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New Pickups or New Bass?

Technotitclan

Technotitclan

Lurking TB from work
Mar 1, 2012
1,028
204
Rochester, NY
#1
So my guitarist has a cheap Dean 4 string that he doesn't like the tone of. His issue is essentially that it doesn't sound bright enough. Its very dark and just a little muddy. We have changed the pickup a couple of times to something brighter than stock but its still not cutting it. As it is I am seeing two issues with this bass
1: The only pickup it has is closer to the neck than any of the basses he likes, which I will list below.
2: acoustically the bass is very dark sounding. Normally I'm the type that claims that wood makes only a little bit of a difference, but this thing..... I have played a good number of basses all of a extremely wide variety of woods but this thing is nothing like any of them. It sucks the highs completely out of the strings. He currently has ProSteels on it and they sound like broken in nickles!

My question for the collective greatness that is TB... Is there a hyper bright pickup he can get that may negate this basses issues or does he need to suck it up and get a new bass? I kinda feel I already know the answer. Just hoping someone can offer up a pickup option as hes super stingy and probably won't buy another bass and I don't want to go into the details of the terrible things he does to record with a sound he wants.

Basses he likes in order: Squier P Bass Special (Squier MB-4) Ibanez SR500, Musicman single H with two band eq.
 
#3
Passive. I think your right about a pre. As far as the amp eq... I can get an ok sound, but my guitarist....... He doesn't pug into an actual amp when at home, he uses Amplitube. And he uses the most convoluted use of amps, cabs and graphic eq's to change sounds, then uses additional VST's in Ableton to further modify the sound. He does this on guitar too. I think his normal signal chain in Amplitube is eq pedal>bass amp with 9 band graphic(He uses all 9 bands, btw)>2 cabs of different types>15 band eq>Ableton>compressor>another eq.

The point i'm getting to is i think its best to get the sound he needs direct from the bass without amp intervention. I can get somewhat close to the sound he wants but he finds it impossible to get on his own.
 
#4
Too many variables affect the sound to name just one as the culprit for being "too dark". My first bit of advice is NEW STRINGS, if it's still muddy, try a decent setup and raising the pups closer to the strings if the knobs aren't very responsive.

My first bass was a dean from the 90's...I absolutely hated it but I didn't know what to compare it to at the time. I never thought it was too dark by any means though.

Personally I could point out a dozen other budget basses that are built better and sound better than almost every dean I've come in contact with. I wouldn't put any serious dough into it unless it has sentimental value or plays really well.

Just my 2 cents :)
 
#5
Can't believe I forgot new strings!! brand spanking new strings will brighten up the sound a lot also invest in some fretboard cleaner (I use GHS Fastfret) to keep the strings brighter for longer. That is quite the signal chain! IMHO I think that there is too much there...and 4 different EQ's may work against or cancel each other out. I would start again with just direct bass and add things one by one as needed to try and get the sound you need, less is more!
 
#7
We thought of the new strings thing. It has a fresh set of D'Addario ProSteels and still sounds dark. I agree a different bass is the best option here but he won't dish out the $99 for used Squier that I know will be better. I'm really just doing him a favor by trying to find cheap options for modification. I predict that I'll just be telling him the same thing I always said, which is change your technique and buy a different bass.
 
#8
Thanks guys. The signal path is a whole other beast. I've explained his issues with signal a hundred times and even given him documentation not only proving what he is doing is terrible but showing other options and I always get the same result "I can't get it to sound good any other way" I've given up on helping him with the signal. I'm only helping advise him on the bass itself because it doesn't sound right even when I play it.
 
#16
staindbass said:
if it sounds dark acoustically, it may never do what you want...
Click to expand...
+1. I'd go so far as to say it definitely will NEVER do what you want. Some basses just want to be dark. Embrace it, or move on. And you can't always predict it either. Case in point: My custom ordered, all-maple neck-through Thunderbass with ebony board and active electronics. Darkest sounding bass I've ever owned, plugged in or not.
 
#17
If he has Amplitube he might be able to split his signal the way that Doug Pinnick does: sending the highs through a guitar amp and everything else through a bass amp (Doug uses a Traynor YBA-1, but he could run the highs through the Bassman for a similar sound). Probably won't solve the base problem, (heh), but it might simplify his signal chain a bit.
 
#18
David Jayne said:
+1. I'd go so far as to say it definitely will NEVER do what you want. Some basses just want to be dark. Embrace it, or move on. And you can't always predict it either. Case in point: My custom ordered, all-maple neck-through Thunderbass with ebony board and active electronics. Darkest sounding bass I've ever owned, plugged in or not.
Click to expand...

I do agree with you and Johnny. If it were my bass I would sell it to someone looking for that sound because it definitely nails the deep, dark sound some people really want. Because its not mine and I know there is only a 5% chance he will actually buy a new one i figured I would ask the question about modding.
 

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