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'57 P bass reissue - tone too trebly?

G

gnjpowell

Inactive
Nov 12, 2010
562
2
Concord, NH
www.pfasound.com
Disclosures
Bass & guitar tech, FOH sound, backline rentals
#1
Now that I have some nice MIUSA Fender flats on her I can try to assess the tone. Even with the tone control all the way down and the flats installed she sounds way too trebly to me, not at all what I expected from a P bass. Just me? Possible technical problem with this particular example? Thoughts???
 
#8
Yeah new strings sound terrible for a while. The flats on my P have taken a couple weeks of playing and a gig to finally settle down.

Also height of the pickup contributes to the treblyness of the tone.
 
#10
A good p-bass (which the Fender '57 reissues certainly are) is a surprisingly full-range instrument! So, if you have new strings (even flats) & bright settings on your amplification - it will sound pretty trebley, yes. But there should be plenty of low end as well.

What sort of amp or system are you playing it through?

Pickup height will change overall output level more than it will change eq, but - you can get a little high-end attenuation by dropping the pickups significantly. It shouldn't be necessary, however.

Your profile indicates you are a guitar & bass tech? Surely you have access to a lot of amps and other instruments to compare this p-bass to? It is always possible that your bass has an issue of some sort (really odd piece of wood, electronics issue, etc...), but every '57 reissue I've played has sounded plenty bold in the bottom end.

The '57 is, in my opinion, a little more "aggressive" in the upper-mids than say a '62 reissue or American Standard. But, there's plenty of bottom as well!
 
#11
Have played this new bass through a number of different setups including SVT 810 and they all sound too trebly to me. Do have a number of other basses for comparison with as well. Have not yet gigged or even rehearsed with my blues or worship bands with it yet. Mebbe 2-3 hours practice on the new strings so far is all. Will keep banging on it and see what happens with some more time...
 
#12
I'm a Flatwound and a roundwound player and I usually run my P Basses with the tone all the weay OFF and I also use a Sadowsky outdoard pre to boost the lows (40HZ) by about 6-8 dB. An Xotic BASS RC booster is just as good.

The '57 pickups are pretty scooped in the mids (IMO) so you will have lots of highs but the lows are definately there. Shut off your tweeter if you can and roll back all the trebble on the amp... Highs are usually easy to get rid of.
 
#13
I have a '57 RI pickup in a P-bass. As someone already said, it is more aggressive in the upper mids than what we usually think of as the classic P-bass sound. So overall, it can sound brighter than many people expect a P to sound. You may want to replace the pickup, but first read my setup tip below.

Personally, I LOVE this pickup but do find it a little bright when set up traditionally. So to tame it, I actually adjust the pickup under the A string down about as far as it can go. This brings the tops of the raised pole pieces about even with those under the E string. It looks weird (opposite of how you'd normally expect to set up a P pickup), but it does even out the sound and tame some of the upper mids.

Set up this way, the pickup is still brighter than the "classic" P-bass tone, but very much in the ballpark. I tend to prefer more cut and articulation, so to me this is the best sounding P pickup I've ever heard. Wonderful in a mix--supportive but articulate. Try it, but don't expect it to sound just like a '62--while you can get it close, it's just a differently voiced pickup.
 
#14
scotch said:
The '57 is, in my opinion, a little more "aggressive" in the upper-mids than say a '62 reissue or American Standard. But, there's plenty of bottom as well!
Click to expand...

I agree completely - and by aggressive, it's not just to say that it's bumped up in that frequency range - this pickup is a wild beast compared to other P pickups, IMHO. Very aggressive and ballsy.

In comparison, the American Standard pickup set is a friendly chartered account whereas the '57 is a grizzled, scarred, and tattooed war vet riding a Harley to the liquor store, which is next door to the gun store. I have owned a few American Standard (and American Series), and have never found them failing in the balls department. Just weaker in comparison.

Give the flats a chance to settle down, and you'll be very impressed.
 
#15
BillMason said:
I agree completely - and by aggressive, it's not just to say that it's bumped up in that frequency range - this pickup is a wild beast compared to other P pickups, IMHO. Very aggressive and ballsy.

In comparison, the American Standard pickup set is a friendly chartered account whereas the '57 is a grizzled, scarred, and tattooed war vet riding a Harley to the liquor store, which is next door to the gun store. I have owned a few American Standard (and American Series), and have never found them failing in the balls department. Just weaker in comparison.

Give the flats a chance to settle down, and you'll be very impressed.
Click to expand...

I second these emotions!

The '57 is a rocker, but it can certainly be tamed. Actually, my '57 is my go-to bass in the studio for either more rockin' material -or- sensitive ballads. For middle-of-the-road material, I usually go with a different instrument (usually my '62 ri Jazz or something more esoteric).
 
#16
I put a set of Jamerson signature LaBella flats (heavy gauge) on mine & roll the tone control off all the way & it's thump city. Boost the bass on the amp & kill the mids.
 
#18
To each his own in all cases of course. We may not be looking for the same sound. I play reggae, dub & country. All require the same tone from me & that's a big thump, but with enough definition to hear the pitch. I agree that high mids virtually defeat that effort.
 
#19
Moe Monsarrat said:
To each his own in all cases of course. We may not be looking for the same sound. I play reggae, dub & country. All require the same tone from me & that's a big thump, but with enough definition to hear the pitch. I agree that high mids virtually defeat that effort.
Click to expand...

Quite so - I checked out your profile, and your experience trumps mine in breadth and depth both, so I'll respectfully shut up. :)
 
#20
If you want really huge bass & thumpiness try a Kay Pro 162 Reissue. It comes with flats & has the most bottom of any bass I have. You can turn up the treble & get a Hofner kind of sound but then flip the treble cut switch & it's a dub monster. They cost about $800 new but I've seen a few on TB for sale used.
 

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