Pick any part of that video and then say what they said in the forums here. For example, go into the Strings forum and declare that "It doesn't matter what strings you use" 
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What's Important For Bass Tone
- Thread starter Snert
- Start date
Along with the previously stated good advice….
In a live setting: It is most important to react to the changing dynamics of your band mates as well as that of the room you’re performing in. (I.e: empty room versus a full room/loud crowd later on)
In a recording or band practice: You should be able to dial in your sound at the beginning and stay there. Of course, your bandmates need to stay there too.
In a live setting: It is most important to react to the changing dynamics of your band mates as well as that of the room you’re performing in. (I.e: empty room versus a full room/loud crowd later on)
In a recording or band practice: You should be able to dial in your sound at the beginning and stay there. Of course, your bandmates need to stay there too.
I think part of his video is a bit ridiculous. When it came to electronics, he replaced the cheap Squier tone controls with another cheap set of tone controls. He should have done a test between the stock controls and preamps like Bartolini, Duncan, Darkglass and others. I guarantee that there would have been major differences between those.
Meh. Play a part that supports the groove and doesn't clash with other parts, and play it cleanly and dynamically. That's 99% of it. You can obsess over the remaining 1% (gear) all you want, but it won't improve tone if your playing sux.
Did not watch the video but to answer OP question in most simplified terms, two things matter MOST to bass "tone", volume relative to other instruments/singing....and amount of low-frequency content in your signal. Neither of these can be preset....both are situational.
There's twenty or thirty other tidbits that could be and are being mentioned, but the two listed here are by far the most important, and neither can be determined by how a bass sounds in a bedroom, in my tiny little opinion.
There's twenty or thirty other tidbits that could be and are being mentioned, but the two listed here are by far the most important, and neither can be determined by how a bass sounds in a bedroom, in my tiny little opinion.
As noted above: EARS. If you don’t know what is bad / ok / good / better / best … how would you know?
I suggest listening to others - ideally not in a loud situation (like 30 feet in front of your favorite metal band’s house speakers).
Listen quietly … hear the Rosen across the strings, so to speak. Don’t go loud until you master reasonable.
Sadly, good sounding home stereos are out of fashion - have been for decades - and even quality headphones. Heck, the “new bass sounds” imitate the rattle of a car trunk
I suggest listening to others - ideally not in a loud situation (like 30 feet in front of your favorite metal band’s house speakers).
Listen quietly … hear the Rosen across the strings, so to speak. Don’t go loud until you master reasonable.
Sadly, good sounding home stereos are out of fashion - have been for decades - and even quality headphones. Heck, the “new bass sounds” imitate the rattle of a car trunk
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Clean and big.
To me, not you, a p bass is not clean enough. Passive jazz is too weak of a sound unless you run thru a pedal and you defeat the use of a jazz. I have owned several nice fender copies of each.
I he e settled with a EBMM musicman. Perfect sound. Big and not muddy.
To me, not you, a p bass is not clean enough. Passive jazz is too weak of a sound unless you run thru a pedal and you defeat the use of a jazz. I have owned several nice fender copies of each.
I he e settled with a EBMM musicman. Perfect sound. Big and not muddy.
That was an entertaining video. I feel like it was TalkBass in a nutshell. That video was totally made for Internet forum dwellers like us to BS about.
And here we are BSing about it. Video wins.
And here we are BSing about it. Video wins.
For my best tone, I spread peanut butter on it and light it on fire. Creamy or crunchy, depending on the song.
True, but that's only an issue in high Zout passive basses. In actives with a lower Zout, capacitance is not an issue (nor is cable resistance).
Sorry, I am not going to bother listening to the video 
.
IMHO good tone varies by individual taste. This means I may think my tone is great while you may think it sucks! C'est la vie!
Good tone also varies with how the sound is being used. The sound I want on stage is fairly different to how I would mix bass in a mix. On stage I tend to run lots of treble and fairly lean on the lows. My goal is for my sound to punch through the mayhem on stage so that I feel a more intimate connection to the bass.
I give front of house a flat DI straight from my bass. So the audio tech gets an unprocessed signal from my bass and I am free to adjust my amp however I want. I trust the audio tech will balance bass in the mix appropriately. I will tell the audio tech my artistic vision, but whether he/she meets my expectations is out of my control. So I don't worry about it or try to control it from stage
.
Some caveats:
.IMHO good tone varies by individual taste. This means I may think my tone is great while you may think it sucks! C'est la vie!
Good tone also varies with how the sound is being used. The sound I want on stage is fairly different to how I would mix bass in a mix. On stage I tend to run lots of treble and fairly lean on the lows. My goal is for my sound to punch through the mayhem on stage so that I feel a more intimate connection to the bass.
I give front of house a flat DI straight from my bass. So the audio tech gets an unprocessed signal from my bass and I am free to adjust my amp however I want. I trust the audio tech will balance bass in the mix appropriately. I will tell the audio tech my artistic vision, but whether he/she meets my expectations is out of my control. So I don't worry about it or try to control it from stage
.Some caveats:
- I setup and aim my rig so that I can monitor at the lowest possible level, so my rig fights less with the PA. To this, I elevate my cab and tip it back to aim at my head. This aims the highs so they typically shoot out above the audience. The idea is make it easier for both myself and the audio tech to do our jobs well.
- I have pretty smooth technique, so my sound is generally not a hot clanky mess unless it's intended.
- As the sound of bass travels over distance, it tends to get darker and more diffuse. So what the audience hears out in the house will not be the same as what you hear on stage 3'-4' in front of your rig.
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To attain a great tone you have to do several things. A listen to the bassist/ bassists that have the tone you’re going for. Watch the videos of them to try and figure out what they’re doing physically and electronically. They experiment to set your gear to achieve the same sound. I would posit that any decent cable, bass , and amp combo,will get you the results you desire. Just my take here’s what I’ve used. A Montgomery Ward Valco bass amp, Schaller Curly Chord, and a Fender P Bass
I was thinking the exact same thing. Even switching out the P pickup; the sound clips he played didn't really give a good idea of what the pickup sounds like. And there are hundreds of aftermarket P pickups. He swapped one and came to a conclusion that it doesn't really make a difference by changing one and playing a "Sh*tty bass clip".
He didn't even try any different cables to make an opinion.
I say that was a sh*itty bass video overall.
I mean, if you want to get that general and generic about things, you could just make the statement that "nobody in the audience will notice the difference (other than musicians) in sound" and that they might notice between a good overall sound and bad overall sound. In fact, the colour or finish of your instrument is likely to make more of an impact on the general audience than anything else.
I am so grateful to be playing gigs now where there is no FOH mix. I no longer play in loud bands on big stages requiring a big PA and a soundman. The gigs I play now are more intimate, in smaller clubs for smaller "crowds" and music that is an eclectic mix of genres where our rigs carry the room, save for a minimalistic monitoring/sound projection for the singer(s) that we mix and control ourselves.
I play a 6 string bass and do a lot of chordal, melodic work through a Zoom BX1 with about 4 different tonal presets. These types of gigs/venues lend themselves to the musicians and the crowd to hear the subtle tonal qualities of each instrument. My bass parts to our originals were written by me on a 6 string bass with intentional tonal choices.
That wasn't always the case and in the past, what one would hear onstage was almost always different than what was blasting out front. I'm quite happy and content that those days are behind me. I actually get to write/record and play mostly originals in intimate environments where my "bedroom/living room" tone is clearly heard by everyone. In MY situation, any old bass through any old amp doesn't fit. I no longer play to a crowd full of drunks wanting to hear covers where they could care less about tone, or even the music in general. We have small audiences where they are listening more than dancing.
I understand that is not the case for many so the onstage tone is mostly a personal monitor independent of the overall sound "out front".
I play a 6 string bass and do a lot of chordal, melodic work through a Zoom BX1 with about 4 different tonal presets. These types of gigs/venues lend themselves to the musicians and the crowd to hear the subtle tonal qualities of each instrument. My bass parts to our originals were written by me on a 6 string bass with intentional tonal choices.
That wasn't always the case and in the past, what one would hear onstage was almost always different than what was blasting out front. I'm quite happy and content that those days are behind me. I actually get to write/record and play mostly originals in intimate environments where my "bedroom/living room" tone is clearly heard by everyone. In MY situation, any old bass through any old amp doesn't fit. I no longer play to a crowd full of drunks wanting to hear covers where they could care less about tone, or even the music in general. We have small audiences where they are listening more than dancing.
I understand that is not the case for many so the onstage tone is mostly a personal monitor independent of the overall sound "out front".
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I don't agree with the video assessment that pickups don't matter. They only did one comparison of two P-bass pickups.
Most of the other assessments were like, "well, duh!".
Most of the other assessments were like, "well, duh!".
