P bass sounds terrible

[Killing Floor]

Based on above I wonder if your gain is too high? Maybe that's why the signal is distorting? Could you play through a preamp and have that output level lower? Or do you have a compression pedal to try?
An SM57 is a great mic for an amp.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

“Facts” like this are posted all the time, with no actual backing. I’m sure in the 50’s and 60’, When Fenders were the only real game in town, that they had a huge share of the market in the USA (There are many counter examples elsewhere, including Mr McCartney) but nowadays? I wouldn’t argue if you said that most studio guys have a P in their collections, but as to the percentage of use…until someone does real research, it’s all hearsay to me.

Another Fender hater? Within in the last 6 months, I was doing some recording. I had taken my G&L SB2-T, My G&L Lb100, A Fender J, and in Ibby 5er. I took my P select and the audio guy, who owns the studio, said, "I see you finally showed up with a good bass."
I will say, they seem, in my experience, to like the P because it is familiar territory and makes their job easier.
But I do agree 90% of all statistics are made up.

 

[mike buzzetti]

record both basses same licks or groove , put them on a spectrum analyzer and compare the EQ then EQ it , or just EQ it until it sits in the mix, actually it sounds like you just need to cut some lows mid lows , many times KIK and Bass will cause MUD cut the low eq on the bass.

 

[waynobass]

Flatwound strings (La Bella/TI)

Try nickel rounds. They will sparkle rather than fart.

And keep the tone knob dimed.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Try lowering the pickup....play around with the EQ down low, dont be shy!

 

[Chrisk-K]

Making the P sound bad in recording is one of the toughest jobs in music.

 

[GodPlayedBass]

Get a preamp pedal bro.

 

[Leif Dering]

In my experience you usually want the tone nob pushed a little more than usual, and I almost always play with my EQ flat, but in the studio I found that boosting the mids added some clarity; this was when it was strung with La Bella flats. Hope this helps.

 

[Obese Chess]

DI bass almost never sounds good, unfortunately. The FM3 not recording well is interesting to me, you may just need to tweak settings on it as it will likely not be the same settings you use live.

 

[AGCurry]

DI bass almost never sounds good, unfortunately.

Hmm. I guess the majority of recorded bass guitar must not sound good.

 

[drumvsbass]

P bass sounds terrible...

Not to be funny, it's supposed to.

 

[39-Bassist]

Thanks all. Answers below.



Fender Rumble 500 head, or my Fractal FM3 into a power amp. Both have the option to go direct out.



My interface is either a Behringer UMC404HD with a built-in Midas preamp (at home), the Fractal FM3 which can record either via USB or by sending audio to the interface, or the Sansamp DI with and without speaker emulation. I've also recently recorded into a bandmate's Behringer X32. All versions sound a little farty in the mix and it's been challenging to dial that out. We always end up switching bass guitars which works for the song but it'd be nice to know how to work this P into a good recorded sound.

I would try di out of head pre eq...you never know....I did for my last few CD's and they sounded great. Worth a try...good luck

 

[Uncle Walt]

"Fat", "bloated", "mushy" and "takes up way too much sonic space" are all descriptions of bad EQ.
Generally in the 200-440 Hz range, here's a link to a post with some EQ guidelines that will likely address those issues. Try throwing a preamp with a semi-perimetric EQ in front of your DI (Broughton StudioOne, JHS ColorBox, EBS Micobass, etc). You might also find that if you are recording direct only that adding a nice tube-based DI will make a world of difference for a Pbass.

You also said that the dynamics are inconsistent, there are a couple of causes for this
1. You need better compression
2. Your setup is bad and your volume isn't balanced across your strings (ie pickup height, intonation, action, etc.)
3. Your technique is inconsistent (but it couldn't be that, so it has to be one of the other two )

Hope that helps.

 

[Obese Chess]

Hmm. I guess the majority of recorded bass guitar must not sound good.

Before being processed? Absolutely not. Going direct from the bass into the board or the DAW or whatever sounds bad. The magic is what you do in between or after the fact.

 

[Sam Reese]

I generally roll it down to about 6, to where there's just a hint of the high end./QUOTE]
Run it at 10 because those highs will get lost in the mix. I have a bass with similar features (pickup, flatwounds; it's a cheap 25 year old MIM I scored from GC right before the damdemic) and it records fine, the exception is I run it into an Avalon U5.

Edit; I don't know why my post looks so funky?

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I always put new strings on before a recording session, could it be that? I also always keep the volume, and almost always the tone knobs all the way up.

 

[BassFalcon]

If the live sound is that good, maybe mic your cab.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Helpful tips here:

Some for the engineer, some for you.

P-Basses are pretty easy to record, so it's probably not you.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

I wouldn’t EQ or compress the sound until everything is recorded. If you do, it would be very light because there will be a lot of manipulation later.

you want a raw sound in your daw so you can mod it to fit according to the guitar and the drum.

 

[GreyBeard]

Sounds like you need a HP filter on the bass track.