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P bass advice please...


uk_lefty

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So, I've got a Fender player P bass. It sounds perfect with Ernie Ball flats being played through a valve amp with the gain set nice and high. I don't always have this luxury though and sometimes I want a bit more bite from it. Example: I played a festival last weekend and had v little time to set up using unfamiliar kit, the sound was very woolly. Here's my thoughts on options, grateful for any advice:

 

Put round-wounds on it 

Add a j bridge pickup

Add a p pickup at the bridge

Add one of those fender "double jazz" things at the bridge 

Save up and get a Fender Aerodyne jazz when one comes available at the right price 

Stop whining, it's a p bass doing it's thing

 

And here's some of the complications... I've never got on with PJ basses. I have a jazz bass and a Stingray already so why butcher the P? I could buy a Harley Benton PJ to see if I get on with it for just a fraction more than the cost of the pickups... Saving up for an Aerodyne isn't possible right now as I just moved house and tradesmen seem to think everything needs to cost £5000+

 

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Roundwounds.

 

I'll get flamed for this but I've found the Precision to be a two trick pony; both tricks are superb and depend entirely on the strings (OK, four tricks if you include fingerstyle/pick).

 

I've never got on with PJ as the staggered p pickup blended with the inline j means there's a significant difference in tone between EA and DG.

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I’d invest in a preamp pedal. My VTDI, with the bite switch engaged, really lifts the highs of my Mustang and P, both fitted with flats. That way you have the advantage of 2 tones. I also have a Sadowsky SBP2, which works ok with those 2 basses, but is better suited to my J and MM types and isn’t as flexible as the Tech21.

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All my P basses have got very worn in flats and I’d say none sound woolly, mellow yes, personally I wouldn’t go altering your bass, do you think it could have been because you didn’t have enough time to familiarise yourself with the new setup and experiment a bit 

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I support the preamp pedal idea that some have suggested. That has saved me much trouble when playing festivals where the back line can be quite varied. SansAmp and the ToneHammer have done the trick for me. 
 

Someone suggested EB Cobalt flats and I have to say that is a great suggestion as well. Most aggressive flat I’ve used. They can easily be tamed with EQ as well. 

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4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

 played through a valve amp with the gain set nice and high. I don't always have this luxury though and sometimes I want a bit more bite from it.


I’m with everyone else that says go for a pedal. 
 

The Darkglass Microtubes is a fave of mine, you may find the Deluxe or Ultra version could tick the box for you. 

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My main bass is a Mike Lull PJ5 with 10 year old TI flats and a lump of foam. Sounds magic.

 

If I want to sound like a traditional P bass I'll turn the J off and use my Aguilar TH500. For a modern P bass sound I'll turn the P pickup on full and have the J on at about 90% and use the AG700 amp. If I want more mids and top I'll use the Aguilar AG700 and turn the J and tone control up to about 90%.

 

The rig is Aguilar and Barefaced 112's.

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On the basis of cheapest options first, I'd plump for a set of rounds.

 

I would also ask what are you aiming for? You are satisfied with your sound using your own gear? I am presuming the valve amp you mention is yours? Using 'foreign' gear is always a lottery.

 

It may be a pedal is what you want (a valve pre I suppose). I'd explore the strings first. I certainly wouldn't be adding pickups/buying different basses.

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Keep your bass how you like it and if the wooliness strikes again when using unfamiliar kit, back off some bass and dial in more treble at whatever amp you're given to use.

Obviously I wasn't there but from what you've said that's what I would do after the first song.

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Plan M (Plans A, B, C.... used so far),  Try a used set of TI flats (when they appear on BC) and turn the tone control up.  As per @chris_b the TI flats on my SB-1 are about 10 years old, on my SG bass about 8 years old. Neither bass lacks bite or gets wooly.   Stating the obvious, with festival type gigs, what you hear on stage and what the audience hear are probably two different things.  I played two (small) outdoor festival gigs this year. In both, the onstage sound could be identified as a bass and I could hear the notes I was playing, nothing more than that though.  In both I was later complemented by audience members (and other bass players) on the bass tone.  Thank you sound engineers :)

Edited by 3below
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10 hours ago, ezbass said:

I’d invest in a preamp pedal. My VTDI, with the bite switch engaged, really lifts the highs of my Mustang and P, both fitted with flats. That way you have the advantage of 2 tones. I also have a Sadowsky SBP2, which works ok with those 2 basses, but is better suited to my J and MM types and isn’t as flexible as the Tech21.

I agree with this. 

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+1 to @ezbass and @LukeFRC a preamp that you are familiar with will help you rapidly get a usable tone with unfamiliar kit (unless you a very unlucky).  I use a VT bass Deluxe as my go to DI tool, the Laney Digbeth pre looks really useful with the tilt control.  Disclaimer, I have not tried one so far. 

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5 minutes ago, 3below said:

+1 to @ezbass and @LukeFRC a preamp that you are familiar with will help you rapidly get a usable tone with unfamiliar kit (unless you a very unlucky).  I use a VT bass Deluxe as my go to DI tool, the Laney Digbeth pre looks really useful with the tilt control.  Disclaimer, I have not tried one so far. 

I guess the obvious "standards" you see would be...
VT bass
Sansamp
Tonehammer
EBS microbass (maybe not as valvey) 
Ampeg SGT 

 

the trick is you learn to set it up for your sound - then send your DI signal to FOH from it, and use the amp as a stage monitor. Depending on the amp your stage sound might still sound like rubber bands and a tin can - but it doesn't matter as the FOH sound will be fine!

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11 hours ago, bremen said:

Roundwounds.

 

I'll get flamed for this but I've found the Precision to be a two trick pony; both tricks are superb and depend entirely on the strings (OK, four tricks if you include fingerstyle/pick).

 

I've never got on with PJ as the staggered p pickup blended with the inline j means there's a significant difference in tone between EA and DG.

This + 1👌

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20 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

So, I've got a Fender player P bass. It sounds perfect with Ernie Ball flats being played through a valve amp with the gain set nice and high. 

 

 

It's a well known formula that physicists around the globe agree on:

 

P bass + flats + valves = perfection 

 

I agree with the pre amp crew. Have it as an always on, send the signal to FoH and use the effects loop of whatever amp you plug into to bypass its pre and you'll always sound like you want to.

 

Now the fun of finding a pre starts! I'm sure you get loads of suggestions, I use a VT bass and really love it. Keep an eye out for the deluxe model and you can program a few different tones into it if you want different sounds.

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I've never heard a Precision, going through a FOH PA, that didn't sound woolly (except for a Fender Telecaster bass, at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival which had a big lump of foam at the bridge to give it definition and attack). 

 

On the other hand I've heard some great Precision sounds, where the bass is not going through the FOA PA and I'm hearing the bassists own amp with his/her own EQ settings.

 

So I would fall in line with what others have already said and get a good preamp so that you can have your sound for when you have to go through the FOA, or play through an amp that isn't yours.

 

 

Edited by gjones
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