Lots of comments - I'm willing to put my music where my mouth is. Maybe not the best demo, could use a bit more high mid for definition.
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Signal chain is in the description on the page, but basically into a Zoom H2 via the line in.
This is my take on the vintage P Bass tone (using a vintage P Bass - 1973 to be specific).
1. I use rounds that haven't been changed since I first got this 15+ years ago, but if they weren't that dead or if one broke, I'd get flats. I find Thomastics to be too "rolly" under the fingers, and Labellas to be too heavy, IDK what I'd get, probably some D'Addario or something.
2. The tone knob is always all the way down.
3. There's foam under that ashtray - not that it needs it, just gives it a bit more oomph.
To be honest, though, 99% of the tone was there, in the store as I was demoing it, with rounds & with the tone knob all the way up & no foam and is there no matter what my technique is. Even with the tone wide open & played with a pick and no palm muting, it sounds vintage - warm, woody, etc. The tone has a lot to do with the low-mids, around 400Hz or so. The flats & foam seem to help, not so much with "lack of sustain" but with a thumpy initial attack that's almost percussive, but without the harsh highs. I even mute with my left hand sometimes too while playing fingerstyle with my right. It all depends on what I feel the song needs.
Some claim that wood doesn't matter, but I believe it does. If I were to build this bass from scratch, I'd go for a light alder body, maybe with chambering (not aware of any P Bass bodies available with this mod), a vintage neck (no graphite etc, light truss rod), whatever vintage pickups du-jour are out there. Then when I got the bass, I'd add flats & foam.
Technique helps, but it's not essential. Whatever bass/strings you own now, you can get a McCartney-esque tone by putting foam under the strings by the bridge, palm-muting & playing with your thumb. Some (Carol Kaye) used to play with a foam pick - percussive pick sound, without the trebly attack. I think John Paul Jones did too. A lot of bassists did back in the day because recording bass was so difficult, they used the pick to get a lot of attack.
Why do you think those old Fender basses had the "thumb rest" on the bottom? It wasn't a "thumb rest" down there, it was to rest your other fingers while your thumb (or a pick) did the plucking. Jamerson played a bit foward of the pickup, I tend to play on the pickup or a bit behind it, or a bit in front of it, or even over the neck. It changes the tone, but not "night and day" change the tone.
FWIW I also hate those harsh "all string" tones I see in youtube vids of... well, any basses. Except maybe some 6 stringers - I love the bright piano-like tone in the upper range.
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