Take Charge of Your Tone
by Tracy Hardy Johnson
So you finally have your Squier bass starter kit and are busily thumpin' away when you realize . . . "hey, I don't sound like [insert name of your bass god here]!!" And then you begin to wonder . . . "how does so-and-so get his/her tone?"
Remember that a lot of what you hear in recordings is the result of a lot of very fancy, really expensive equipment. But you don't need fancy stuff to take charge of your own tone. Without spending anything extra (or very little at the most), you already have a wide sound palette with your off-the-shelf student bass and practice amp. Here are a few tips on working with what you have.
Plucking Style
The first source of tone is how you strike the string. Do you pluck with your fingers or use a pick? Each method has a distinct sound and appropriate use. Jazz players often try to get their electrics to sound like an upright bass, while some metal players want that extra definition of sound to cut through the band that comes from a pick. Picks come in different materials from plastic to metal to felt, and each gives their own distinctive sound to your music. Experiment with all the tone colors that come from each method.
Location, Location
Where on your strings do you pluck? Try playing a scale as close to the bridge as you can. Then slowly work your way up the fretboard towards the nut. Pluck the strings directly over the fretboard itself. Listen to the differences in tone quality as you pluck the different areas of the string that produce different overtones, particularly over the 24th fret (or where it would be if you had one) and around the 15th fret. A simple way to vary a bass line on a repeat is just to pluck it in a different place on the string.
...And Location
Where on the fretboard do you fret your notes? If you play a G major arpeggio starting on the on the 5th fret of the D string, it sounds much different than if you play it starting on the 10th fret of the A string. The difference in string gauges makes a big difference in the tone.
In my jazz band class, I like to fret farther up the neck on the lower strings and pluck over the fretboard for what sounds to me like more of an "upright" sound.
Get To Know Your Amp
Part of learning an electric instrument is knowing what your amplifier is going to do to your sound. There is no need to guess about where to set your EQ (the dials or sliders that control a certain range of sound frequency). Here is a systematic, methodical way to learn what your amp does (grab your tape recorder and a pencil and paper):
Initially, turn all the dials to "zero" or the lowest position. Play a few scales throughout the range of your instrument as your record it on your tape recorder. Make a note on the paper of what the setting is, or announce the setting before you play so that you know what setting is associated for what sound. Then change the treble dial to half way and record with that setting. Then change that dial to full and record that way. Reset the treble knob to "zero" and do the same exercise with the mid-range dial, then the bass dial (or all the dials if you have more than three). Then start again with the mid-range set half way, and then go through all the combinations. Continue until you have all the dials turned up full. I am confident that by the time you get through this exercise you will know exactly what settings on your amp produce what kind of tone, and you will have a reference recording for listening and learning as a bonus.
So far, all we have spent over and above the bass starter kit is a couple of dollars for a few picks. Replacing the strings is the next investment. The sound differences between, say, nickel and steel are beyond the scope of this article, but the biggest single difference in tone in my opinion is between flatwound strings and roundwound strings. Roundwounds are more commonly used and have a higher, brighter sound (some say it's a sound that cuts through and is heard better). Flatwounds have a smoother, "fatter" tone. My (very) used bass came with three flats . . . except for the D string, which was round . . . talk about tone shock! I eventually went to all rounds, but for the kind of playing I do, I am going to return to the flats. Again, like finger or picks, it's just another choice depending on your tone needs for the kind of music you play.
Anything beyond replacing strings, such as effects pedals or replacing your bass with a neck-through model with fancy wood, starts to become a big investment, dollar-wise. Get familiar with these simple methods first. Getting your ears tuned to the sound you can produce is your first priority now, tone-wise. Once you learn the tone range you and your instrument are capable of producing, you will be in a better position to choose the next level of tone enhancement.
