What makes “your sound”?

[uk_lefty]

Hate so say it but no matter what gear I use, and I try to use some diverse stuff, I fundamentally sound like me. Not saying I have a highly cultivated and unique sound, far from it, but the gear seems to only make a small difference. Maybe I'm just not using it right. But those small differences matter to me, even if nobody else, even in the band notices!

[VTypeV4]

That's a really tough question and there's some great replies here. 😃

 

For me (fundamentally at least) it's a Jazz-ish style bass in whatever form plus a graphic or semi-parametric EQ so I can reduce the clang / clank.

 

Being a bit more specific, I don't like to leave home without a Trace V-Type, Yamaha NE-1 and Boss LMB-3 - all add up for me and feel they are the 'magic ingredients'.

 

 

[msb]

I’m quite fussy about note duration. Often palm mute , but I generally try to keep a little space between the notes.

[tauzero]

Me.

[msb]

It’s quite amazing how our individual touch changes the sound of an instrument. I’m in the house band for a weekly blues jam and have no problem letting other players use my stuff. So four different players might well be using the same bass and amp , with the same settings in the run of a night.
And each person will sound completely different. 

[Graham56]

Incompetence

[msb]

Some are good players , and a couple are great ones. All with very different touch. 

I generally set my basses medium low , not super low , so they are not going to buzz if somebody has an aggressive approach.  The bass amp is not in the PA at the jam so the stage mix is what you hear out front. And you are expected to sit in the mix. Not too loud , but very present. 

And there is a very different sound from different players. 

[TimR]

Practice. 

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, msb said:

medium low , not super low , so they are not going to buzz if somebody has an aggressive approach.

I set mine so they WILL clank if I want. 98% of the time they won't, and it's nice seeing heads turn when they do.

[Duarte]

9 hours ago, Graham56 said:

Incompetence

 

Came here to say this. I always know if it's me playing if it is littered with mistakes, and not in a good way.

[Newfoundfreedom]

"What makes your sound?"

 

 

Stumbling over strings and missing notes generally. 

[rwillett]

I love Blues, they say that what you leave out is as important as what you leave in.  I made my sound my leaving everything out …

[Muzz]

Dunlop Nylon 88s, Split-P pickup in the right position, good roundwounds (preferably Elixirs) and I'm 80% there. The rest is tweaking and window dressing, really...

[cetera]

The attack of my pick, with active EMG pickups.....

 

Preferably on a Spector to complete the package.

[SumOne]

I play in a band where we sometimes swop bass players but keep everything else the same and people have commented it sounds more reggae when I play, more rock with the other player. So I guess my sound is partly down to how I play rather than the equipment. 

[leschirons]

This is an easy one to answer.

 

1st. Simply, how I use and where I put my right hand fingers.

2nd.  The spending of approximately £6,500,000 over the last 40 years on basses, amps and cabs, whilst totally convinced that this is the one😂

Edited November 13, 2023 by leschirons

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Prescription Drugs

[Baloney Balderdash]

This, at least as far as goes for my current main instrument of choice:

Quote

 

My entire signal chain explained in written form  (currently in the process of rearranging my setup, following is the most likely outcome) :

 

(*pedals listed in [ red/bold/underline text ] are "always on" effects*)

 

 

4 string 28.6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass (equipped with an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, and strung with Elixir Nanoweb coated nickel-plated roundwound hex steel core guitar strings, gauge .068 - .052 - .038 - .028, tuned in tenor bass, A standard, tuning, that is as the 4 upper strings of a 6 string bass in regular B standard tuning) ->

 

->> XVive Undulator (tremolo pedal, but never actually engaged and used exclusively for its great buffer) ->> EHX Black Finger (tube driven optical compressor, with 2 preamp tubes operating at proper high 300V plate voltage, mainly used as a tube preamp stage, driven to just at the edge of the tubes's breakup point, but with some very subtle compression dialed in as well) ->> TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini (used exclusively for an 1 octave up effect, delivered by a custom made Toneprint, dialed in to mimic an 8 string bass/12 string guitar, to fill out more sonic space, mostly used in conjunction with my high gain distortion setup) ->> DigiTech FreqOut (feedback generator) ->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Monarch MFL-22 Stereo Flanger (sometimes stacked into the HoTone tremolo in front of it, and always mixed with either clean signal or the Behringer phaser from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> HoTone Trem (tremolo, sometimes used with the Monarch Stereo Flanger behind it stacked into it, and always mixed with either clean signal, or sometimes the Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser, from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> [Loop A Return] ->|+|<- [Loop B Send] ->> Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser (clone of the original big box EHX Small Stone phaser, used with Color switch engaged for deep sweep and high resonance/feedback, and always mixed with the Monarch MFL-22 Stereo Flanger from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an approximate 50/50 ratio) => [LS-2 Output] }=>->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Mosky Black Rat (RAT clone, in Turbo RAT, LED diode clipping, mode, quite raunchy, fuzz-esque, high gain distortion, always used mixed with the {Orange Juice -> Metal Zone} from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz (Boss FZ-2/Univox Superfuzz clone, octave fuzz, always mixed with either clean signal, or {Orange Juice -> Metal Zone}, from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> [Loop A Return] ->|+|<- [Loop B Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (Orange amp like overdrive, dialed in to deliver a low gain overdrive, always used stacked into the Boss Metal Zone in front of it, and mixed with the Mosky Black RAT from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (distortion, dialed in at a rather moderate gain setting, always used with the Orange Juice behind it stacked into it, and always mixed with either the Mosky Black Rat, or sometimes the Behringer Super Fuzz, from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an approximate 50/50 ratio) => [LS-2 Output] }=>->> Zoom B1Xon (used predominantly as reverb unit, with various different reverb patches, including the always on {very subtle Plate Reverb -> subtle Spring Reverb} reverb patch that is part of my basic "clean" tone, and an extremely thick, lush reverb patch, used as a pad effect with volume swells from the build in expression pedal, though also used for a couple of additional effects, including a prominent "wah" pedal patch and a trippy reverse delay patch) ->> Danelectro Fab Metal (post reverb high gain distortion, often used stacked into the Orange Juice in front of it) ->> Joyo Orange Juice (post reverb medium gain distortion) ->> NUX Tape Core Deluxe (amazing digital emulation of the legendary Roland RE-201 Space Echo tape delay) ->> Behringer VD400 Vintage Delay (clone of the Boss DM-3 Analog Delay) ->> NUX (NBP-5) Melvin Lee Davis Bass Preamp + DI  (loaded with a digitally emulated Aguilar Tone Hammer amp, and an Ampeg SVT-212AV IR cab simulation, with a subtle low gain overdrive blended in at a 50/50 clean/drive ratio) ->

 

->> ART Tube MP Project Series (tube preamp and DI, with build in HPF, fixed @40Hz -12dB/Oct, engaged, tube driven to just on the verge of breakup point) ->

 

// ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging  // ->> Home practice // ->> Home recordings //  : 

 

// ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging ->> Effects Return (poweramp input) of a Peavey Solo Special 112 (160W combo amp, with the build in speaker disconnect and instead hooked up to a passive PA speaker) ->> The Box PA 502 (passive full range flat frequency response PA speaker with 1x 15"  woofer/mids driver + 1.7" high frequency tweeter horn) // ->> Home practice  ->> The T.Mix Mix 502 (mixer) ->> Sennheiser HD 380 Pro (studio grade, that is FRFR, headphones) // ->> Home recordings ->> M-Audio Fast Track (audio interface) ->> Reaper (DAW) //

 

 

I suppose ultimately my soul, or rather being as a whole, who knows, perhaps rather even The Great Artist of All Creation, Formerly Known as God.

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Pseudonym]

Mood swings.

[Bolo]

I think it's the dapper moustache.

[police squad]

I must admit I pretty much sound like me. I changed from Ampeg to Ashdown a few years ago and my sound is still about the same.

My biggest change is going to flats though. But they still sound like worn out rounds, if you know what I mean and I stopped changing string regularly because I like that worn out rounds sound these days

[Geek99]

Cheap flats and a zoom b2.1 set to ampeg. 

[Nebadon2000]

On 10/11/2023 at 15:15, MacDaddy said:

All in the fingers innit! 

Yes that may be true along with dynamics and proper feel BUT you still need excellent equipment to properly reproduce your amazing fingers😏

[Dad3353]

8 minutes ago, Nebadon2000 said:

Yes that may be true along with dynamics and proper feel BUT you still need excellent equipment to properly reproduce your amazing fingers😏

 

Most equipment from the '60s onward is 'excellent', and capable of properly reproducing most sounds from most fingers. 

[rwillett]

21 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Prescription Drugs

Non prescription drugs 😀