uh, erm...I am not in a band these days, though I
would sure love to be. I have thought about this
in bands I have been in, in the past. The thing is
with those bands is that everyone was soooooooo
wrapped up in themselves and how they were so
rock-god-like, they didn't care a hoot about
anyone elses equipment. Well, mostly, except when
my rig got so huge literally that we had to remove
ceiling tiles to set up...this is not s joke. Then
the drummer would complain that he couldn't be
seen from all angles lol.

....My passive T40 gets raves from my drummer and
my active Spector is preferred by the band
leader....

...but what does the sound-man think?

No sound man. The two mentioned above consult with each
other but the BL has the final say. There's no drama. I'm just
curious as to why one person thinks my passive sounds better
than my active and vice-versa. Must be a matter of taste.

Most of the time the BL walks up to the booth and makes
adjustments while we play sound checks.

I guess the drummer's interested in what he can hear
come through clearly to him and what cuts through
with any hearing loss he may have.

The BL is looking for an "overall band sound" I
would guess and it's possible he does not want so
much bass in it ( a la Bill Wyman's bass taking back
seat in e Rolling Stones )

There may be a million other reasons....

Great points. Thanks Mo!

My main squeeze is an '82 Carvin LB50 Koa 'Taz',
that bass has a very present and authoritative
tone and I can play anything on it. The drummer I
play with the most prefers it and so do most band
leaders and mates. Usually if I choose another
bass they go with it.
With Gravelwhip I choose to play another Carvin
LB50K that had EMG HB pickups installed, it just
fits the classic boogie vibe better to my ear.
In "Nardo the Band" Bernie & Bob had me cycle thru
all my basses and they preferred the tone of a PV
Verdine White (Sarzo) bass, and it does fit well
but I also think he liked the look of the
instrument and inlays (oval pearls with black
dots).
A producer I work with has a preferred bass dubbed
"the Stink Ray" (the infamous Sonic Designs Sonic
Fusion bass) because of the sound of the passive
sweet spot Bartolini pup in it or my old franken
PV T-40 with AllParts tele neck.

First of all sound is subjective to a degree. Listen to the mixes out there of major label artists. Of course now everything is compressed to death. But different mixes sound different from drums to bass, vocal guitars etc. So, one guy mixes the bass softer with less attack. Another guy mixes it with more bite. But, it depends on the sound you start with at the source and what the engineer and bass player want to hear.

What someone of sound knowledge wants to hear out front is a bass sound that works in the mix with the other instruments. The bass has to work with the kick but not intrude on the guitar. As for the drummer they get more low end. A bass cab is normally off to the side of them and they don't get a direct sound. High end travels forward from the source but low end travels in every direction. So, your basses probably have a difference in the low end or low mids from the drummers point of view.

Dave

That makes a lot of sense, Dave. You were spot on with your
evaluation of both sides.

Drummer; likes the dark sounding, aggresive, passive bass.

BL; likes the mellower sounding bass.

Thanks for the input.

where as well as how it sits in the mix is the
engineer/soundman job. I had an Aria bass that
everyone on stage hated the sound of, but the sound
man loved it because it sat right where he wanted it
to in the mix. It wasn't until the lead singer was
out front during one of our shows that anyone else
in the band even remotely understood why I kept
using that particular instrument.

I think Dave probably nailed it. Drummer likes what he can keep time with over the cymbal wash, bandleader likes what sounds good out front.

After thinking about it, I just don't get it. After all, in the mind of observers (I mean non-bassists) doesn't every bass sound like, well, a bass? Why would it matter to them? I can hear the difference between the two but they split time in my lap a lot. These guys hear them only about once a week.

I guess tone is important to people outside of the bass cult to those who are final mix oriented.

To add: See, this is why I never trust the soloed tone of a bass. There's no way to determine (at least in my mind) the way it'll sound in the mix.

...Bo

Probably just subtle, nit picky thinkings between what they hear from where they're at is my guess. Maybe it's the different styling that's throwing them off. :)

Look up some tracks of John Paul Jone's tone outside of the mix (isolated tracks on youtube.) Kinda sounds like butt to me, but works fantastic in the mix.