Well I've been playing bass for two and a half years, and it's just been me and my Fender MIM P-Bass the whole time. When I started, I didn't even know Fender was such a popular company, I just played.

Well I've gotten to the point in my playing where I want to really hone in on my tone. I've been playing based off the sound coming out my amp, not so much about my technique now that I've gotten it down really clean. But I just can't coax a good sound out of my bass. I have a Fender Rumble 115 amp, but the tone is just eluding me. Flat, it sounds sterile. I play with the mids, but the high mids sound ridiculously honky and add tons of finger noise. The low mids sound nasally, but not thin, kind of like someone singing with the top part of their throat closed up. The bass is boomy and muddy, and the treble is just bad. The tone knob on my bass is somewhere in between the treble and the high mids on my amp, from my inexperienced ear.

So now I try out some different combinations of settings now that I know how each knob interacts with the sound. My gut instincts tell me to cut the high mids, boost the low mids a tad, boost the lows a bit more than I boosted the low mids, and fiddle with the tone knob and treble knob for clarity. It sounds too boomy, but if I cut the bass it sounds nasally, and if I boost the highs to balance it out it just doesn't sound good.

So is this the epitome of awesomeness that I've heard so much about? This nasally, boomy, quirky sound? Can anyone help me on how to get some kind of anything out of this bass/amp?

P.S. I'm using gently worn DR. Hi-Beams.

From reading your post, I tend to think it's the amp.

I have never been a fan of Fender bass amps, as I've never been able to get a sound out of them (and I've played more than just one or two) that was really pleasing to my ears. I have shared your feelings about the sound, and when I took the Fender amp out of the equation (aka, used something else), I got the sound I was looking for, or eliminated the sound I didn't want. I find this bad sounding Fender amp thing a bit strange, in that I also have Fender basses, and you would think the company that makes both basses and amps would find a way to get the R&D groups together from the amp and instrument side of things and engineer both of them in such a way that they sound good together. Fender, are you listening?

That minor complaint aside, I think a P-Bass can be a good sounding instrument, though not all of them are. I'd say before you try to search for tones that may or may not be there, if you've a little time on this three day weekend, run to your local music store with bass in hand and see if you can get the tone you are thinking of, through other amps. If so, your Fender amp isn't right for you. If you can't, then it's the bass.

New strings can be really helpful, and I highly recommend them for cheap and easy first steps at fixing tone, but in this case, and as you describe it, I tend to think it's an amp issue.

Good luck with it.

I'd say before you try to search for tones that may or may not be there, if you've a little time on this three day weekend, run to your local music store with bass in hand and see if you can get the tone you are thinking of, through other amps. If so, your Fender amp isn't right for you. If you can't, then it's the bass.


Good idea here. Thanks for that. When I say lightly used DR's I mean I got them just a bit ago and have played the zing out of them. I don't like zing. For the previous two years though I had been using a set of D'Addario flats because I had head that you didn't need to change flats, and I had to pay for strings.

I'm thinking about just heading to Guitar Center, even though I generally dislike them. There is a place called Fuller's Vintage Guitars near me, but they have a small selection of amps, most of them fenders. There's a mom and pop store but they think I'm a complete retard for not liking that they stock the entire line of fender rumble amps and for asking for flatwound five- or six-string sets. Eh. Does anyone know of any other good shops in the Houston area.

EDIT: Maybe I should describe the sound I'm looking for. I want something fat with kind of a guttural growl, with a little bit of punch but an overall smooth sound. Very subtle growl. Maybe a fuzz/overdrive box to test out?

I'd say keep it simple, try to see if it's the amp or the bass first, and then mess around with pedals and all. Pedals DO have their place, but you really need to see if you can get a sound with just the bass and the amp. Once you've figured that out, then go crazy with some pedals, if you don't need/want to buy a different bass/amp.

Try something other than Fender amps if you can possibly do it. Or put an ad on craigslist or something and ask if you can try out someone's amp (in their home of course) to see if you can get sounds you like. Of course, explain your dilemma that the stores seem to stock only Fender amps. I'm sure there's bassists in Houston who would understand and give you a little time on their amps. I would. But I'm not in Houston.

Good luck with it.

You mentioned flat, put some fresh round wounds on your bass, then get a better amp pronto.

When I was a music major in college, there was a Fender amp that the school owned for the bassists to use for rehearsals so that they didn't have to lug the amp to the band room. Early in the game, I figured out the Fender amp sounded bad but the Peavey KEYBOARD amp that the computer music department used, sounded fantastic in comparison for my bass. I never did use that kybd amp for the big band rehearsals, but I was able to use it for the combo rehearsals, and with it, the sound issues were resolved.

I'm not saying to go and seek out a keyboard amp, but I'm saying that amps can make a dramatic difference in the sound. As can different/new strings.

You mentioned flat, put some fresh round wounds on your bass, then get a better amp pronto.

I mentioned lightly used, as in used enough to get the zing out because I don't like zing. I mentioned flats because I had them on my bass for two years, and I had previous good experiences with DR Hi-Beams. I'd rather see if I can get any workable tone at all out an amp before I fine tune it with strings. I can hear the good sound I want in the strings and the bass, but I don't think the Fender amp is right for me to get the sound I can hear in my fingers and ears.

Thanks a bunch for the advice there Thunderthumbs73. If there are any TBers in the Houston area (I'm up in NE Houston) who know of any friendly guitar shops or are gracious enough to let me meet up with them, post here or send me a PM! Many thanks.

try a different amp, if the sound is still bad then it may be worth swapping the pickup as the pickup in a MIM P Bass is ok but the pickups on the MIA P Basses are generally better, Fender do a nice vintage pickup (the original 62) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Original-62-P-Bass-Pickup?sku=301602&src=3SOSWXXA

try a different amp, if the sound is still bad then it may be worth swapping the pickup as the pickup in a MIM P Bass is ok but the pickups on the MIA P Basses are generally better, Fender do a nice vintage pickup (the original 62) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Original-62-P-Bass-Pickup?sku=301602&src=3SOSWXXA

My bass has a '62 RI pup because the pup that came with my bass was shot so bad (long story) and the guy at Fuller's replaced it because he just happened to have on laying around. For anyone in Houston Fuller's is a great place for anything but basses.

Hey,

I have had the same problem. I started with a MIM J and then moved to a MIM P and never looked back. The secret is the pickup.

I know you've got a Fender Re-issue in there, but Basslines makes a quarter-pound P-bass pickup (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Basslines-SPB3-quarterpound-P-Bass-Pickups?sku=300310) that kicks significant ass. I highly recommend it. It makes my toes curl. The P-Bass sound I love is a warm, thumpy low-end with just the right amount of high-end punch. I play through a GK 410/1001RB, but even with my ancient 1x18 SWR practice amp I get a really decent growl. Don't give up on the P, it will love you if you love it! I've actually put my J to bed, because with the basslines pickup and my Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, I can get a J sound out of it. And call me crazy, but I love the neck on the MIM P basses.

Admittedly a complete Fender nut.

Jeff

Don't forget that what often makes for a very good bass sound in a mix, with a band, etc. is often not particularly remarkable on its own, solo. In fact, in many a track with a great, fat, supportive, etc. etc. bass tone, if you solo'd the bass it would sound downright ugly.
Are you playing in a band or recording project? How does it sound in context? Unless you're gonna be a bass soloist I wouldn't spend too much money tweaking until you start dialing yourself in to a mix---live or recorded.
It's pretty rare for any kind of decent standard p-design bass to not be able to sit in a mix and do the p-bass thing respectably(unless there's really something wrong with it, or it just has horrible pickups, which the MIMs do not--they're servicable).

It's the amp.

Unfortunately, I play on the same amp when at the studio and it's horrible.

I'm sure your MIM P-Bass can sound awesome on a decent amp, trust me. I played with a MIA P-Bass on that amp a while ago and it sounded exactly as you described it. My MIA J-Bass doesn't really sound much better on that thing, either. ;/

the high mids sound ridiculously honky and add tons of finger noise. The low mids sound nasally, but not thin, kind of like someone singing with the top part of their throat closed up. The bass is boomy and muddy, and the treble is just bad.





Thats the best description of the perfect P-bass tone I've ever read... You nailed it! And it's for this exact reason that it seems to work soooo good in a mix setting. Those honky high-mids allow it to cut through a wall of distorted guitars like nothing else, the nasal low-mids punch right past the bass drum with authority, the boomy low-end creates the perfect bed for a band to lay on and the "bad" treble is what gives it much of it's traditional characture.

A well set up P-bass through a great amp will not actually sound very "good" on it's own.. but it'll sound GREAT with a band!

A p-bass as any other instrument, can sound good on its own, It depends on a ton of variables.

I have two P's

An American with seymour duncan antiquity's

A mexican that had all kinds of pu's, usa p-bass, Basslines, etc.

The mim never sounded really good.

My Mia sounds wonderfull through my svt-cl and 6x10, not so good through my old 100w fender bxr amp.

Bottom line:

Decent gear will sound decent, good gear will sound good.

I think I know what tone your looking for. Try going down to a guitarcenter and plugging in a nice MIA Jazz into a nice 2x10 or 2x12 and see how that works for you. Also, P Basses are hit and miss for a lot of people. It seems you either love them or hate them. Fender might not be your thing, try some other brands like Ibanez, Musicman or Spector, they have a much different tone.

Also, Ive only played through one Fender 15 combo amp and it was the worst tone I've ever heard from a bass amp. I don't know what model it was but dang that thing was muddy and lacked definition. Definitely try out some 2x10's. There is so much different tone out there it can take you awhile to find what your looking for. Good Luck!

But that's not one of them!

Seriously, their cheap little combo amps are exactly that...cheap and little...and you're not going to get a clear beefy tone out of them with any bass.

A P-bass is pretty much THE default starting point for most bassists as far as tone goes, even if you don't LIKE that tone you still know what it sounds like.

And if you DO like that tone, plugging into any decent amp is probably going to get the job done. I think it's fair to say that a good P-bass will sound very good through any quality amp and cabinet.

I think you would learn a lot about amps, your bass, and your tone preference if you spent a day or two trying out every amp you can find (don't know how practical that is given your location though)