What is tone?

[Jrussblues]

I’m sure this has been discussed before. I saw a recent thread about the age old arguments about tone wood vs fingers vs blah blah blah but I don’t think I’ve seen a solid discussion on what tone actually is.
I don’t think it’s completely subjective.
Any thoughts?

 

[Bent77]

Bass Tone Glossary | TalkBass.com

 

[jd56hawk]

Tone is what it's all about!

 

[Bass V]

it's like porn, I know it when I hear it

 

[Lowendchamp]

it's like porn, I know it when I hear it

That's what everyone says I listen to and recreate is porno music.

 

[Killing Floor]

It’s those boxes with the too bright LEDs, some of which are hand painted.

 

[Beej]

It's all in the wood.

 

[5StringBlues]

 

[P. Aaron]

Tone is when the bass, the amp, your ears combines with the ease of effort it takes to make likable music and blend with other musicians.

 

[GTHintz]

Simply tone is the sound you make with your instrument. Good tone is where you have a set up and technique that works for what you want to do. Bad tone is obviously not having the right setup and technique to pull that off. It doesn't get much deeper than that. After that it's all about certain things and certain philosophy and the expirimentation of those things into the said equation. That equation being what does this sound like and what caused it? Answer xyz...

 

[Rib 13]

One of the three members of an 80s RnB group that all had the same name phonetically but spelled different

 

[BazzaBass]

I’m sure this has been discussed before. I saw a recent thread about the age old arguments about tone wood vs fingers vs blah blah blah but I don’t think I’ve seen a solid discussion on what tone actually is.
I don’t think it’s completely subjective.
Any thoughts?

I thought Politics, Religion and questioning “Tone” we’re all banned from TB

 

[JW56789]

It's me (or you).

Put me on a Squier 5-string and a small practice amp, or a 5-string Alembic through a big preamp/power amp/Bag End cabinet mega rig, gimme a few mintues, and on either one (and both), I'll sound like me. Always.

I've played too many basses through too many amps to not know that this is utterly true. Granted, on nice axes and nice amps, I sound like a better me, but it's always there.

'Me' is a five-string with nickel roundwounds, good cables, and larger amp with great EQ. I know what I like, and what it takes to sound like me, and that's what I'll steer towards when it comes to buying stuff. Not too much bass, not a searing top end, but enough clear to hear the strings in the mids and high mids. Solid.

I totally think each of us has an embedded at a DNA level of what we think we ought to sound like. You can have a big pedalboard, buy any bass or amp you want, and sooner than later, we spin knobs until we hear 'me', and like snowflakes or each person's idea of a perfectly-cooked ribeye, it's totally different from player to player, and unique to each one.

Buy what you want, play what you want, but sooner or later my 'me' or your 'me' always comes home to roost.

 

[chris_b]

Tone is a range of pleasing frequencies.

 

[pepj]

Tone is making it work.
So head, heart, fingers and gear are in tune with each other with the minimum of dissonance.

Frequency is a just a huge variable to the above

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Tone is a space in which I search for echos of past happiness in music, as my eyes would search a crowd for someone I once loved.

 

[JMarkD]

I have been chasing (my) tone for over fifty years and it is very elusive. However (my) tone is definitely Fenderish.

 

[Jrussblues]

Tone is when the bass, the amp, your ears combines with the ease of effort it takes to make likable music and blend with other musicians.

Gonna play Devils advocate. What if you’re a solo musician?

 

[Gorn]

A musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.

 

[Jrussblues]

It's me (or you).

Put me on a Squier 5-string and a small practice amp, or a 5-string Alembic through a big preamp/power amp/Bag End cabinet mega rig, gimme a few mintues, and on either one (and both), I'll sound like me. Always.

I've played too many basses through too many amps to not know that this is utterly true. Granted, on nice axes and nice amps, I sound like a better me, but it's always there.

'Me' is a five-string with nickel roundwounds, good cables, and larger amp with great EQ. I know what I like, and what it takes to sound like me, and that's what I'll steer towards when it comes to buying stuff. Not too much bass, not a searing top end, but enough clear to hear the strings in the mids and high mids. Solid.

I totally think each of us has an embedded at a DNA level of what we think we ought to sound like. You can have a big pedalboard, buy any bass or amp you want, and sooner than later, we spin knobs until we hear 'me', and like snowflakes or each person's idea of a perfectly-cooked ribeye, it's totally different from player to player, and unique to each one.

Buy what you want, play what you want, but sooner or later my 'me' or your 'me' always comes home to roost.

so style is tone? or does style affect your tone? Or tone affects your style? Or does it all happen at once?