Best bass for studio work

[marchone]

I use them as well but the LaBella may be the icing on the cake on the Motown R&B field

Good call.

 

[Killing Floor]

Flatwound strings would improve on fret noise on any style bass. Hum (electrical noise) that you hear from some instruments can sometimes be addressed with shielding inside the pickups cavity, not saying that is what you are specifically hearing.
Good luck.

 

[jessiejs]

Easy answer .. Fender Custom Shop Pino Palladino Precision bass strung with LaBella DTF 760 FL flatwound strings

Thanks but I'm not looking to drop $5K on a bass. I can't justify that cost right now. Maybe a little further down the line I can.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

How does it do with fret noise and hum?

Mine is very well-shielded and quiet in terms of hum and most of the fret noise is from my ham-fisted playing.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Hi again ladies and gents. I am a musician that did at one point do a lot of gigging but I find myself now doing almost all studio recordings and songwriting. I finally upgraded and got the Fender Strat that I always wanted and my studio recordings are definitely much better. Now, I want to upgrade my bass. Since I was never a regular bass player I never put any money into that other than an old 25 year old Yamaha 4 string and a cheap Harley Benton bass.

Now I want to upgrade my bass. I write mostly R&B, Soul and Country while doing some old Motown covers. What type of bass should I be looking at for recording purposes. I need something with not a lot of fret noise, thats for sure and low hum if thats possible.

Thanks

Jessie

P bass! Hands down!

 

[pbass2]

Definitely a Pbass for what you describe, and likely flatwounds. Labella for a truly classic sound, or maybe Chromes for a more "modern" sound. As stated above a Squier P will work, and you can always upgrade the pickups. I just helped a guitar player friend set up a Squier Classic Vibe 70's precision with Lindy Fralin pickups for his studio. He was out of pocket around $600 and got a bass that records great. Totally legit p tone in the mix.

 

[jessiejs]

Definitely a Pbass for what you describe, and likely flatwounds. Labella for a truly classic sound, or maybe Chromes for a more "modern" sound. As stated above a Squier P will work, and you can always upgrade the pickups. I just helped a guitar player friend set up a Squier Classic Vibe 70's precision with Lindy Fralin pickups for his studio. He was out of pocket around $600 and got a bass that records great. Totally legit p tone in the mix.

Thanks. That sounds more in line with what I'm looking for.

 

[Laurent]

As others have mentioned: P bass is king for this sort of things.
Passive P bass with fresh round wound strings or seasoned/newer flatwounds. With flatwounds it does not matter.

 

[marchone]

@jessiejs

You are never going to get a consensus like this from TalkBass on most any other subject. It’s unusual.

 

[jessiejs]

@jessiejs

You are never going to get a consensus like this from TalkBass on most any other subject. It’s unusual.

lol. I see. It's all good information for me though. I like to ask people who know more than I do.

 

[juggahnaught]

Hi again ladies and gents. I am a musician that did at one point do a lot of gigging but I find myself now doing almost all studio recordings and songwriting. I finally upgraded and got the Fender Strat that I always wanted and my studio recordings are definitely much better. Now, I want to upgrade my bass. Since I was never a regular bass player I never put any money into that other than an old 25 year old Yamaha 4 string and a cheap Harley Benton bass.

Now I want to upgrade my bass. I write mostly R&B, Soul and Country while doing some old Motown covers. What type of bass should I be looking at for recording purposes. I need something with not a lot of fret noise, thats for sure and low hum if thats possible.

Thanks

Jessie

Honestly - unless you're a session musician doing studio recordings for other people, play the bass that gives you the sound and feel that you like. Fret noise is unavoidable to a certain extent (unless you dial it out with the tone knob, but if you do that you lose clarity and tone as well); hand/finger noise is mostly a function of string choice. Hum is a function of single coils but also a function of your power supply, your location, and ambient signals; this is why noise gates exist. A lot of bass recording comes down to good technique and post-processing (gating, multi-band compression, and EQ).

Given what you're recording, you'd probably be okay with a P/J bass of some sort for maximum versatility. In my opinion, it'll do the P thing while giving you more tonal options. You might want a five-string if you're doing R&B and soul stuff - it'll be easier to deal with flat keys, and since it's studio time you can always use a fretwrap to control string ring and harmonics if your muting technique isn't well-developed. That said, it's more important that you play something that you're comfortable with and that you like. Doesn't have to be a P/J.

If you are a session musician, on the other hand - if it were me, I'd get a really nice Jazz and a Musicman, and get a P down the line (or just keep an inexpensive one). I believe that most professional studios (and even non-professional ones) are going to have some kind of P bass on hand for recording purposes when it's needed - something that works well - but the nuances of the Jazz and other bass types are things I'd want to bring to the studio myself. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but if I were a studio musician, this is what I would do.

Hope this helps. Pay attention to recording technique and post-processing.

 

[Johnny Crab]

A PBass is a good choice.
That said, my bass of choice for recording country and rock for years has been my1979 Peavey T-40 with old Pure Nickel strings. Strong, smooth-yet clear, tone that records very well, even response across it's range, minimal fret noise and no hum. It's too heavy to wear for 3 sets but I keep it just for recording.
Even had an engineer like it so much he offered to buy it!

+1
Brought a P bass, a Peavey T-40, and a Helix to the studio a while back. Song ended up being dropped down in tuning by the singer and producer so the Peavey T-40 got tuned in drop-D....and it held perfectly, sounded great in the mix, fit the song. After that, it goes to every studio event just in case...and due to it's flexibility in tone.

Agreed on the "too heavy for 3 sets"!!! You quickly learn that T-40 means Tons 40.

 

[jessiejs]

Honestly - unless you're a session musician doing studio recordings for other people, play the bass that gives you the sound and feel that you like. Fret noise is unavoidable to a certain extent (unless you dial it out with the tone knob, but if you do that you lose clarity and tone as well); hand/finger noise is mostly a function of string choice. Hum is a function of single coils but also a function of your power supply, your location, and ambient signals; this is why noise gates exist. A lot of bass recording comes down to good technique and post-processing (gating, multi-band compression, and EQ).

Given what you're recording, you'd probably be okay with a P/J bass of some sort for maximum versatility. In my opinion, it'll do the P thing while giving you more tonal options. You might want a five-string if you're doing R&B and soul stuff - it'll be easier to deal with flat keys, and since it's studio time you can always use a fretwrap to control string ring and harmonics if your muting technique isn't well-developed. That said, it's more important that you play something that you're comfortable with and that you like. Doesn't have to be a P/J.

If you are a session musician, on the other hand - if it were me, I'd get a really nice Jazz and a Musicman, and get a P down the line (or just keep an inexpensive one). I believe that most professional studios (and even non-professional ones) are going to have some kind of P bass on hand for recording purposes when it's needed - something that works well - but the nuances of the Jazz and other bass types are things I'd want to bring to the studio myself. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but if I were a studio musician, this is what I would do.

Hope this helps. Pay attention to recording technique and post-processing.

Awesome information and insight! Thanks so much everyone!!! I'm headed to Guitar Center now to look at my options.

 

[kingforaday]

Glad to see a few mentions for the Peavey T-40!
I’ve used mine loads in recording sessions, on one occasion I turned up with my hofner club as I felt it suited the style more - the engineer looked heartbroken that I hadn’t brought my T-40!

 

[dougjwray]

And here's another vote for a Fender or Squier Precision Bass, with flatwounds strings. I like GHS Precision Flats, for a darker sound and D'Addario Chromes for a brighter sound.
No hum or fret noise with any of these.

 

[bigjames]

In an effort to do more or less what you are describing, I picked up a Sadowsky PJ. I figured I would get the best of both P and J that way and it delivers. I use round wound strings (formerly SS and right now Nickel). I don't have issues with fret noise or anything (unless I want a little noise) and there is no hum.

Now, I am not suggesting you need to go order a customer bass, but maybe you can find a Fender / Squire PJ that would do the trick?

 

[B Dax]

If you can wait another week for the President’s Day sales you should be able to save a lot off of a new Fender Player P bass that already has an alnico pickup and sounds great right out of the box.
Setup to your liking and put some flatwounds on it for a smoother sound.

 

[JW56789]

Jessie I'd only posit this:

A bass that plays great on the bandstand through an amp MAY or MAY NOT record well, as they're usually recorded direct often with nowhere near the tone-shaping that would have happened through the amp and the coloring the room provided. In a recording situation though, a good channel strip or preamp with a recording out may close that gap.

So if possible, I'd try out the bass you're thinking of through your recording process to see where you're at.

 

[GregT]

In my home studio it's usually a Stratocaster with Gen 4 noiseless pickups and a 2012 American Standard Precision with Geezer Butler pickup and TI flats. I can always get a great tone with the Precision. I believe it should be the first studio bass you have, but that wouldn't exclude adding others later. Definitely my choice if I could only have one.

 

[Ric5]

Hi again ladies and gents. I am a musician that did at one point do a lot of gigging but I find myself now doing almost all studio recordings and songwriting. I finally upgraded and got the Fender Strat that I always wanted and my studio recordings are definitely much better. Now, I want to upgrade my bass. Since I was never a regular bass player I never put any money into that other than an old 25 year old Yamaha 4 string and a cheap Harley Benton bass.

Now I want to upgrade my bass. I write mostly R&B, Soul and Country while doing some old Motown covers. What type of bass should I be looking at for recording purposes. I need something with not a lot of fret noise, thats for sure and low hum if thats possible.

Thanks

Jessie

get a 5 string bass