Do you have a signature sound?

[Exile252]

12 hours ago, la bam said:

No matter what bass I play, or what head, speaker or combo, my signature sound is exactly the same.... flat, boring and uninspiring.... 

 

Guitarists love it

 

I came to say the same thing.

If I want something smoother but uninspired I go with my Jazz bass, if punchy but uninspired I go with the P-Bass

[TimR]

I played at our local jam on Boxing Night. As the 'only bass player in the village' I get the dubious honor of playing for 4 hours without a 'break'.

 

Anyway - the pub now has a DJ with a 16 Track PA, subs and tops. So I left my amp and cab at home and dug out my StudioSpares DI (last used before Y2K).

 

5 minutes fiddling with the PA (bass, parametric mid, and treble) and bingo. I sounded just like me. I still don't know how to describe what that sound is though. 

 

 

 

 

[ezbass]

A signature sound? No. However, a sound that I’m currently really happy with and can’t see a reason to change is my passive, MM type pickup, fretless bass, into a Sadowsky SBP2 preamp, then into an MXR M87 comp (Dr Pepper type setting), then into a Tech21 VTDI which adds some grit and high end sizzle. These are on all the time and I ride the tone control (0.1uf) for smooth or a bit more aggressive tones (I’ll also use a pick for more attack when required). This seems to work with the 3 different amps I’ve used the set up with (EQ set flattish). My own rig is a Phil Jones Flightcase into a powered PJ cab. 

[SteveXFR]

In my old style metal band

Spector Euro 4 LX with eq centred both pickups on full.

Two Notes Revolt on the dirt channel at 3/4 gain and mids boosted.

Ashdown ABM600 with EQ flat and GK CX115 & CX210 cabs

 

I tend to play lots of power chords or just very fast Lemmy inspired lines. With this set up I get a really nice tone almost like a cranked valve amp but without the maintenance bills or back injury.

 

Im trying to work out my sound in my stoner/grunge band. I seem to be going towards my Yamaha BB with just a little dirt on it.

[RogerDodger]

I would say that my signature sound is a bit of fret buzz, which you would normally assume to be poor fretting finger placement, but is actually fully intentional, and notes that sound like they are wrong, but are really just an edgy interpretation of the song.

 

Not easy to do unless you rely on not doing quite enough practice....!

[Mrbigstuff]

One thing I just thought about while practicing. When I was younger and naive, in an effort to be different I would dismiss some ways of playing as “not my style”. What that actually translates to was I wasn’t very good. The more open to new ideas you are the better your sound will be.

[SteveXFR]

3 hours ago, RogerDodger said:

I would say that my signature sound is a bit of fret buzz, which you would normally assume to be poor fretting finger placement, but is actually fully intentional, and notes that sound like they are wrong, but are really just an edgy interpretation of the song.

 

Not easy to do unless you rely on not doing quite enough practice....!

 

Im afraid a lot of us are using that signature sound.

[jazzyvee]

I have played covers for most of my bass playing life, so mainly tried to capture the bass sound on those records. When I have gigged in originals bands I have found tones to suit their music.  I don’t have a sound that i think is distinctive such that i could recognise it in a blindfold hearing test, however i think I would recognise myself more by note choices and articulation more than tone. Others may hear if i have a signature sound more than I would. 

[BigRedX]

For me it's the note choices and combinations more than anything. Although a decent amount of chorus also helps.

[SteveXFR]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

For me it's the note choices and combinations more than anything. Although a decent amount of chorus also helps.

 

What style of music do you play? Lots of chorus sounds like it would be something very specific like shoegaze, post punk or alt rock.

[BigRedX]

I currently play in a post-punk/goth/synth-pop influenced band and so the chorus is quite prominent in the effects mix. However I've always had some chorus on my bass sound from when I bought my first chorus pedal in 1983. I was using it with my 90s dance-rock band, the blues/pop band I was with during the 2000s and even playing psychobilly with Dick Venom.

[SteveXFR]

I bought my daughter a Boss chorus for Christmas. Playing her Jazz bass in to MXR overdrive in to the chorus sounded amazing. 

[shoulderpet]

Mine is slightly overdriven and on my parametric equaliser a slight boost at 80hz, slight cut at 250hz, big boost at 780hz, big boost at 620hz, slight boost at 1.5khz, these frequencies may vary very slightly but generally this is what works with my current band and I go for an overdriven mud heavy tone.

Edited December 30, 2025 by shoulderpet

[Geek99]

My initial answer was No, but actually it’s Yes

zoom b2 ampeg, full cab plus some compression 

[msb]

Mostly play old school blues and roots music , so I’m looking for a rich old school thump , that has authority. So I like hollow body basses with flats , I can get an upright ish thump palm muting. I usually gig with a big orange Gretsch hollow body. Nice deep woody tone. It has TVJones pickups. I use a boutique tube preamp , and have a couple of Class D amps I use for back end power. Bergantino cabs. Now I drive my stuff downtown , load it in and out , and drive it home. Not a teenager any more. This gear is surprisingly compact and light. I get that big old school depth I was looking for. Much of the time I am not in the PA , so my stage sound is exactly what the room gets. This delivers. I’ve been nerdy about gear for some time now , no longer looking for that perfect tone , this is close enough for me. 
 

 

Big orange Gretsch in the back there , Monique pre , Jo Choui power , Berg cab. The power amp was built by Jon Chouinard in Quebec. He has a great YouTube channel comparing preamps. Great guy. A lot of folks are familiar with him , here’s his channel for those that are not. 
https://www.youtube.com/user/jochoui.
Check out his archive for the preamp comparisons.

edit … there’s a bunch of other stuff in the pic , Barefaced One 10 , PhilJones C-2 cabs , an Aguilar TH350 , Darkglass m200 , Darkglass e500 Exponent amp and a Batwing Harmony H-22 stuff I goof around with at home , the Berg , Monique , back end power , and Gretsch are what I drive downtown. The Jo Choui is 500 watts , if I think I will need more I tend to grab an older Bergantino Forte with the compressor , and use the effect return channel.

Edited December 30, 2025 by msb

[Boodang]

Fretless, flats & finger style but I pluck over the fretboard around the 20th fret(less). 

Plucking at that point gives a very mellow sound so I tend to boost the mids to compensate and introduce a bit of definition. I could just pluck nearer the bridge but I prefer the feel of playing at that point on the strings as it's much more 'elastic'. I've got into the habit of letting my fingers play into the fingerboard so if I did play further back towards the bridge I'd have to add a finger ramp for it to be comfortable now. 

[Immo]

Clean: the unique tone of two split coils in series with flatwounds.
Dirty: shrieky octave fuzz with a splash of autowah.

[leschirons]

All my basses have Labella white nylons.

 

Plug in, turn on the Shuttle, low boost and top boost buttons in. All knobs at 11.00 o'clock (ish)

If I can hear it, the band can hear it, the punters can hear it, that's my sound.