Same w my Jerry Jones Longhorn, same design. They do a "sit in the mix" thing not unlike a P, but there's something really unique about them. They certainly sound "bigger than they look"! I gotta get somebody to build me a five string one.....
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Best bass you've ever recorded with
- Thread starter Rdore2000
- Start date
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- alembic 4 alembic epic
Carvin LB50 (1982) and Schecter Studio that was dubbed the cutting board because of it's natural finish. Both have great mids that cut.
My 65 Jazz. If I need anything different, I grab my Parts P or my Squier Rascal.
Basvarken
Commercial User
- Dec 3, 2010
- 1,744
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- Hobby Luthier / Gibson Bass Book
Hands down my 1969 Gibson Les Paul Bass.
It was basically designed for recording. The low impedance pickups are ideal for plugging straight into the desk.
It is featured on four albums that I play bass on.
It was basically designed for recording. The low impedance pickups are ideal for plugging straight into the desk.
It is featured on four albums that I play bass on.
I dunno about "best" necessarily, but the one that caught the engineer most by surprise is my old Rickenbacker 4003. I brought that and a P Bass to a session, and always default to the Rick. If/when the engineer says he wants that P sound, I have it on hand. Anyways, I take the first pass of a song with the Ricky, and after the engineer said it sat perfect, just like he expected. Then he asked if I wanted a pass on the 4003! When I told him that's what I tracked with, he nearly fell out of his chair LOL.
"Never heard anybody make a Rick thump like that before. Didn't realize they sounded like that" was all he was able to conjure in reply.
"Never heard anybody make a Rick thump like that before. Didn't realize they sounded like that" was all he was able to conjure in reply.
I have recorded in the studio a few times. Mostly electric bass. A few times with upright. I guess the best bass I've ever recorded with is the one right for the song. Sometimes you make a best assessment about what you think, hear or envision and you go with it when you load up the car with a select X number of basses to go out to the studio. Then you find hopefully on repeated listens that the right tones and the right parts played remain the right thing on repeated listening in hindsight. That luckily seems to be the case, in my case.
I don't have particularly expensive basses, with the exception of one EBMM Stingray HH 5-string, but whatever I've recorded with has worked out.
My opinion is that aside from having a bass that doesn't have recording-specific issues (grounding/electrical issues, noisy pots, dirty input jack, etc...) the best bass can be anything that meets the bar of well-prepared basses.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
Interestingly, I did some recording remotely, and started with my Alembic'ed Starfire and the producer said I wasn't playing the part right. Next, I used an Alembic Series I and again, the producer said I wasn't playing the part right. Finally, I used a Fender Jazz, playing exactly the same part, and the producer said I nailed it. Some people can't hear anything but a Fender bass on a recording. I thought the other basses sounded really good, but I had to please the producer.
In the mid 80's it was a Steinberger XL and since then a 72 Fender PB and a 65 Fender JB . Those basses are long gone now , so I have to go with my Sadowsky Will Lee.........truthfully , all my basses sound good .
80's Moon JJ-4 with EMGs is by far the bass of mine that sounds like a record. I don't keep a bass if it doesn't record well, but the Moon is on another level.
This one gets compliments every single time and has never dissapointed,
I've had and still own a few great recording basses but I think the best ever was owned by the producer on a session I did almost 20 years ago. He had a vintage 7ender J (burgundy mist!) that had gotten the full Sadowsky treatment. I could tell when I picked it up that it was special and it played and sounded incredible.
Interesting to me that most posts here (my own included) are clearly biased toward the poster's own instruments. Basically amounting to a thread of "post here if you think your bass sounds good".
The truth is, most of the time a player brings their own instrument to a recording session, the engineer or producer won't say anything so long as the instrument isn't obviously bad or completely wrong for the record. This is because the player/performance are what matters most, and if a player is comfortable, they'll be more likely to play well. And to that end, I vividly recall a session early in my career where the hired player had an emergency and called in another bassist to sub. The bassist they called was Willie Weeks. And Willie played the original bassist's gear and sounded so different that I would never have believed it was the same instrument/recording chain had I not been in the room.
The truth is, most of the time a player brings their own instrument to a recording session, the engineer or producer won't say anything so long as the instrument isn't obviously bad or completely wrong for the record. This is because the player/performance are what matters most, and if a player is comfortable, they'll be more likely to play well. And to that end, I vividly recall a session early in my career where the hired player had an emergency and called in another bassist to sub. The bassist they called was Willie Weeks. And Willie played the original bassist's gear and sounded so different that I would never have believed it was the same instrument/recording chain had I not been in the room.
I used to use the OG Sadowsky outboard pre on everything...my BB1200, 90's Am Pbass, 60's Dano, you-name it. People loved it. I later had an early Metroline J--that Sadowsky pre does a special thing--your bass sounds "produced". These days I don't record w/o my Xotic RC (I only use passive basses). Gets me a similar result--that extra heft, clarity, and polish. It's a "I gotta get me one of those" pedals when producers and engineers check it out.
Here a pic of me 20 years ago recording my Alembic Europa 5 String w/ Series I electronics in the studio. We did a 10 song CD and the Alembic was amazing.
Bones
