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P gets buried live.

taught

taught

Jan 5, 2015
144
229
37
Hungary
#1
Ok so I've got a Squier VM 70's Jazz bass (with SPB-1s) for years. Dig it, love it, my piece of heart my mainest main bass of all.

Recently I got Squier CV 70's P bass and I dropped SPB-3 in it. My problem is that it just gets buried waaaay down when I am playing with my band live which does NOT happen with my beloved J bass and it does NOT happen with the P when recording songs with the same guys. If I had to describe our genre then I would say it is garage rock paced music that has melody like Foo Fighters.

Currently I play through an Ampeg Classic Preamp (https://ampeg.com/products/pedals/classic/) which goes into an Ashdown MAG300 EVOII that drives an Ashdown MAG 410.

I tried to tweak the EQ but I never managed to cut through the mix with an acceptable tone. I attached a picture of my amp so you can see what options I have EQ wise.

On the Ampeg preamp I always turn the gain and bass to 1 o'clock and everything else is at 12. Maybe I boost trebles here and there but that's all. Gain boost gives my tone clarity, punch and dirt while bass gives... well... bass!

On the amp I tried (with compression always on at 11 and sub-harmonics always off):
- Cutting low mid and boosting high mid - so far this is the most efficient
- Boosting mid and high mid
- Bossting low mid, mid and high mid
- Cutting highs, boost low and low mid

I play fingerstyle and I don't plan to play slap/pick. I always play around with the force of plucking so a lot of times I play palm muted and another lot of times I pluck so hard that every jazz musician would turn their heads away with disgust.
Of course the goal is to cut through when plucking normally/hard.

I am open to every advice!
 

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#3
Dragan said:
From what l've heard about spb3, it can be a reason. Funny thing l had Nate Mendell sig pbass with l think, very same pickup, and at home it roared and l thought this thing will kill live. But l didnt like the feel of a neck and l never get it on stage and sold it in no time.
Anyway, my advice would be another pick up for sure. Nordstrand should do the job.
Click to expand...

I heard the same things. I still have the stock pickups and I would put them back that's for sure so I can see if things get any better.
 
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#4
I'm not a fan of SPB-3 pickups. I bought a used MIM Fender P bass a few years ago that someone had modded by adding a SPB-3. The pickup "upgrade" played a big part in me buying the bass. I used it at about 1-2 months worth of practices and only one gig and that was it. Sold it shortly thereafter. Big disappointment.

I did some reading up on the SPB-3 around that time and ran across some negative feedback about how it gets lost and buried in the mix. That was my experience with it, too, in the limited time I had one.
 
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#5
If the tone the guitarists in your rock band are using swamps your sonic space then there is not a lot you can do, other than move to another frequency or play so loud you swamp them. A P bass works well in many situations, but maybe you've found a place where it doesn't.

Keep the P bass for the times when it works other than that I'd go back to using your Jazz in this band.
 
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#6
Definitely not a fan of scooped SPB-3. I had one too and it's just not a true P bass tone imo. If I didn't want mids, I wouldn't play a P lol. I'd recommend EMG GZR, I never get lost in the mix with that pup and we play LOUD rock, trust me, we're infamous for it here. J never worked that well for me, too scooped with both pups up and favoring any other pup just didn't do it for me tone wise. P lost in the mix is IMO something I can't even fathom these days.
 
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#7
chris_b said:
If the tone the guitarists in your rock band are using swamps your sonic space then there is not a lot you can do
Click to expand...

What tone you consider a tone that swamps my sonic space? He plays standard tele and stratocaster through a JTM45. He has more pedals than I can even count but usually he just adds dirt to his tone, nothing extraordinary.

mouthmw said:
I'd recommend EMG GZR, I never get lost in the mix with that pup and we play LOUD rock, trust me, we're infamous for it here.
Click to expand...

Haha! I heard really good things about EMG GZR before. I will definitely take a look on it and consider it, thanks.
 
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#8
taught said:
What tone you consider a tone that swamps my sonic space? He plays standard tele and stratocaster through a JTM45. He has more pedals than I can even count but usually he just adds dirt to his tone, nothing extraordinary.
Click to expand...

Guitarists using pedals can get into lower or low mid frequencies and start interfering with the sound of the bass. If he's not doing that then it isn't the cause of your problem. If he's well away from your sonic space then your volume level or eq could be the reason. Also, as I was saying, in this band maybe the J works and the P doesn't.
 
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#12
I have the SPB-1 P pickup and it is awesome, I can't imagine getting lost in the mix. I remember when I was researching what pickup to get though that the SPB-3 is scooped, and the SPB-1 is strong in lows and low mids. I'd say this is your reason. Definitely investigate switching the pickup before you scrap the P bass - a P bass sitting right in the mix is a truly unique and glorious thing to experience.
 
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#14
InhumanResource said:
The problem is you have a mid scooped pickup AND you aren't eqing enough mids in. Back down the bass knob and bump the mids at whatever frequency you like them.
Click to expand...

I meant to say that too - back the bass off. The low frequencies take more power to amplify cleanly, so if you're boosting them, you're ultimately losing power and volume. Drop them back to noon or 11:00 and bump the mids to 1:00 or even 2:00.
 
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#17
taught said:
Ok so I've got a Squier VM 70's Jazz bass (with SPB-1s) for years. Dig it, love it, my piece of heart my mainest main bass of all.

Recently I got Squier CV 70's P bass and I dropped SPB-3 in it. My problem is that it just gets buried waaaay down when I am playing with my band live which does NOT happen with my beloved J bass and it does NOT happen with the P when recording songs with the same guys. If I had to describe our genre then I would say it is garage rock paced music that has melody like Foo Fighters.

Currently I play through an Ampeg Classic Preamp (https://ampeg.com/products/pedals/classic/) which goes into an Ashdown MAG300 EVOII that drives an Ashdown MAG 410.

I tried to tweak the EQ but I never managed to cut through the mix with an acceptable tone. I attached a picture of my amp so you can see what options I have EQ wise.

On the Ampeg preamp I always turn the gain and bass to 1 o'clock and everything else is at 12. Maybe I boost trebles here and there but that's all. Gain boost gives my tone clarity, punch and dirt while bass gives... well... bass!

On the amp I tried (with compression always on at 11 and sub-harmonics always off):
- Cutting low mid and boosting high mid - so far this is the most efficient
- Boosting mid and high mid
- Bossting low mid, mid and high mid
- Cutting highs, boost low and low mid

I play fingerstyle and I don't plan to play slap/pick. I always play around with the force of plucking so a lot of times I play palm muted and another lot of times I pluck so hard that every jazz musician would turn their heads away with disgust.
Of course the goal is to cut through when plucking normally/hard.

I am open to every advice!
Click to expand...

Quarter Pounders are excellent bedroom pickups. They are very scooped and will get you buried in a mix unless you play with a pick. Get a Geezer pickup or something else that's full range and has strong mid content.
 
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