Fatten Up a Live Bass Tone?

[Jason Sypher]

Excuse my naïveté but I’m trying to fatten up the sound of my Fender Jazz for live touring. The record I’m touring has a very fat, active, even sounding bass sound. The guy played an active 5 string. Now I’m trying to catch some of that live. I like my Jazz tone but I wish it was more thick and greasy with more sustain. It might be that I need compression, I’m not really sure. What do y’all think? Right now I’m straight into an Aguilar and mostly IEM. In some ways I’d sacrifice some of the detail and prefer just being smooth and fat in the mix.

 

[XLunacy]

Some dirt / drive, and favouring the neck PU slightly (a bit more fat low mids, a bit less overall scoop) could help.
Also a great EQ is one of the most useful piece of gear you can get (could mostly replace an onboard preamp and give you those tone shaping options, also HPF + lows boosted = a nice way to add thickness without mud)

 

[Parzival]

Compressor and some dirt. Some compressors will even add you a little grit.

 

[Zbysek]

Dirt and HPF

Btw: which Aguilar do you use? In case you use Tone Hammer series, try to increase drive and gain...

 

[themickster]

Excuse my naïveté but I’m trying to fatten up the sound of my Fender Jazz for live touring. The record I’m touring has a very fat, active, even sounding bass sound. The guy played an active 5 string. Now I’m trying to catch some of that live. I like my Jazz tone but I wish it was more thick and greasy with more sustain. It might be that I need compression, I’m not really sure. What do y’all think? Right now I’m straight into an Aguilar and mostly IEM. In some ways I’d sacrifice some of the detail and prefer just being smooth and fat in the mix.

To match the recording, you would need to match the recording gear. Which bass, head, speaker and recording desk was it? You'd also need to match the settings of the mixing and mastering. The rooms you're going to play in will all have their own acoustics, which won't be the same as the recording studio. Don't worry about matching a tone. How you play matters more.

We can't tell how match a sound we've never heard, either.

 

[Alain Bass]

Have a look at the Diamond Bass Compressor. The mid buttom allow you to add some
frequencies without bringing the mud.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/diamond_bass_compressor_eq.htm

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Excuse my naïveté but I’m trying to fatten up the sound of my Fender Jazz for live touring. The record I’m touring has a very fat, active, even sounding bass sound. The guy played an active 5 string. Now I’m trying to catch some of that live. I like my Jazz tone but I wish it was more thick and greasy with more sustain. It might be that I need compression, I’m not really sure. What do y’all think? Right now I’m straight into an Aguilar and mostly IEM. In some ways I’d sacrifice some of the detail and prefer just being smooth and fat in the mix.

Up 40hz

Up 10k

Down everything else

 

[nixdad]

You may want to try restringing with flatwound strings as well. I recommend TI's, as they'll be one for the best equipment investments you'll ever make.

 

[Jason Sypher]

You may want to try restringing with flatwound strings as well. I recommend TI's, as they'll be one for the best equipment investments you'll ever make.
View attachment 5154300

I should have mention I’m rockin flats

 

[dave64o]

Your flats should help get you there. If you want to try pedals, then a low gain drive or a harmonic booster could help, as could a compressor. You could also try setting the tone control lower than where you usually set it.

Most of my basses are active but I recently bought a Sire V5R five string, which is passive. I used it on two gigs so far and, going through my Spaceman Effects Saturn VI harmonic booster and my Becos compressor, it sounds fantastic. Our sound guy, who prefers passive basses and Jazz basses in particular, says it sounded rich and full.

 

[BobDeRosa]

Have you tried using just the neck pickup? On some J basses, that produces a really interesting sound, more like a P.

 

[cymbop]

What you need is a P Bass.

 

[brianrost]

The record I’m touring has a very fat, active, even sounding bass sound. The guy played an active 5 string.

A [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is all you need to get the "active" sound. It's the same circuit that's used in their basses and is recommended by them for passive basses that players don't want to modify (like a vintage Fender). The bass boost is very broad-band. It even thickens up notes on the G string.

There are two models. The original SBP-1 is also a DI (post-EQ) and has both a tuner out and a mute switch. The SBP-2 is a smaller pedal that lacks the XLR out, tuner out and mute switch.

Both models have a footswitch so you can bypass the EQ. The volume knob is actually an attenuator. With both EQ knobs fully CCW, there is no boost and setting the volume fully CW outputs the same level as the bypassed signal. As more EQ boost is dialed in, the volume can be reduced if desired to match the bypassed level.The units can be run off a 9V battery or an outboard supply.

If you don't think the sound is even enough on stage, put a compressor in front of it (as long as the FOH mixer is OK with that).

 

[semiprohooker]

A [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is all you need to get the "active" sound. It's the same circuit that's used in their basses and is recommended by them for passive basses that players don't want to modify (like a vintage Fender). The bass boost is very broad-band. It even thickens up notes on the G string.

There are two models. The original SBP-1 is also a DI (post-EQ) and has both a tuner out and a mute switch. The SBP-2 is a smaller pedal that lacks the XLR out, tuner out and mute switch.

Both models have a footswitch so you can bypass the EQ. The volume knob is actually an attenuator. With both EQ knobs fully CCW, there is no boost and setting the volume fully CW outputs the same level as the bypassed signal. As more EQ boost is dialed in, the volume can be reduced if desired to match the bypassed level.The units can be run off a 9V battery or an outboard supply.

If you don't think the sound is even enough on stage, put a compressor in front of it (as long as the FOH mixer is OK with that).

Came here to say that fat and jazz means Sadowsky to me. Outboard or onboard Preamp you'll be able to get a fat, thick tone out of your jazz with one.

 

[shwashwa]

Link Removed

this pedal is magic

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

You IEM mix is probably very different from the FOH sound.

If you change something in your signal chain the engineer will have to be informed and adjust consequently.

Just start by tweaking your IEM eq before buying anything.

 

[bherman]

I’m very happy with the SushiBox More pedal. I’ve tried tons of different overdrive pedals, I was looking for a bit fatter, deeper sound without any fuzz. This one is always on for me now.

 

[Klangfarbe]

Which band\ record? Any examples or Links?
Would be easier to give advice when we knew what we are heading for?

 

[Killing Floor]

Tube preamp. Compressor. Gain and warmth on tap.

 

[Blue Swede]

Excuse my naïveté but I’m trying to fatten up the sound of my Fender Jazz for live touring. The record I’m touring has a very fat, active, even sounding bass sound. The guy played an active 5 string. Now I’m trying to catch some of that live. I like my Jazz tone but I wish it was more thick and greasy with more sustain. It might be that I need compression, I’m not really sure. What do y’all think? Right now I’m straight into an Aguilar and mostly IEM. In some ways I’d sacrifice some of the detail and prefer just being smooth and fat in the mix.

Do you go straight from amp to mixer?
Does your IEM come from mixer?

If so you can on many digital mixers compress (preferably a multi band comp for 5 string IMO) and eq differently on IEM mix than FOH mix. Ask your engineer/band mates to help you out here, make sure you all play together while setting it up. Keep in mind that your earphones frequency response will influence what you hear by a lot with IEM.

If your IEM is only your bass, then have a separate signal from amp to IEM mixer with maybe eq(including hpf/lpf) and comp for your own mix.

Only way to find it is to experiment as all the variables in your gear will influence the results.

good luck