Getting a good soul sound

It's all about the approach and technique. In your hands, and in your head.

 

try some flats, silly!

 

LOL
Yes, indeed. What he said.

 

In leiu of using flats, I've found that I need to roll off the mids sometimes <0 on my active Jazzes, though I not a big fan of "scooped" sound, it hits the pre a bit easier giving a big-headroom smooth sound.

Palm-muting (or physically muting) the strings helps bring out "that sound"

But the main thing I do to go into pure Motown mode is I switch to using my thumb, which is also easier when I'm palm muting. I think that wide attach area, played away from the bridge, with a bit of palm muting, and a tube amp, gets me right to "Just My Imagination". For faster bits, I still use my fingers from the same position, but with the muting (and the tubes, I believe), I get this really nice punch when I do that really defines the note while preserving the buttery sound.

 

+1 on the muting. Try using a small piece of foam near the bridge. Adjust as necessary.

 

You might also want to turn down the tone knob. Playing in 5-9th positions also helps.


ian

 

Flats is the first step. I played in many soul band with a P bass and LaBella flats -- very heavy flats. Ran the bass wide open tone & volume. With a JAzz, I might roll back the treble a bit and maybe even roll back the bridge PUP if you can do so without adding noise.

 

Flats + flat EQ (maybe a little bass bump).
Micro-tweezed tones did not exist back then; do not over-think.
But since most of the tone is from your hands, if they say "psych-prog rock", then that's what you'll sound like.

 

1 - Use flats.

2 - Get a bridge cover and put some felt or sponge under it to partially mute the strings.

3 - Roll off 60-90% of the treble.

4 - Pluck or pick--I think you can do both--up near the end of the fretboard.

5 - Experiment carefully with the EQ on your preamp/head.

6 - If you decide to spend more money on this project someday, get a pair of Acme Low B-2 cabinets or a Bergantino NV 215 or NV412.

Bluesy Soul

 

Nobody said turn down the volumes on the bass? OK, turn down the volumes on the bass, to halfway or a little more. That will fatten it up, a lot.

 

+1 Turn down the bass itself and turn up the amp to compensate.