That comment from a drummer about my bass tone still bugs me

I was playing a small show in Denver last February and an older drummer I'd never met came up after our set and said 'man your bass sounds like a wet cardboard box'. He was not trying to be mean, just honest. I swapped my flats for roundwounds and tweaked the EQ on my amp and now it actually cuts through the mix. Has anyone else gotten a critique that totally changed how you set up your gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen_sanchez1018d ago

That "wet cardboard box" comment is brutal but honestly kind of funny. What nobody's talking about is that maybe the drummer was picking up on how your bass sat against his own kit setup. I had a sound guy once tell me my bass was fighting the kick drum's low end, and swapping to a pick and rolling off the lows made everything lock in better. Sometimes the critique isn't about your tone being bad, it's about it not fitting the specific room or band context you're in.

oscarwright18d ago

Wet cardboard box" is a funny line, I'll give you that. But I think you're overthinking this a bit. If a drummer is that specific about your bass tone during a gig, either the mix was just off that night or he's the kind of guy who'll find something to complain about no matter what.