DTFs or Chromes for recording?

[manchego_eggo]

hey, I've got a recording session coming up next week and my bass is currently wearing 2 week old DTFs and Im wondering if theyd be the best choice for recording or. the style is like 90s grunge/rock (listen to a live sample here), so I was thinking Chromes may be a better pick due to their brightness. I also have a well worn in set of sunbeams laying around, which is a dark horse pick. what yall think?

 

[michael_t]

What specific bass?

 

[manchego_eggo]

What specific bass?

pj bass with a 50s style p pup and Duncan apollo jazz bridge pup.

 

[Yahboy]

How about Cobalt flat ??? Sure you need roll back the tone knob.

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hey, I've got a recording session coming up next week and my bass is currently wearing 2 week old DTFs and Im wondering if theyd be the best choice for recording or. the style is like 90s grunge/rock (listen to a live sample here), so I was thinking Chromes may be a better pick due to their brightness. I also have a well worn in set of sunbeams laying around, which is a dark horse pick. what yall think?

 

[Five or Six]

Honestly, you won't really know until you hear a recording? I know, no help, sorry.

 

[TomB]

IME, two week old DTF’s are still pretty bright. I actually did that recently for a folk/rock project using a ‘61 P-bass and everybody was pleased.

Edit: Note that I said folk/rock originals, not grunge .

 

[burgerdj]

Nothing says grunge more than a good set of broken in nickel rounds. I can’t imagine flats ever crossed my mind back in the blur of the 90s.

 

[Nuisance]

Nothing says grunge more than a good set of broken in nickel rounds. I can’t imagine flats ever crossed my mind back in the blur of the 90s.

This.

 

[manchego_eggo]

How about Cobalt flat ??? Sure you need roll back the tone knob.

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I like cobalts but I had them on this bass for a while and didnt feel like they were sitting well in the mix for whatever reason

Nothing says grunge more than a good set of broken in nickel rounds. I can’t imagine flats ever crossed my mind back in the blur of the 90s.

it's the obvious answer right? which is why I'm questioning it for fear of being too derivative.

 

[iTzPrime]

Hard to say without the music being known, but generally new steels or if you want it mellower new nickel strings are great for recording. It is a lot easier to cut out frequencies than it is to add them.

 

[Killing Floor]

You should record with TI flats because I like them.

 

[LowendG]

IMO you should bring a bass with flats and a bass with rounds to the session. Borrow or rent another P. I can't imagine going into a session with only one bass unless you're absolutely 1000% certain that's the sound that's gonna work because you've used it before on the same music (and even then ya never really know 'til ya get in there). If they have a house bass, find out what it's strung with and do something different with your sole bass you're bringing so you have at least two options.

 

[Freekmagnet]

Normally, I'd say DTF's all the way, but for a 90's "grunge" band, I'd go with the rounds.

I never liked Chromes. I think the only reason(s) people buy them is because they're cheap and they usually the only flats you can get at Guitar Center.

 

[manchego_eggo]

Hard to say without the music being known, but generally new steels or if you want it mellower new nickel strings are great for recording. It is a lot easier to cut out frequencies than it is to add them.

theres a link to some live versions of songs well be recording in the original post.

IMO you should bring a bass with flats and a bass with rounds to the session. Borrow or rent another P. I can't imagine going into a session with only one bass unless you're absolutely 1000% certain that's the sound that's gonna work because you've used it before on the same music (and even then ya never really know 'til ya get in there). If they have a house bass, find out what it's strung with and do something different with your sole bass you're bringing so you have at least two options.

i have a stingray 5 with rounds I could bring too that be the best of both worlds but im not used to playing the songs on the 5.

 

[LowendG]

theres a link to some live versions of songs well be recording in the original post.


i have a stingray 5 with rounds I could bring too that be the best of both worlds but im not used to playing the songs on the 5.

Dude, bring it! You can never have too many options in the studio! You can just ignore the B string but also, maybe you'll have a tune where it turns out some extra low notes are the ticket once you start tracking, hearing playback. It doesn't all have to be exactly what you would do live.

 

[MDBass]

hey, I've got a recording session coming up next week and my bass is currently wearing 2 week old DTFs and Im wondering if theyd be the best choice for recording or. the style is like 90s grunge/rock (listen to a live sample here), so I was thinking Chromes may be a better pick due to their brightness. I also have a well worn in set of sunbeams laying around, which is a dark horse pick. what yall think?

I like cobalts but I had them on this bass for a while and didnt feel like they were sitting well in the mix for whatever reason



it's the obvious answer right? which is why I'm questioning it for fear of being too derivative.

That’s like worrying about using an SM57 on the snare because it’s “too derivative”…or a hammer to hammer a nail in instead of the ass end of a screwdriver

CAN you use the totally wrong tool for the job and still get it done? Sure.

But why would you if you have the right tool available to you?

As an engineer, it would literally be my job to tell a bassist to use different strings or a different bass if they showed up to a session with a bass strung with flat wounds wanting to sound like Novoselic on In Utero.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

This is why I have a bass with flats and another with rounds. For grunge I would go pick with new rotosound swing bass 66’s

 

[Mastermold]

hey, I've got a recording session coming up next week and my bass is currently wearing 2 week old DTFs and Im wondering if theyd be the best choice for recording or. the style is like 90s grunge/rock (listen to a live sample here), so I was thinking Chromes may be a better pick due to their brightness. I also have a well worn in set of sunbeams laying around, which is a dark horse pick. what yall think?

Two week old DTFs are still going to be pretty bright but I wouldn't use flats for grunge. I recorded just a few months ago with two basses, a '64 P-bass with old Chromes and a newer Jazz with very old (15 year old) DTFs. Both sounded good for the purposes I was using them for, but I wouldn't use either for grunge.

 

[HaphAsSard]

New Chromes, on the other hand, may be perfectly cromulent.

 

[manchego_eggo]

New Chromes, on the other hand, may be perfectly cromulent.

I was thinking this could either be the best of both worlds with the tone knob or a compromise that fails both ways.