't think the crowd recognizes it like 'we' as bassist do. JMO

You don't let the crowd dictate your standards.

 

[Stewie]

Many moons ago, I chased the "tone" I added EMG active pickups to remove buzz, ran a GK800RB in biam mode through Cerwin Vega Folded 18 with a 12 up front (added an aluminum dust cap for better brights. I bought a 30 foot cord and started going out in the chairs to check our stage mixed sound.

I heard "thump thump thump"

I bought a Peavey TNT130 for $150 and left the big rig home, sounded the same out front.

Everything was cool with the Peavey 'til I started playing upright.

I have two rigs now that I use, a big Ampeg stack for if I ever need to crumble walls, and an old Fender BXR300C anchor, for when I want to sound like an upright(pretty close anyway)

In general, I really don't care, as long as it goes "thump thump thump"

 

[jj.833]

Good tone is very important IMO: if the bass sounds dead, then whole band sounds dead.

I'm seeking the good compromise between what I like and what my bandmates like. If I find it, the audience likes it too. I focus mostly on clarity: can all my tones be heard by everybody in the band? Do I hear enough mid and high frequencies to hear how the 'finger expressions' come out? Being experienced, I usually don't spend more than 5 min with this problem (sometimes it's 30 min though), and I don't touch the knobs after I start playing. The most important aspect of how to achieve good sound at gigs is placing the amp and myself into the right spots.

 

[JRA]

tone.

 

[J_Bass]

A bass tone here, a drum crash there, a good guitar pedal, good singing not too loud, it all adds up for the final result. The public doesn't know what small details contribute for their legs to don't stop moving and their heads to don't stop nodding, but it's the final result. And to get a good final result, you have to nail the details. You don't hear the details. You hear the final result.

 

[Andy Daventry]

I care about what the bass sounds like. Is that what you mean?

 

[pappabass]

Tone is important to me, more so than being a show off or over playing.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

IME, although laymen can't talk about the technical details, they'd know when something sounds like $#!+.

 

[bassliner50]

Accept this now or learn this over time: 99% of folks in the audience couldn't care less or even begin to evaluate your tone. Just dial up the EQ which is appropriate for the room and also appeals to you.

 

[cnltb]

How many guys worry about thier Tone when playing out in a bar or a live audience? It seems that unless your audience is quiet and the room is just right, then it doesn't really matter much.

I worry about giving a good signal to the soundguy.
How the music I am playing comes across always matters to me.

 

[Tnavis]

I worry about it, but playing multi-band shows, I don't have a whole lot of time to worry about it. I'll do my best to tame, within reason, whatever the hell happens to be happening to my stage sound due to the specific geometry/materials of the stage, and leave the room sound up to the FOH. They know the room and their board.

For the most part, though, I play small enough venues (I think the word I'm supposed to use here is "intimate", sounds better than small), that the audience is packed at the front of the stage, so they are primarily hearing my stage sound.

 

[micguy]

I play in churches, where...we strive to have different moods/feelings/vibes in different parts of the set. Having control of your tone is a big part of doing that well. Just getting up there and cranking it out, without worrying about your tone is....well, some bands do that, but it's not my thing.

 

[Bikingbasser]

People in the audience don't notice better tone, but they notice better performance, and I perform better with an inspiring tone.

 

[Muttleybass]

I see it as more of a spectrum of usable tone. Yes I worry about it, but not to the point of obsessing over it. Good tone is subjective, and as long as it sounds good to my ears, I'm cool with that.

...I just typed this out and looked at the post above and agree with Dab.