WOOT!We recently received both the P and J versions of the Players Series in for review, and I am definitely digging them!
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
If you're done with them I'll PM my address. Just bill me for the shipping.We recently received both the P and J versions of the Players Series in for review, and I am definitely digging them!
Among other things, but yes indeed. Experiment and find out. One thing successful studio bass players do is find their sonic space so they can sit comfortably in the mix like a voice in a chorus.
Two prominent bass players that stand out are Chris Squire and Geddy Lee that cut through with a loud lead bass style. Then there are such slappers as: Victor Wooten; Marcus Miller, and Flea. That requires a completely different approach. Tone Sculpting is Fun, and I Love it! There is some tone discussion in the Rumble Talks which I am sure you have read already.
You know you read a lot of bass players complaining about not being able to 'cut through the mix', but you never (or at least I haven't) heard of any asking how to sit properly in the mix. If you listen to: Motown; or Stax, or Chess, or any of the Wrecking Crew recordings you hear various bass players sitting perfectly in the mix. Paul McCartney of The Beatles too unless George Martin decided to make the bass line more prominent during the final mix. Listen to any of the live Sting's 60 Birthday Tour videos and hear just how perfectly he sits in the mix and so well defined too. It's amazing. There are plenty of other good examples too.
While I'm busy talking to myself, here's an excellent example of grooving in the pocket; sitting in the mix, all while being the engine driving the entire tune with total definition. Perfect As Perfect gets. Only an idiot would try to cut through this mix. Rocco Prestia with Tower of Power: What Is Hip
Sitting in the mix; finger funking the groove, driving & punching
Carving out sonic space is so addictive. I really wish all musicians talked about this more.
Tonight was jam night with the guys. Guitarist brought his Gretch hollowbody with 2 year old flats. I brought my SR with 4 year old flats that I make sound like a P bass as best I can. Both of us sat perfectly within our own sonic space, and what's really cool is how much this let the drums breathe.
During "Pride and Joy" the ride was flowing (not cutting) through the whole room and mix. The crash' were pretty cutting and a bit harsh though, even with a better seal on my earplugs then normal.
And so long as we were volume balanced (and we were most of the time, I was the one pushing the band louder this week so I could get some air moving, the Rumble is insanely loud with a high output bass) every note we played was audible regardless of what the other person was doing.
So yeah I'm with you more people should discover their sonic space. Which probably means ditching the roundwounds and shaping ones tone around a band-first mentality.
Those were great examples you posted too!
Thank You @BBassBassington. I was thinking what would be a good example of sitting in the mix that was well recorded and sounded good with a seriously dense mix of varied instrumentation. Had to be Rocco and Tower of Power!
Why, Thank you!!I recently bought a new 500C, and I`m just getting used to it...By experience, it seems that whatever"perfect" setting you get at home it`s almost always different when you get to a gig..I`m not really sure if it`s my ears and/ placement of the amp in a particular venue, but I thought that mid set the sound was changing with a volume drop and then coming back..It was on the floor in this venue, so I wonder if it was coupling ..I bought a higher stand to lift and tilt back so I`ll be able to hear it better...I`m playing an outside gig tomorrow night so I`ll have it right behind me.
I`ll post up a pic as soon as I take one tomorrow..
John
It is something to strive toward. Just like understanding a handful of basic acoustic principles helps you to understand your global sound and room setup. Before you jump into serious tone sculpting, you need to have a firm grasp on the tone shaping capabilities of your on board four band EQ. It's disheartening when people won't even experiment on their own, or read what's available at their finger tips much less do some research on their own. Still, enlightenment is the goal.
Like Linnin said..., it is groovy Fender magic. It is one funky sounding beast. I am thrilled. The Bongo was refined and subdued. This is a clanky, thumping and growling wild animal. Kind of like my wife. Lol. I am very n love
The rooms acoustics play a big part in this. That volume drop could have occurred when there was more people in the room to dampen more of the sound. Ears also adjust, and different songs may leave different sonic spaces or step into yours. Music is dynamic and thus our relative tone will change throughout sets or even songs.
There's some basics posted over the last few pages, and the search bar/Google for the rest. I too plan on reading more on this, as my Rumble seemed to be the beginning of my journey of how to sculpt tone properly, and I'm still in the beginning.
Don't worry about reproducing that perfect tone with your knobs. During sound check your ears should help guide you. It's good to know what characterizes a good tone, what you want your bass to sound like, and how to sit in the mix with your particular band. The better a grasp you've got of that the more easily you can identify not just what your tone is lacking but how to fix it.
I'd love to give more detailed advice but I probably know more about slap bass then I do tone sculpting, and outside of octavy-triplet things I know basically nothing about slap bass.
Fenders do really groove in a way that other designs just don't seem to.
I've never had the pleasure of playing a Bongo. The demos I've heard it does sound too refined though. Looks super cool, but sound (and price) wise not my thing.
Glad to hear your Jazz bass is full of character! They're very responsive instruments with a surprising number of tones on tap. I wish you two many years of musical bliss!
