Guilty of not using guitar tone control

[bonzodog]

I play my P bass with volume and tone up full and never touch them. I then play around with my amps Eq to a alter the tone I want.
Whilst noodling around yesterday I played about with the basses own tone pot and was surprised in the amount of different sounds I got from only a slight movement especially switching between pick and fingers.
As I play roughly 50/50 between fingers and pick I can now use my tone control to balance it out more.
Just feel a bit daft not playing about with it before.

[keefbaker]

Yeah, this. It took me years to realize that tone was actually worth playing with.

[bigjohn]

I used to play with it rolled up, started, as you say, playing with it, now I roll the tone completely off .

[bassbiscuits]

Totally - I've started using my tone control loads for different sounds.

Fingerstyle gets a nice variation when you roll the tone down for a smooth old school sound, and I've always rolled a bit of tone off when going at it with a pick to prevent it getting too harsh.

That's before you get into playing with fingers near the bridge, over the pickup or at the bottom of the neck for even more variation.

[bonzodog]

It does make you wonder when you see so many comments about people not happy with the sound of a bass or an amp or cab, if they have explored all possibilities with the bass' volume and tone controls before reaching that conclusion.

[RhysP]

I've always used the tone control on any passive bass I've owned.
After years of using all manner of active basses I went back to using passive because you can't get that sound any other way.
I had a lot more options tone-wise with my active basses but I struggled to find one I really liked.

[Roger2611]

I roll off the tone on a couple of songs we do where I want a smoother sound, I don't tend to do much with the volume control, the loud and quiet bits are in the fingers.

A Les Paul Junior will go from huge bitey monster to purring kitten with a bit of volume adjustment, you don't really get the same effect with a Precision unless I suppose you were using large amounts of drive

[Marvin]

Leave the knobs alone, it'll only end in embarrassment

[leftybassman392]

Tone controls on Lefty Fenders function as on/off switches.

[JapanAxe]

A good range on the (passive) tone control is one of the marks of a good bass.

[Highfox]

Yes, I use the tone a lot on the P.. more thump or more clang, something in-between, fingers, thumb and pick, Not sure anyone else notices tho lol.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1455033564' post='2975236']
I play my P bass with volume and tone up full and never touch them.
[/quote]

I've never used the tone controls on any bass or guitar I've ever owned including the active basses, cant see any reason why I ever would either.

[joeystrange]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1455044077' post='2975390']
I've never used the tone controls on any bass or guitar I've ever owned including the active basses, cant see any reason why I ever would either.
[/quote]

I take the tone control out of all my basses. Most of them have the volume pot replaced with an on/off switch too.

[odysseus]

Always had tone halfway since the early days.... I might need to play around a bit more after reading these posts....

[Muzz]

My amp EQ is set-and-forget (once I've allowed for a bit of room EQ-ing) on the gig, everything happens on the bass, and I need everything from fingerstyle C&W thump to Marcus Miller slap to Duff clang... I do have East active circuits on every bass, though...but the principle's there...

[machinehead]

I find that the tone control on a passive bass makes a huge difference to your tone and the overall feel of the notes. That combined with using different plucking styles and positions is what makes all the difference for me.

Frank.

[TrevorR]

Ok so my Wals have a wee bit more scope for tonal tweakery than your average passive wiring loom but for me there's a lot of fun to be had sculpting the sound with the tone controls and finding one that really works for the song and the mood. I have loads of different fave settings for different sounds on mine.

And that's before you play around with right hand placement, the level of attack and where along the string you pluck, how you pluck the strings - tips of the fingers,sides of the fingers, fleshy part of the thumb... All make a huge difference.

I did a wedding gig where a teenage kid came up in one of the breaks to ask what pedals I was using to get all the different tones I was using (songs from Britpop to folk to white reggae to rock n roll to funk...) . All I had at my feet was a Boss TU2 Tuner and a Lehle switching pedal to swap between my two basses.

Edited February 9, 2016 by TrevorR

[paul_5]

I went for years without ever touching the tone control on my passive Jazzes, but just recently I've been exploring different sounds from the bass - Tone rolled all the way off, and just the neck pickup for reggae/dub numbers, and then tone at about 60% and just the neck pickup for a P bass sound-a-like.
I changed the value of the capacitor when I rewired it a while ago and forgot what I replaced it with - the cut-off frequency is a little bit higher than the 'stock' sound though, so even when it's at minimum I still get a little bit of extra definition.

[40hz]

Never ever used the tone control, anything which dulls the sound is not for me! On the 3 Jazzes I've owned it's acted more like an 'on/off switch' anyway, with next to no tonal variation inbetween. Were they all faulty?

[Lozz196]

Everything on full, everything hit hard, every single time. I`m a bit of a cave-man when it comes to all this, but that`s what my band needs. At home I play my Jazz mainly, and use the tone/volume controls to get a wide array of sounds but live, Precision set to kill is the way.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='odysseus' timestamp='1455044505' post='2975396']
Always had tone halfway since the early days.... I might need to play around a bit more after reading these posts....
[/quote]

I'm presuming your aware that fully on is the flat/neutral position on a passive tone control, any other setting is just attenuating highs.

Edited February 10, 2016 by bassman7755

[TimR]

I have three 'tone' knobs on my active bass that cut or boost centred on different frequencies.

I have tried fiddling with them. In the end they just stay centred. I do have the balance between the P and the J pickup slightly towards the P though.

[paul h]

I have three tone settings. Palm muting and thumb, fingerstyle, and pick.

I am too OCD not to have everything up full

[keefbaker]

I can admit to something worse. On the first Fender Jazz I owned I had all the pots turned up and couldn't understand why it didn't sound like your typical bridge pickup jazz.