Turning a ESP bass tone in to a Fender tone.

[nickhuge]

Hi guys

Much help needed here. I'm in the middle of a studio session for an album for my band New Device. I took 6 fnders in to the studio - 4P and 2J (not all mine but a couple borrowed) and none of them settled in time to using a super heavy string gauge (starting at 130 on a 4 string) even after being set up. Anyway, that issue isn't the issue now, we had a bass that had already been set up to drop C which was a ESP Ltd B-104 (can't believe I've used a £250 bass on this album) hanging around the studio. This bass actually had a really consistent tone but being an ESP was much more modern sounding and didn't have the soul that comes with the fender tone.

Now all the guitars are going to be reamped but the bass will just be using software to be modelled with an SVT tone. Is there anyway the studio will be able to make the core tone sound more fendery at all?

[EdwardHimself]

I think it is a sound that has to come from the bass itself. You could try upping the midrange (the 500-1kHz sort of area) and adding a bit of compression with no attack to give you a bit more of a sustaining sound but I don't think you're going to be able to get the fender tone out of it. I think 130 is a bit heavy for drop C if I am entirely honest. Also, don't complain about using a cheap bass. There is no reason any bass can't sound decent on a recording if the frets are in good nick and it has been well set up.

[nickhuge]

Not a complaint, more surprise.

Cheers

[BigRedX]

Surely the only thing that matters is whether the bass sounds right in the mix?

[Archetype]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1337701454' post='1664217']
Surely the only thing that matters is whether the bass sounds right in the mix?
[/quote]

This - when a client says "I want this bass sound" in anything in Drop C - not gonna happen.
Focus on the mix - if it all sounds good I will bet they come back without complaint.

[AndThenSome1]

One of the basic rules of recording/mixing - you can give a recording something that isn't there in the first place...