How to know whether a bass sounds good?

[VENGEANCE]

Hi fellow bass players out there, I'm actually a guitar player but have always wondered how to tell whats a good bass tone. I know that there are certain tones that are more punchy like musicman basses or more mellow ones like jazz basses but what specifically are the things that make up a good bass tone?

 

[subversion]

hi bro, i'm guitar inclined but play bass to get some ideas going at times. if you are shopping for a bass, it's good to hear tonal differences form it, meaning: if you mess with the pickups combo/ tone knob, you have different tones to work with. as to the amount of punch in there, it's down to the pickup type. the average humbucking bass pickup like the one in the EBMM Sting Ray has a different thumping effect than the rest, just like the humbucker vs single coils in our guitars.

 

[cheesedaele]

"Good" is dependent on genre. But across genres, I like to say (1) can be heard and felt, and (2) complements and not competes with other instrumentation.

Following from sub's pt on pickups, another big factor in tone is also active vs passive instruments.

 

[alanchia]

Just like guitars, different makes will have different tone. You cant say one is bad and another is good - they are all very subjective and personal.
Some like punchy bass, some like smooth tone, some like mid-scooped, some like meaty tone like double bass.

 

[-Rhythm]

Hmm, for me, I prefer deep, punchy tone for rock/jazz.

 

[Stan_Kumar]

The best thing is to go with a friend who's well versed in stuff like this and ask him for an opinion.