Also the best thing to do is to find out what band tone you like the best and steal their shit lol. Nah find some bass tones in bands you like and find out whats going on with their gear.
I disagree. It's not the best thing to do. Then you're just being a clone, not a musician.
My guitarist's dad (we are still in high school) is buying her a half stack on the terms that she will pay him back in the future. She wants a Crate Blue Voodoo with a slant 4x12, based on personal experience. He says, and I quote, "You should just go all out and get Marshall. All the pros use it."
My response was, "Pf, right. So you want her to be indebted to you for five years?" Just for shits and giggles, she went and tried every Marshall head she could find. The only one she liked costed $2149. The Blue Voodoo costed $579, and has a much better tone for black metal. Very cutting, with a good clean sound for our progressive tunes.
The best thing to do is to find the tone and equipment that's right for you, by playing it, unless you're playing in a cover/tribute band. This is a process, because taste develops over time.
60% of the reason why I have ever bought a bass was how it felt in my hands: how playable it was, how heavy or light it felt, how well it was balanced, etc. The rest was sound quality and the features that enable that quality. Advertisements are fully capable of lying. I learned this with Traben basses. Their ads make them sound like awesome shit. The first time I picked one up, I plugged it into an SVT-4 with an Ampeg 810...
Boomy, with a surprisingly un-dynamic 3-band EQ. Couldn't accentuate any mids or treble whatsoever, which are my main frequencies. I tried every remedy I could find. Go figure.
