Spend any time in bass forums and you will watch people attribute their tone almost entirely to equipment: this pickup, that amp, this string, that pedal. Gear has an effect, no argument. But the dominant tone control on a bass is not on the bass — it is your hands, where you pluck, how hard, with what part of the finger, and how you mute. Two players on the identical rig sound nothing alike, and that gap is the whole point.
What your hands actually do
Where you pluck the string changes everything: near the neck is round and warm, near the bridge is tight and aggressive, and every point between is a tone knob you control in real time. How hard you dig in changes the attack and the grit. How you release and mute notes shapes the groove as much as the pitches do. None of this is in a catalogue. All of it is free, and it is the part professionals spend years refining while beginners are still ordering pedals.
Why gear gets the credit
Because technique is slow, invisible, and unsellable, while gear is fast, tangible, and shippable. "Practise your right hand for a year" is true and unsatisfying. "Buy this preamp" is a dopamine hit with a tracking number. So the credit flows to the gear, and players keep buying tone they could already make.
The honest path
Own a decent, reliable bass and a clean amp — you do need workable tools. Then put the upgrade money on pause and spend a few months exploring what your hands do to the sound. You will discover most of the tone you were trying to buy was available the whole time. Buy gear later, to extend a voice you have actually developed, not to substitute for one you have not.