Where does the tone come from?

[Jason Wilson]

Hi, I am not sure it comes down to any one thing. And changing any one of the components could really effect the sound i.e. pickups, pickup placement, electronics, strings, wood. etc
The only real way to find out I guess, and timely & expensive is get a bass, and change one piece at a time, then replace & try something else & record each time.
But I think wood, neck, fingerboard, frets, electronics, pickups, pickup placement will all have an effect on the sound. But all of those things together make "the sound".