10 Bass Tone Fixes (Beginners Don’t Make These Mistakes)

​When I was first starting out on the bass, I often got stuck with really basic things. I wasn’t progressing as I wanted to – weeks went by and I was still at square one! Luckily, I took a step back and avoided getting stuck with too many bad habits.

In this new video I’m going to outline the 10 common tone fails that I see new (and even more experienced) bass players make. Fixing these mistakes can make or break your bass playing - you’ve got enough to practice without anything else slowing you down!

As always, see you in the shed…

Scott :)

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[avmiii]

There's a performance tone, and a practice tone. To practice, I turn up the treble, and back down the low bass, then turn up the tone knob to create a brighter, cleaner, hotter tone, more Entwhistle style. This clearer tone exposes every misstep made on the fret board by the hands. It forces more accurate placement of the fingers to control the tone, muting, and you hear all of the little nuances that otherwise might be overlooked. It leads to more relaxed, accurate and confident playing when fully amped in a performance situation.

[julianthesmooshyhusky]

Another thing for bassists to remember: what sounds good in the practice room won’t always sound good in a mix (or even be audible for that matter). I am completely at peace with the fact that my practice tone and band tone are miles apart.

[SmlzBam]

one bass tone fail i would say is constructing a tone that dosent suit the application that you play in. what i mean by this is even though you might love the tone john entwistle got from his status buzzard you cant use that tone in a motown style application. i spent years trying to get an entwistle/ mark king kinda tone but for the indie band that i play in with 2 guitarists and a keys player a tone like that dosent fit so construct your own tone based off of many different influences that fits your application

[porkchop]

Great general information. After years and years of playing, I think one of the most important things to getting the tone “you“ want is to have a properly set-up instrument f i r s t. $100 instrument, properly set up, with a fresh set of strings can sound like 1 million bucks right off the bat. Cheers!

[Pastor.Dragon]

Bought a brand new bass, but it had sat on the shelf for two years and I couldn't figure out why the A string was dead. I was starting to regret the purchase until I put a new set of strings on, and bam! Now I love it. Don't be afraid to change your strings!

[juggalo]

My tone fail - since I am self taught I always thought I had to be in the middle of the frets when hitting a note . Learned bass starting at 16 years old and I’m 43 now and still learning always striving to some day be a master .🤔🤟✌️

[andtothewestamerica]

I get so many ads for Scott's Bass Lessons that sometimes when I click on your videos I forget and think I'm waiting for an ad to play

[bassmanjtfunk]

2 things I'd like to mention. One is to instead of boosting frequencies low mid and high. Also experimentings with cutting frequencies. This for me personally gives a clearer tone . Also when you are practicing sitting down. Don't put the bass on your right leg if you're right handed If you normally play standing up this changes all of the angles and all of your techniques will feel Foreign. Stand up put the base in a good position that you play in every night and when you sit down tried to keep it in the same position. Give it a shot. You might like it. Don't be afraid to experiment. Scott. You're a wonderful musician and teacher. Bravo.

[daveez]

Many new players also forget or dont know about intonation - may be helpful to mention that. Keep up the good work Scott

[miahorg]

3:24 Get a bunch of those microfibre cloth type things for cleaning guitars and wipe down your strings after you are done with a long session. That'll keep lots of gunk off of your strings. We could all stand to wash our hands more for non-bass reasons, but this will also help keep crud off of your strings if you do it right before picking up the axe.

Also, I played a set of flatwounds for a time on a P bass, they were probably old enough to vote by the time I had to replace the nut on that instrument and did the strings at the same time. If you are going for a very bright tone you'll need to swap the strings out but if not I don't see why to drop $50 constantly.

[jpeck]

Make sure that your bass is setup up right. String height, neck relief and the distance between the strings and pickup poles all have a drastic effect on your tone, sustain and clarity. If you don’t know how to do it yourself, save some sheckles and have a local luthier do it for you. It can make what initially may seem to be a crappy bass, sound fantastic after 3 minutes of tweaks.

[frankhoeppel]

As a ex-player that learned many things the hard (read: embarrassing) way, I truly appreciate the effort and skill put into this. Bravo, Scott.

[KevinLaurico]

8:05 notice where he plucks the strings depending on which pickup is on

[Igor_Vinicius]

Music is kinda like nature: either you adapt yourself, or die. Living in a place (Brazil) where a set of good new strings can cost more money than a musician makes in a gig, I managed to develop a taste for the sound of old strings. Today, I even find the sound of new strings a bit annoying.
Here, it's not rare to buy strings and split the payment in up to 10 installments.

[RadicalRumin]

#1 Trim your fingernails so the don't touch the strings while you play. 1:33
#2 Use Rest strokes instead of free strokes 2:17
#3 Change your strings! 3:24
#4 Check out different string types. Some may suit your style and tone better than others. 3:50
#5 Tune your bass. Every day. 5:47
#6 Fret notes correctly. Right behind the fret or almost on top of the fret. 6:22
#7 Learn about your pickups. 7:17
#8 Learn your controls. 8:38
#9 Learn how to EQ your AMP. 9:54
#10 Level up your plucking hand. 11:25

Seriously though, change your strings. And if you want to keep them clean for longer, wipe them down with a mircofibre cloth after playing.

[liligman]

5:37 I highly recommend Cobalt slinky flats. Best of both worlds

[jonathankessler]

Definitely feeling the correct fretting problem.. I love the sound of Pino, Sting, Jaco and the like so I started out on fretless and while it is getting easier (starting on a wind instrument and already having developed my relative pitch helps a LOT) it’s still hard to make sure I always fret in the correct place

[kiereluurs]

Not mentioning along the pickups that you are putting your fingers on a different position on the strings, which makes a lot of difference.

[justintaylor]

"we gotta be changing our strings"

James Jamerson: *unsubscribe*

[Mezziah]

What you demonstrated as playing too hard is my main playing tone, and I find it perfect for heavy rock and metal music. I do of course utilize softer plucking for other things though.