Tone advice

[BassTheory]

Hey all, so I wasn’t sure where to put this sorry so feel free to move.

Long story short I have two basses, one I love to play and one I love the tone. The player is a Japanese history P bass (I don’t love the pups so that may be they answer - they are slightly scooped). The tone is an Ibanez SR600E - love how it sounds just find it uncomfortable to play.
So I guess my question is, they will never sound the same but how do I get the P bass to sound better if using the same Magellan 800 through Berg nxt212 as the ibby?

 

[mongo2]

First thing I'd do is try to alter the setup of the Ibanez to be more comfortable to play.

 

[BassTheory]

Thanks, I should have elaborated, the ibby comfort isn’t to do with the setup - it’s the body shape and neck.

 

[mongo2]

They are two very different instruments but the usual things such as altering EQ, different strings, different pickups or a different bridge may all contribute to improving the tone of your P bass...or not.

 

[jd56hawk]

Which strings are you using?

 

[BassTheory]

Agreed, different beasts. Same daddario rounds on each. I just miss the deep woody tones of the ibby, the P sounds better finger style but with a lick sounds hollow and tinny. If anyone knows a good P pup replacement for a more woods, deep and mid forward tone it would be appreciated. I don’t think it’s the amp/cab issue.

 

[BassTheory]

26204552[/URL], member: 201831"]Which strings are you using?[/QUOTE

Ha, just wrote a longer reply. D’addario rounds 45-105 on both. I def like them when they are older than new. I tend to cut some highs and go for a darker tone.

 

[jd56hawk]

Older but not quite the same tonewise as something like GHS black tapewounds or similar?

 

[BassTheory]

Thanks yeah maybe I’ll try some of those out. I like to play both finger style and pick, clean and distorted so trying to find a strings/pup combo for that for the P bass. I can get the nice dark, woody, full, thick and rich tone from the ibby as is but not on the P yet.

 

[One Way]

@BassTheory I didn’t care for the tone of my 2014 MIM Fender P Bass. I tried several alternate pickups and although they initially sounded great (shiny new object syndrome?) ultimately I still didn’t have the tone I was after. I installed a Lindy Fralin standard wind pickup along with new wiring and CTS pots plus a .47 uf capacitor and I couldn’t be happier.

 

[mongo2]

I use nylon tapewound strings for more deep sounding tone.

My preferred pickup for a P bass is the Duncan Antiquity II I've used it a few times on different basses with rounds, flats and tapes and it never sounded thin.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Bump your mids.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

easy, Ibanez has active EQ, P bass does not. You need to stick to active eq basses. That makes bass playing life much easier. I had a Fender P, after 3 sets of pickups, strings, bridge, I gave up. I have a 3 band active eq bass that sounds great out of the box. But I had to have a p bass. Expensive learning experience.

 

[MtManiac]

Hey all, so I wasn’t sure where to put this sorry so feel free to move.

Long story short I have two basses, one I love to play and one I love the tone. The player is a Japanese history P bass (I don’t love the pups so that may be they answer - they are slightly scooped). The tone is an Ibanez SR600E - love how it sounds just find it uncomfortable to play.
So I guess my question is, they will never sound the same but how do I get the P bass to sound better if using the same Magellan 800 through Berg nxt212 as the ibby?

How are you EQing the amp in both cases, and the basses in each case? What strings?

 

[MtManiac]

Hey all, so I wasn’t sure where to put this sorry so feel free to move.

Long story short I have two basses, one I love to play and one I love the tone. The player is a Japanese history P bass (I don’t love the pups so that may be they answer - they are slightly scooped). The tone is an Ibanez SR600E - love how it sounds just find it uncomfortable to play.
So I guess my question is, they will never sound the same but how do I get the P bass to sound better if using the same Magellan 800 through Berg nxt212 as the ibby?

I just looked at the Ibanez.

Dual humbuckers and active onboard EQ is never going to sound like a P bass, and vice versa.

Even another P bass may feel totally different from the one you’re using, as Fender has different models, and other companies also make P basses.

I don’t know what people in general mean by “woody,” it seems to mean a different thing anytime someone uses it, but P basses are often referred to as “woody.”

P bass pickups are set closer to the bridge than the neck humbucker of your Ibanez, and also closer than then neck pickup of a Jazz. That’s where the deep lows are coming from. The P split coil tends to emphasize low mids, which is why some P pickups are scooped, to quiet the mids and give the illusion of stronger lows.

My recommendation - as a long time P bass player - is one of the following:

- active Jazz (American Deluxe/Elite/Ultra, MIM Deluxe, Player Plus)
- active HH Dimension (American Deluxe or Mexican Deluxe, or the Squier deluxe model)
- a G&L L-2000 or Fallout
- a passive Jazz
- any bass that has active EQ and dual humbuckers that you *do* like to play. Maybe a Yamaha, maybe a Jackson.
- an Epiphone Embassy (passive, but plays a lot like a P bass and has dual humbuckers that kick a$$)
- I didn’t include an Active P, only because the pickup placement issue is I think the biggest issue you’re having tone-wise. Maybe I’m wrong.

It’s ok to not like a P bass. It could be decades later that you come to like them, and it could be never. It’s ok. I love my P’s, but I also have other basses that are awesome. I have an American Deluxe Dimension and can definitely recommend it. A very P-ish neck.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hey all, so I wasn’t sure where to put this sorry so feel free to move.

Long story short I have two basses, one I love to play and one I love the tone. The player is a Japanese history P bass (I don’t love the pups so that may be they answer - they are slightly scooped). The tone is an Ibanez SR600E - love how it sounds just find it uncomfortable to play.
So I guess my question is, they will never sound the same but how do I get the P bass to sound better if using the same Magellan 800 through Berg nxt212 as the ibby?

The easiest probably the least expensive way is to not use the same EQ for both basses. Just boost the low mid (about 160hz) incrementally and see how that sounds.

 

[Bassinthemudd]

Hey all, so I wasn’t sure where to put this sorry so feel free to move.

Long story short I have two basses, one I love to play and one I love the tone. The player is a Japanese history P bass (I don’t love the pups so that may be they answer - they are slightly scooped). The tone is an Ibanez SR600E - love how it sounds just find it uncomfortable to play.
So I guess my question is, they will never sound the same but how do I get the P bass to sound better if using the same Magellan 800 through Berg nxt212 as the ibby?

Have you heard others' P Bass tone that you like?

 

[SoCal80s]

They are so different that there's no easy way to do it. You'll have better luck buying a new active bass that is more comfortable for you.

 

[Element Zero]

Thanks, I should have elaborated, the ibby comfort isn’t to do with the setup - it’s the body shape and neck.

I may be in the minority here, but from personal experience…

No matter how good an instrument sounds/looks, if it isn’t comfortable, I’ll never play it. Tone/sound can always be drastically changed. Can’t say the same thing about how an instrument feels. Yeah yeah set up… but that’s different. That’s how a bass plays. My Fodera and MusicMan “play” completely different but I’m comfortable rockin both for hours simply because of how they feel on my body.

Case in point… I briefly had a Fodera Emperor 5 fretless. Whew it was GREAT. Tone and playability were in-freakin-credible. But I couldn’t get with how it get ON me. Jazz body style basses just don’t fit my dad bod. They feel wild and unwieldy. P-bass style bodies seem to fit like a glove (or a slightly stretched tshirt).

 

[el murdoque]

If the SR is not for you (I can relate), then get a BTB that fits your budget and be happy