I think feel. Tone is very subjective, and aside from a few very crappy basses, I always like the sound I can get from playing most instruments - though I really have been playing P-basses & related single pickup basses exclusively these days.
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whats important to you? tone or feel?
- Thread starter cliff em all
- Start date
Both. If it doesn't sound good or feel good I don't want to play it.
If I absolutely had to choose it would be tone.
If I absolutely had to choose it would be tone.
Fell - all day long.
Example - I just sold a Fender Stu Hamm Urge I bass. That thing was incredibly well built. It sounded great. It looked great. I could go from Motown to modern grind all day long. However, the thin, shorter neck just did not work for my big hands and physical playing style. I even put in my ad that "that bass is designed to play like lightening and I play like thunder."
So, it sounded awesome but feel forced me to sell it to someone for whom the feel was better.
Example - I just sold a Fender Stu Hamm Urge I bass. That thing was incredibly well built. It sounded great. It looked great. I could go from Motown to modern grind all day long. However, the thin, shorter neck just did not work for my big hands and physical playing style. I even put in my ad that "that bass is designed to play like lightening and I play like thunder."
So, it sounded awesome but feel forced me to sell it to someone for whom the feel was better.
after almost two years of playing...i have to say i prefer tone...no matter how well built a bass is, i can never relate with an "unsatisfactory" tone..
When I went to buy my last bass (which the GF paid for, sometimes I am lucky) the first consideration was feel. Tone had to in the range of what I was looking for, but need not be exotic. At least that was my thoughts. The reality was several of the more expensive basses I tried felt great, yet it was difficult to get what I would consider a reasonable tone out of them. I set a time limit of ½ hr. If I can’t get it to sound decent by then, that machine is out of consideration. I ended up buying one my GF liked the looks of, I loved the sound of, and felt good at the store, and exceptional (in my world) after the Tech got done doing a set up.
I am in this camp as well.
no matter how good the tone of a Bongo is, it will never feel right to me. Same with a Ric (sad to say cause I think they are cool).
tone is definitely the easier, and more flexible thing to change
I have bought and sold a BUNCH of basses. I have discovered that it has to have BOTH in abundance to last very long before going back on the truck.
Further, it has to have both ALREADY.
I stopped counting somewhere around 60 of the number of basses I have bought and sold in the last 10-15 years. I have never played a single one that had such great feel that I had to try to fix the tone. Further, I've never played one that sounded so good that I decided I could put up with the way it felt. I just sell them and try something else.
There's a lot of basses out there in all prices points that have plenty enough of both if you just keep looking. If I rated any bass's tone 1-10 and it's feel 1-10, the combined total would have to be at least 15-16 to stay off the classifieds for the next guy.
My current bass is a 20, BTW!!
Further, it has to have both ALREADY.
I stopped counting somewhere around 60 of the number of basses I have bought and sold in the last 10-15 years. I have never played a single one that had such great feel that I had to try to fix the tone. Further, I've never played one that sounded so good that I decided I could put up with the way it felt. I just sell them and try something else.
There's a lot of basses out there in all prices points that have plenty enough of both if you just keep looking. If I rated any bass's tone 1-10 and it's feel 1-10, the combined total would have to be at least 15-16 to stay off the classifieds for the next guy.
My current bass is a 20, BTW!!
the way it FEELS in your hands is of utmost importance. TONE is developed through time.
the same guitar in two different hands can sound radically different. the hands are where the majority of tone comes from. a bass that is harder to physically maneuver is gonna create roadblocks to getting to the notes cleanly and getting the proper attack.
something as simple as strings, pickups, amp, speakers, etc, can make a lot of difference to your sound. different woods DO sound different to my ears after 30 years of playing.
the bottom line is that so much of this is completely SUBJECTIVE. it is up to your hands
the same guitar in two different hands can sound radically different. the hands are where the majority of tone comes from. a bass that is harder to physically maneuver is gonna create roadblocks to getting to the notes cleanly and getting the proper attack.
something as simple as strings, pickups, amp, speakers, etc, can make a lot of difference to your sound. different woods DO sound different to my ears after 30 years of playing.
the bottom line is that so much of this is completely SUBJECTIVE. it is up to your hands
Touche.
I guess what I was trying to say is that I feel I can get a pleasing sound out of most basses I try. Feel is the bigger challenge.
Tone and feel are both subjective, but the question accounts for this: what's more important to YOU?
It's safe to say that both are important to most of us, myself included. But feel is more important than tone because it directly impacts the end result.
To put it simply: bad feel has a worse impact than bad tone. I can get pretty much any bass to "thump" well enough to fulfill its role as bass instrument. However bad feel could cause me to play poorly, and if I'm playing poorly then great tone becomes irrelevant.
I once sat in with a guitarist friend's band, using his bass player's bass which had ridiculously high action. I'm glad I only played a couple of songs, my fingers were toast after that.
It's safe to say that both are important to most of us, myself included. But feel is more important than tone because it directly impacts the end result.
To put it simply: bad feel has a worse impact than bad tone. I can get pretty much any bass to "thump" well enough to fulfill its role as bass instrument. However bad feel could cause me to play poorly, and if I'm playing poorly then great tone becomes irrelevant.
I once sat in with a guitarist friend's band, using his bass player's bass which had ridiculously high action. I'm glad I only played a couple of songs, my fingers were toast after that.
It's not either or, but neither is black and white as well. My instruments span the neck width range from MM Stingrays, to Ibanez SR style; drastically different feel. Both feel "good" if you get used to them, as do most of the sizes in between.
Most of the negative traits that can be correctly attributed to feel can be corrected. High action, buzz, etc. I have a hard time accepting things like neck width as a truly negative trait, when it comes to feel, as I have always been able to get used to new neck dimensions, etc.
Most of the negative traits that can be attributed to tone can be corrected as well. I've never seen an instrument that is un-redeemable sonically with the proper upgrades.
So, TL;DR, both, as good tone and feel are both obtainable, with almost any instrument with a proper setup and upgrades.
Most of the negative traits that can be correctly attributed to feel can be corrected. High action, buzz, etc. I have a hard time accepting things like neck width as a truly negative trait, when it comes to feel, as I have always been able to get used to new neck dimensions, etc.
Most of the negative traits that can be attributed to tone can be corrected as well. I've never seen an instrument that is un-redeemable sonically with the proper upgrades.
So, TL;DR, both, as good tone and feel are both obtainable, with almost any instrument with a proper setup and upgrades.
I have a fresh perspective on this, after picking up a Dingwall fanned fret bass on Wednesday.
Looks weird, and it felt a little weird at first. Thankfully, it only took an hour or so to get comfortable, but I would have been more than willing to invest a year in learning how to play it, in order to get this tone.
Looks weird, and it felt a little weird at first. Thankfully, it only took an hour or so to get comfortable, but I would have been more than willing to invest a year in learning how to play it, in order to get this tone.
I'm the opposite in what basses I like the feel of, but I agree, after a good setup, a bass either feels right or it doesn't. If it's still uncomfortable for you, that can't necessarily be fixed. Might be the shape of the neck just doesn't suit your hands.
There's nothing wrong with that, though. Not everything has to be all things to everyone.
Tough one. Can I say "both"? I have a P-bass knock-off that has the most awesome P tone ever but it's an absolutely disgusting, horrible thing to play so I never pick it up. About as much use as a chocolate fireguard, in other words. But I'm thinking about taking it to a luthier to make it at least tolerable (though I know this could have a detrimental effect on its tone) or have it fitted with a better neck, even though either approach will probably cost far more than the bloody thing is actually worth. At least that way I might actually play it...
Tone. Your audience doesn't care how the bass feels. But if the feel makes you suck when you play it, you probably don't want that bass. Don't settle for less than both.
<edit> Actually, they don't care how your bass sounds either. They don't even know which instrument is the bass.
<edit> Actually, they don't care how your bass sounds either. They don't even know which instrument is the bass.
Yet to me the tone comes from the feel. The feel tells you what's happening before you even here it, in a live setting.
Why play a bass that has only one of those attributes?
Hey to me the tone comes from the feel. It is the first thing that attracted me to that bass. If it feels bad, and I know it's not because it just needs a setup, I don't plug it in.
I picked up a $5K bass and it felt so not like I liked I just put it down. It's name and beauty didn't do a thing for me. I have a restored G&L that I have about $300. in and it's feel is the Grail. I've sold basses that sounded great but were replaced by ones that gave so much more with each note. That G&L has great feel but not the tone or feel for every kind of music.
Why play a bass that has only one of those attributes?
Hey to me the tone comes from the feel. It is the first thing that attracted me to that bass. If it feels bad, and I know it's not because it just needs a setup, I don't plug it in.
I picked up a $5K bass and it felt so not like I liked I just put it down. It's name and beauty didn't do a thing for me. I have a restored G&L that I have about $300. in and it's feel is the Grail. I've sold basses that sounded great but were replaced by ones that gave so much more with each note. That G&L has great feel but not the tone or feel for every kind of music.
