How important is gear to your sound?

[NancyJohnson]

I love these threads.

 

Like a lot of us here, I have a lot of gear, most of which lives in cases at the moment. Expensive stuff/cheap stuff.  The most important things in my armoury are a Tech21 dUg and a Tech21 GED-2112 DI and my hands.  That's it.  Doesn't matter what I plug into these, they shape my tone, I can dial in whatever I want with these.  Even my EUB sounds a little like Geddy Lee.

[chris_b]

Having a "tone in your head" seems to be a millstone to many players. Blinkers that prevents them seeing that great tones can be had from most basses we pick up.

[chris_b]

double post!!!

Edited December 14, 2021 by chris_b

[NancyJohnson]

3 hours ago, chris_b said:

Having a "tone in your head" seems to be a millstone to many players. Blinkers that prevents them seeing that great tones can be had from most basses we pick up.

 

But if the tone in your head is what's required for whatever you're doing (or is your desired tone), why is this a millstone? 

 

I'm sure the kit that many players use will produce more than their signature tonality, but can you even begin to imagine what Rush would sound like if Geddy Lee had decided to channel Aston Barrett?

[Vin Venal]

I went on a bit of a mad gear buying spree over the last couple of years, finding my tone. Not crazy by the standards of some, but I went through 4 amps, 2 cabs, and 6 basses.

 

I now know what I like, and roughly how to get sounds I enjoy out of it, and most of the gear is gone. Down to one of each. This is partly because my finances aren't what they used to be. 

 

I still think gear is really important, but I don't think it needs to be expensive, and you don't need a lot of it. But it does help to know what you want.

 

Now changes I make are small and DIY. Previously if I wanted to change something about my sound I would probably start by buying a new bass. Now I start by turning some knobs, and work upwards from there in terms of investment.

[dclaassen]

As an old guy, I have played through a lot of rigs with a lot of nice basses. At this point, the tone has to be what is suited for the music you are playing. When doing Americana/country my P bass straight in to the amp with Brite Flats works. Same for rock. For Jazz, the rounds and active bass come out, unless I need an upright bass sound, then it's back to the P Bass. 

 

However, I just don't care for the sound of most active basses any more. I cannot even put my finger on why, except to say that they just sound artificial to me. 

 

Whatever works, though...

[neepheid]

11 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

I went on a bit of a mad gear buying spree over the last couple of years, finding my tone. Not crazy by the standards of some, but I went through 4 amps, 2 cabs, and 6 basses.

 

I now know what I like, and roughly how to get sounds I enjoy out of it, and most of the gear is gone. Down to one of each. This is partly because my finances aren't what they used to be. 

 

I still think gear is really important, but I don't think it needs to be expensive, and you don't need a lot of it. But it does help to know what you want.

 

Now changes I make are small and DIY. Previously if I wanted to change something about my sound I would probably start by buying a new bass. Now I start by turning some knobs, and work upwards from there in terms of investment.

 

Your post made me realise how little I got away with on the amp front.  I've only ever had 2 amps (not counting the diddy 30W Laney practice amp I started on) and 3 cabs.  As far as amps are concerned, changes were purely ergonomic/weight driven.  Very happy with my current setup of 1x10 combo with removable head and a supplemental 1x10.  500W into all that is bloody plenty for my purposes.

 

Wouldn't like to say how many basses have passed through Neepheid Manor but I wouldn't be surprised if it's more than 50, with a high watermark of around 12 in the house at any time.  This wasn't a quest to find a particular sound, just an overactive interest in bass and wanting to try anything I liked the look of.  Then, much like yourself I got squeezed and had to do some growing up - including selling off all my Gibsons   Can't quite give it up though, I've currently got 4, with eyes on a fifth.  The average cost per bass has gone down quite a chunk.

 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Billy Bongo]

On 11/12/2021 at 12:43, Rayman said:

Yeah ok, it IS important, but HOW important. 

 

How many of you and your favourite players, GENERALLY get your/their sound WHATEVER gear you're using?

 

I, always seem to find MY sound, regardless of the gear, there or thereabouts.......and I don't believe that expensive gear will make you a better player at all, in fact I've always deviated towards modest gear, even when I could afford something more expensive (not often). You can find an amazing tone, YOUR tone, on a £100 bass, it doesn't need to be £1K or over does it?

 

So I believe, that it's NOT all about the bass, I think its all about YOU. 

 

The funk's in the fingers, not the instrument, isn't it?? Or am I very wrong?

Very right. With a few exceptions. My first bass was a short scale Vox Clubman and there were only two sounds - woolly or raspy. Imagine my surprise when I borrowed a pal's Rickenbacker and found I had three!

 

Then I bought a '64 Burns Bison and found I had any sound from the Rezo's I wanted to have! Lately, I bought a £62 Glarry Flame (liked the body shape) and I could get ALMOST the same sounds out of it with EQ. Big surprise. And then recently a cheap 'Prestige' fretless 7 string with a tonal quality that gave me everything. Can't yet play the damn thing, but I love making noises and exploring the expanded soundscape all those strings give. And fretless... it's a bugger!!!

 

Of course, I might be just a crap player....:D

[jazzyvee]

On 11/12/2021 at 14:14, Jus Lukin said:

I once turned up to a gig without any gear.
Could not get a decent sound, no matter how I tried. I've been told that the tone is all in the fingers, but I remain unconvinced.

I had to make a version of that.

I once turned up to a gig without any strings on my bass.
Could not get a decent sound, no matter how I tried. I've been told that the tone is all in the fingers, but I also remain unconvinced. 

 

I'll get my coat 🙂 🧥 😂😂😂😂

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, jazzyvee said:

I had to make a version of that.

I once turned up to a gig without any strings on my bass.
Could not get a decent sound, no matter how I tried. I've been told that the tone is all in the fingers, but I also remain unconvinced. 

 

I'll get my coat 🙂 🧥 😂😂😂😂

My turn 😉

I once turned up to a gig with £20k worth of kit.

The stage was cold (so I'd already got my coat) and I put a pair of warm mittens on. I've been told that the tone is all in the fingers. It was.

[chris_b]

20 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

But if the tone in your head is what's required for whatever you're doing (or is your desired tone), why is this a millstone?

 

 

Too many people , it seems, try to find gear that makes a specific sound. That approach can involve a long search and a lot of disappointment. Maybe switch it around and be less picky. Use the great sounds you can get out of any bass rig.

[jazzyvee]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

My turn 😉

I once turned up to a gig with £20k worth of kit.

The stage was cold (so I'd already got my coat) and I put a pair of warm mittens on. I've been told that the tone is all in the fingers. It was.

The tone was in the mittens unless they were fingerless. 🧥

 

 

[Boodang]

7 hours ago, dclaassen said:

However, I just don't care for the sound of most active basses any more. I cannot even put my finger on why, except to say that they just sound artificial to me. 

Yep, same here... have gone full circle and now very much into my passive basses. 

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

Too many people , it seems, try to find gear that makes a specific sound. That approach can involve a long search and a lot of disappointment. Maybe switch it around and be less picky. Use the great sounds you can get out of any bass rig.

 

Chris.  You're missing my point. 

 

While you personally may feel the desire to make your gear create a variety of different sounds, there's an awful lot of people that know how they want to sound and have little interest in making a bass sound different. 

 

My signature tone (if I can call it that), is broadly a bit if Ged, a bit if dUg, a bit if Jean-Jacques.  Suits what I do.  I rarely stray from that and it's not a millstone.

[Lozz196]

For years I was chasing a sound and could get near but not quite there. And then I bought a Precision and it all fell into place. Given all my fave players played them I really should have got there earlier but better late than never.

[Baker69]

On 11/12/2021 at 14:23, Dood said:

 

The GZR is a bit special. Great P style pickup! (I’ve not tried the PJ yet)

Brilliant pickups, I swapped out 1/4 pounders for these on my P Bass and they’re superb! 
 

If EMG brought out a 5 string set I’d buy some right away for my Sire P7.

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Baker69 said:

Brilliant pickups, I swapped out 1/4 pounders for these on my P Bass and they’re superb! 
 

If EMG brought out a 5 string set I’d buy some right away for my Sire P7.

 

I put the PJ set in my Hamer.  I was a bit underwhelmed with the pots, so pulled the trigger on a John East Uni-Pre3.  Belter.

[uk_lefty]

On 14/12/2021 at 14:07, chris_b said:

Having a "tone in your head" seems to be a millstone to many players. Blinkers that prevents them seeing that great tones can be had from most basses we pick up.

I've never really had this. Like my music collection I like lots of different stuff but don't go all-in on one particular genre/ style/ band/ era. Same with bass sounds. For my 80s band my Washburn/ Status through a Trace Elliot was the sound I wanted. In the pop-goes-rock covers band I'm in its Stingray>Helix>Ashdown. Before last week's gig I took out my backup bass, a passive PJ, to give it a spin and used the practice room's Orange amp, an amp that sounds terrible with my Stingray. It sounded great, a different tone to my usual but it was still "me". Even if I went for honky bridge pickup sounds I think it would still be me. I think my sound comes from how I attack the string, how long I hold a note for, how and where I play fills, the fact I don't do extreme EQ, it's flat then a few little tweaks to either scoop the mids or boost the mids. But it still sounds like me. Been thinking a lot about this before posting and have listened back to myself recording with different gear in different bands. I think most bassists would hear that it's the same bass player. Not saying I'm special and unique and amazing, very very far from it, I've just got my way of doing it and it shows through no matter what gear.

 

Still doesn't stop me constantly trading in and upgrading gear though!

[TheLowDown]

As long as a can get anything similar to a p-bass-like sound I don't care. Anything too bridgey or jacoish gets returned or sold, but I've never had to do that - except once when I wanted to try a stingray type bass - because the placement of the pickups near to the neck determines that aspect of the tone. Other than that I don't go out of my way to get any specific sound. 

All my gear is inexpensive for what it is and does the job.

Edited December 17, 2021 by TheLowDown

[Count Bassy]

On 11/12/2021 at 13:04, neepheid said:

I've come to the conclusion that (most) basses sounds bassy.

 

 

Not had much of a bass playing career as such, but this is my conclusion as well.- and the punters reallycan't tell the difference/ don't give Shlt.

[Boodang]

45 minutes ago, Count Bassy said:

 

Not had much of a bass playing career as such, but this is my conclusion as well.- and the punters reallycan't tell the difference/ don't give Shlt.

I sort of agree but... generally punters will go away after a gig saying 'that band sounded good/bad', they don't know why but they know.

You might not get the credit you think you deserve by putting in the effort but so long as you get satisfaction from doing so then, perhaps, that's good enough.

[Al Krow]

An Interview with Rebecca Johnson - No Treble Sept 2020

 

Are you a big gear head?

I’m not. The amount of people that ask me about what pedals I use is astounding. I don’t use any pedals! I’m a set and forget kind of player because I haven’t got time to mess around with it while I’m singing. If you can get yourself a good sound through anything, that’s fine.

I’m not precious about instruments. It’s funny reading video comments. Some clips have the StingRay, some have the Sire, some have the Yamaha, and people argue about which one sounds better. Every bass sounds good for what it is. I’ve probably played StingRays more than anything else. I had a four-string StingRay for twenty years. Then I got the five-string Yamaha and the StingRay went to hell. I got a five-string StingRay as you see on a lot of the videos and I put a pair of EMG’s in it. It sounded like a hotted-up race car, but I sold it because the neck wasn’t right for me. Then I got the Sire and I like it. What I’m saying is I’m not stuck on one bass. I’m the kind of person that has the same amp for 20 years.

 

I think that’s a sign of a working bassist. You don’t have time to get hung up on every detail if you’re putting in the work.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. You can pick up a piece of wood with a couple of bits of wire on it and if you can get a sound of out it, [that’s all you need]. I know every bass has its quality about it, but people often say it’s all in the hands. I can dig that.

 

She's an awesome bass player; her comments reminded me of some of the discussions we'd had on this thread. I certainly dig what she says!

[fretmeister]

I wish my fingers had envelope filters, synths, overdrives, and compressors in them.

 

Then maybe my tone would be in my fingers.

 

I can get by with a jazz and a good compressor - but that's just getting by. It's only a few of the sounds I want to make.

[Lozz196]

I think I’m slowly realising that a Precision with the much frowned upon smiley face eq works for me (albeit a lopsided smile, more highs than lows). Whilst depending on amps used it might not be exactly what I want I can get near enough to “me” to not be overly concerned.