First thread EVER about a P bass not working in the studio.
My suggestion is a different producer.
+1, he has some issues. For one, his method of communication with the bass player, using a term that has several semantic uses, attack as pertained to ADSR envelope?(audio engineering 101) Attack as pertained to the physical act of striking the strings? (Technique) or attack as to any number of "common sense" logic influenced, incorrect uses of the term (ahem TALKBASS/players who are not also actual engineers and/or are self taught/improperly taught regarding techniques and the actual terms to describe them, again "common sense" logic) such as "attack means more treble" "attack means more bass" "attack means more low mids" "attack means grindy mids" "attack means use overdrive"....um no, that's what attack means to you and your buddies.
An experienced producer would have told OP exactly what he needed to do to achieve the tone he (the producer) wanted. It was not a one thing issue, but the fact that the producer didn't ask " what type of strings are you using and how long since you changed them?" Says novels about how "green" this producer is. A good producer will diagnose playing technique and then make suggestions that address the issues without overwhelming the player or being condescending (but sometimes the solution involves having someone else lay down the track).
A good producer will hand you a pack of strings and say, restring this and let's try it, rather than waste time trying to fix the issue with eq and compression. Eq and compression on the "board" end/digital domain, are to make it sit in the mix, not to totally shape the sound/envelope. That is McDemo studio logic, no time to do it right, "we'll fix it in the mix, I watched YouTube videos on how to eq and compress the bass, don't worry, I got you bro!" ("McDemo ©1998 ubernator). Only McDemo "producers" (usually 2nd rate "engineers" with more money than talent, it takes money to have a studio built and buy gear, but money can't buy talent/experience), operate in this manner, which is not conducive to a good final product)
An Experienced producer will not waste time tracking dead bass strings unless that is the desired effect (p with flats/Motown/sludge/1970 geezer tone etc). An experienced producer knows how to deal with zingy strings, (cut, not boost, audio engineering 101) and will not suggest chicken grease or barbeque sauce. Most major label albums took several sets of fresh strings to achieve (DNA soaked clean strings can be rotated to save money on more realistic budgets, but since it takes 24 hrs this only applies to album length sessions over several days/weeks.)
A good producer makes sure your bass is properly set up and intonated, intonation will be adjusted through out the session as the strings stretch etc...
A good producer knows to address the way the bass player dials in his preamp/amp/effects/dynamics, and when to say, "sorry bro, you need to take that/those pedal(s) out of the chain". A good producer understands the concept of maximizing signal to noise levels via preamp gain, rather than " work around " the way the bass player likes to dial in his amp, which in 90% of the time is not the best way for proper gain structure (same with skinnys but 90% of them is a lot more people than 90% of us). For rock, this usually means running the input stage of the amp right before clipping or into light clipping, NOT gain down and master up, using the gain as the volume (proper bass amp use 101).
A good producer knows that dynamics are NOT your friend. A good producer does not want a "dynamic" bass player, a good producer wants a consistent "attack" (technique), not each note at a different volume when driving a rock song. The bast compliment a good producer can give a bass player is to allow him to use his fingers. A little known fact, when a producer requests a pick where you normally would finger, it means you don't have a consistent attack. Rick Allen from def leppard was quoted saying "I play with a pick because my attack is not consistent all over the neck and the producer would go crazy trying to compress me if I used my fingers.
This is where the " dig in " guys are in the right and the finesse guys are in the wrong, unless they are VERRRY good. For rock it is better to dig in and have strong fingers and calluses or use a pick. Finesse and dynamic playing have their place, but not there. Semantically, dynamic does not mean punchy and in your face, it means having parts all over the volume spectrum, playing soft on one part and then exploding on another. Classical music has a wide dynamic range, most rock has a very narrow range, and the entire mix is compressed in mastering.
A good rock producer does not just DI a bass, or stick a mic on a bass amp. A good producer takes a mix of DI, clean solid state (or tube) bass amp miked up, AND an overdriven tube amp (bassman/Marshall) to get the sound, rather than try to get it all from one amp or direct into a modeler. (Reamping is for the best of the best session players who cost so much per hour that it is only feasable to record the performance DI and then figure out the tone later, which requires that they have perfect dynamics control, which is why they get the big bucks). In the real world, get the tone to tape, the amps and high end DIs are a big part of the tone.
Most good producers are also good bass players and vice versa, they go hand in hand. Many good audio engineers live and studio are also good bass players.
This is what attack is:
The V stands for volume.
Attack has nothing to do with tone.
Everything comes into play, bad technique equals bad tone, no matter how good the bass and amp are. But I see what you ate trying to say. This is audio engineering 101, ADSR envelope. When a bass player is concerned, the waveform is directly affected by the players physical attack, which is also further altered by the use of pick, finger ( pizzicato, rake, drag, pop, pluck, tap) or thumb (slap, pluck) etc... In synthesis, this is done electronically, bass players do it mechanically, and electromangnetically via the pickup/gain stage/power stage/mechanical stage(speaker/mic) before going into the engineers gain stages.
And again, tone is in the fingers, even when they hold a pick. The physical attack of the string has a huge effect on tone. When someone tells you "pick changes attack not tone" they are only correct in an over anylitical technical semantic argument. In reality, the low end response is different between a pick and a fleshy finger with a slower attack. If the low end is not part of the "tone", then I don't know what " tone" is. Listen to engineers, not guitar players. Guitar players are guilty of the worst misuse of all of these terms.
Swap the pressurewounds for stainless steel. Also, forget the pick. The thing with picks is that they don't have enough low end. Go for a more aggressive finger style (kinda like Geddy), much more powerful.
If all this fails, them go for a pedal.
the padawan was correct that fingers have more low end, but you can still use a pick and turn up the lows on the amp.
Reliance on pedals is the path to the dark side. First learn to control the force, feel it flowing through your fingers. Pedals can be used incorrectly or have crappy signal flow. $$$$$ boutique true bypass pedals still need knowledge of gain structure to properly operate. And even most of those pedals can't hold a candle to $1500 per channel dynamics processors used in good studios. When all else fails, have a good producer and listen to him. Yes, to obi wan you listen, remember your failure in the man cave project studio
