Which BASS for my project studio

[GreggTL]

Local bands come into my studio---often the bass player has a poor choice of strings for recording---often old strings too. The music is mostly Pop/Rock.

 

I'm going to buy a BASS to have them use in these situations...I'm going to keep fresh round-wounds on it (45-105). In my VERY LIMITED knowledge of BASSES, a 'P-BASS' is the logical choice, however I can only spend roundabout $300.00 so, what do I get-- a cheap Mexican P-BASS or something else?

 

I'll spend that money on new or used, but I need to be shopping for something that's easy to find so I can find it easily and be done with it.

 

To you wizards of BASS I ask, please, what are the three or four most logical choices if you were in my situation? Thanks if you can help.

[Jay J.]

I think that a Precision or Jazz bass would work well for you, the fender Made in Mexico ones are nice and easy to find new and used.

 

if you would like a P bass the G&L tribute SB-2 is on sale for $299 at musiciansfriend. I have played one and was impressed with it. you can also find the ocasional used USA made G&L sb-2 on ebay in a similar price range. but for a good P bass new that is a pretty good deal. I might pick one up to use as a backup bass to my G&L L2000

[Patrick74]

Al lot of recording have been done with a precision. I believe most of the Nashville bassplayers own a p bass for recording....it is simple, sounds hughes, can fill up a track...A Mex will do just fine, if you want more Fender vintage tone, you could replace the pu by a Basslines hot vintage pu. (hot does not mean a suddenly increase of gain!)

[NickT]

I would go for a P-bass as well. The MIM Fenders are good, just pay attention to the neck and make sure that you get one with as few dead spots as possible.

[jeremy c]

A Mexican P should serve your purposes just fine.

 

You can always upgrade the pickup later.

 

I put a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup in a Fernandes P bass that I have. It sounds great in the studio. I've got La Bella flatwounds on mine.

 

A few more thoughts....I see posts on this board all the time about how little people want to spend. I'm sure you have plenty of rack processors that cost more than $300. Wouldn't you want the first thing in the signal path (the actual instrument) to be something of high quality?

 

The other thing is...you're buying this instrument because bands come in and you don't like the sound of the basses that they bring. Isn't your job to record the band, not change it?

 

If they complain about the bass sound...all you have to do is solo the track and say, "that's what your bass sounds like...if you wanted it to sound different, buy another bass or learn how to play better."

 

Your friend,

Mr. Devil's Advocate.

[All Tubes]

I know if I went to a studio and the dude had a pbass I'd be pretty happy.I would be more happy with a jbass cause you can tweek it a bit more for different tones.Another good choice would be a jazz p bass it has pbass pickups and one jazz bass pickup so it is very versatile.I think you can get all of these in mim version and very cheap.

[g.]

Baby-sitting clueless people is a drag. If you need a bass in a project studio for your own projects that's one thing; but keeping diapers on hand doesn't make as much sense as printing a toilet training brochure, really ; }

[jeremy c]

What he said.

[jeremy c]

Just one more thought....

 

If you are booking your studio to people who have inadequate gear, you could charge a rental fee to use the bass you end up buying.

 

Or just buy a box of new strings and sell a set to each clueless bassplayer who comes in.

 

Do you own a studio set of well-tuned drums for all the clueless drummers who come in accompanying the bass players?

 

How about a selection of guitars and guitar amps?

 

I'd worry more about the drums and guitars, you can always mix the bass into oblivion on a pop/rock tune, it seems to be a normal procedure these days.

 

Either that or replace the bass track entirely with a synth part like the dance remixes by big name remixers that are so popular in some circles.

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by jeremyc:

Just one more thought....

 

Do you own a studio set of well-tuned drums for all the clueless drummers who come in accompanying the bass players?

How about a selection of guitars and guitar amps?

Those aren't unusual items for a studio to have - in fact, I have 2 sets of well tuned drums available, depending on the sizes that the drummer is used to using (or the music demands).

 

Remember that satisfied customers are what keeps a studio in business. If a bunch of 17 year old yammerheads come in to do a project and and all of their instruments sound awful, the record is gonna sound awful no matter what the engineer does. So if the engineer (who, in small studios, often also has to wear the producer hat) can find a nice way to get the bass player to play a bass that stays in tune, doesn't buzz and is even all across its range, the project will sound better in the end. If the record sucks, the band is going to blame the studio; if it sounds great, they'll take the credit themselves. And that's the way it should be, I guess. But the studio benefits.

 

Since I'm a bassist, I have basses, amps and some really nice bass recording chains around here. But I've also got acoustic guitars, electric guitars and some oddball instruments like Baritone guitars and an electic sitar. If it improves the sound of the record, it gets used. I've got boxes of strings - electric, acoustic, and bass. I currently have only a couple of guitar amps that live in house, though when I get around to it, I'll add some more - a Marshall, an AC30 and some more Fenders. And that's in addition to the direct stuff like a Sans Amp PSA-1.

 

Since I live in a city were almost everything can be rented (including fabulous players), it's not as big an issue for me to have a whole bunch of guitars and amps on the premises. But for guys in other areas, I'd think that it's a necessity. Many successful producers have tons of guitars and amps which they rent to the project, but it sounds as though the original poster is not working with major label budgets.

 

So I'd agree with the folks who said that a good playing Mexican P bass would be a good investment. It sounds as though it would be a step up for many of his clients, and yet not cost so much that he'd never recoup the expense. I'd suggest, though, that he take a bass player with him when he picks it out - there are great and not so great mexican P basses out there.

[jeremy c]

Thanks, Dave, for those kind words of wisdom from someone on the studio owner side of things.

 

I'm just a crabby old guy who thinks everyone should know how to play and have good sounding gear, but then again, that's just my old-fart bias showing!

[Mr. Phil]

I would recommend A cheap Ibanez GSR200 or SR model. They have one with a P+J configuration that is about $200 I think. It was my first bass.

 

Also Yamaha is good.

 

I dont find that I like the P-bass sound when I play rock. I like it for jazz though.

[g.]

What Dave says is pretty much true. I did the "midi studio" thang for a bunch of years starting at the advent of midi, and you had to have a LOT of synths and samplers, good sound libraries, lots of outboard gear, a good microphone selection, and it didn't hurt to a guitar or two and a bass and some amps around. Of course the amps were easy because back then a good midi head knew that recording synths through amps sometimes was a real edge.

 

Much as I hate to admit it, I was just tired of seeing this question so many times before ; } ...I guess I'm not that patient with "what should I buy" questions because I usually know how much I have to spend and what characteristics I want, and don't trust any research like my own. It's worked for me for many hundreds of items, what can I say.

[Dave Martin]

I understand everyone's pain (and sympathize), but in the real world, there are guys who honestly don't realize that their equipment sounds band. Not ayone on this forum, of course...

 

Anyway, here's a recent example: I was listening to a demo the other day (the band wants me to produce them) and the bass was really out of tune, the guitars all had exactly the same tone (so that they were fighting each other inthe tracks) and the drummer seemed to thin that time is a spice that his mom cooks with - Lord knows that is wasn't any part of his playing...

 

I ended up e-mailing the guy who sent me the tape (the father of one of the players) to ask if there were versions of the song without drums - ideally just with an acoustic guitar. I couldn't even hear if there were songs in their songs - it was that bad. But the kids in the band were very proud of their efforts; they said things like, "Well, we only had two days to do those 3 tracks, but it came out great!" They honestly didn't realize that it was awful and unlistenable. In that situaton (assuming that I had to work with that drummer...), I would most likely either set-up and re-string the bass (and have him play through one of my rigs) or simply have him play one of my basses - the one that fee's closest to his, and have the guitar player use either different amps or a different guitar on some of those multiple guitar tracks. Those two things would improve the clarity of the project. And then I'd have to spend some time with the drummer...

 

I agree that everyone coming into the studio SHOULD know how to play, but as an engineer, it's my job to make them sound as good as they can.

[73 P Bass]

You can't go wrong with a P'bass, but I guess I'm a little biased!

[Cup]

Very interesting conversation. Bump, back to the top!

[bspangleyahoo.com]

Gregg,

Do you have a "favorite" bassist as one of your clients or one that you end up calling again and again for those situations where you're recording song-writers'project because his/her tone always fits and the bass is always in tune?

 

If you do see if you can take him bass shopping with you. I think you will be able to buy a more than adequate bass for under $300. Also ask around about an excellent luthier. Make sure that your purchase passes his inspection and then pay him to set up your bass. In my experience in recording there is a big difference between being in tune and being REALLY in tune.

[GreggTL]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Every response made a worthwhile point. I appreciate it.

[Dave Martin]

I know that some of you are mildly offended that someone would show up for a session with a crappy instrument, but that's not nearly as bad as it can get - I had to buy reading glasses for one of the guys working at my place today - he'd forgotten his, and couldn't read the chart. So I will now keep a few pairs of reading glasses on hand...

[BenLoy]

Most great engineers I've worked with are Boy Scouts in the manner of Dave Martin, here. They've got little things like strings, picks, extra cables, tuners, amps, etc. lying around because they know that having those things around saves time. Waiting for someone to go out and pick up a pack of strings can grind everything to a halt in some situations.

 

I'm also in agreement with JeremyC that someone has no business setting foot in a studio if they can't play and have shoddy equipment...but if studio owners enforced that rule, how much business would they be cutting out of their schedule? Enough that it would hurt...

 

To get back to the original question, ask a good bass player you know and respect to accompany you to a music store and help him/her pick out a P-Bass in your price range that sounds as good as it can for the price. Then ask what they would change about it to make it great. They may suggest things you haven't thought of.