Guitar Player Troubles with FP Bass

[soundchaser59]

I play guitar, but I bought a stock JP-made Fender Precision bass a few years ago for home recording. I do not play bass for gigs. I know nothing about setting up bass. I have my guitars and amps all set up the way I like them now, which in turn made me wonder if I should be doing something to this bass to make it sound better and maybe make it a little easier for my guitar hands to play.

I suppose it's like guitars......start with better pickups?? Different strings? I've been using lites, just cuz I have short fingers and I'm used to a lite touch on the guitar, but I can adapt to the next gauge up if necessary.

The problem is:

(1) it sounds too loose and flabby when I play anything on the two low strings. I know practice will help some, but I've had real bass players thump on this thing and even they say it is too loose and lacks definition.

(2) The active gear sounds waaaaaaaaayyy toooooooo brite for my taste. I always end up turning the hi all the way down, and many songs I will end up turning the mid and the low down to center detent or less. I have to use a felt pick to get any kind of definition.

(3) Almost anywhere on the low E string the thing rattles easily. What I hate the most is the rattle and the clackety bright high end.

Music: Rock, classic rock type sound, some blues, some jazz rock, a few ballads.

No amp, everything is recorded DI, processing or no processing doesn't seem to make any difference.

Strings? Pickups? Action set? Frets dressed? etc.etc.etc.???
If it's the same process as a guitar, then I'll just take it down to the guitar shop and let them work it over.

Thanks for any tips! Especially if you can toss in some good recommends on bass pickups! - SC

 

[Clive Hugh]

Fro pu's I have Bill Lawrence P-bass replacements, they are silent, loose sound? I would go for a heavier gauge they take more to come up to tension and will be a tighter sound.

 

[Dani Pace]

Bass and guitar have a lot in common, in theory at least but they have some very different properties. A well set up bass should play easily and sound good. If you are familiar with the set up process you can do it yourself, follow the same steps as you would for guitar. Bass set up takes a little more patience, the longer length makes it a little harder. It might be a good idea to have it set up in a shop. If you know a few bass players ask them who does their set ups. Medium guage strings will help to take up some of the slack (more tension on the strings) and help it to feel less sloppy.
There is also a difference in technque for playing bass, it takes a little practice to make the transition from guitar to bass. If you want to see what real sloppy feels like try playing a short scale bass, they have even less tension and feel really loose.

 

[rayc]

Rattle - set up, neck bowing, slack tuning, bridge adjustment, accurate fretting when playing all help.
Heavier FLAT wound strings will kill off the unwanted top end as will some EQing. Coated strings will do so even more.
Maybe the neck length is wrong. Is it full or short scale?
If the actives are horrid centre them & EQ at the amp or preamp stage OR bypass them.
Sounds like you didn't play the thing before you bought it. Take it back & exchange it or get your money back. Whoops " a few years back" why did you wait so long to get this unhappy? Trade it in on a replacement - but play things until you find something you like. Brand isn't much of a marker in the lower price range these days.
Borrow a dedicated bass FX unit & see if you can tweak the thing through that.
I've only bought one guitar/bass without playing it for a while 1st & it was a brand name & it's the least enjoyable one I own.
Cheers
rayC

 

[soundchaser59]

Heavier FLAT wound strings will kill off the unwanted top end as will some EQing. Coated strings will do so even more.
Maybe the neck length is wrong. Is it full or short scale?

I'm pretty sure its a long scale? 1993 Precision Lyte (Q + 6 digits) made in Japan. I'm not sure it was ever set up properly when I first bought it circa 93-94, and took it to the locally famous luthier, and that guy died a couple years ago. So I took it to the dealer yesterday. I was surprised at how many variations there are on bass strings. I got frustrated not knowing enough about it to choose my own strings, and my meter was running out, so I just took it upstairs to the repair shop and told him to "put medium gauge strings on it, something not so darn brite, and get rid of that rattle, set it up, whatever it takes..." Without knowing any better, if you forced me to choose on the spot, I probably would have bought the Ernie Ball Power Slinky 50-135.

If the actives are horrid centre them & EQ at the amp or preamp stage OR bypass them.
Sounds like you didn't play the thing before you bought it.

It took me a while to realize that the knobs had center detent positions because they are actually cut/boost. I was so used to turning all my guitar knobs up to 10 and then just blindly play the thing, I just automatically did the same thing with the bass when I brought it home. Thoughtless..... even though I did play it for a couple of hours in the store before I bought it. Maybe the store owner had it set up ok, and I ruined it by telling the luthier guy to "put lites on it so I can play it faster...." Again, just thoughtless.....it's just another guitar, right?? LOL!!

Whoops " a few years back" why did you wait so long to get this unhappy?

I was not "sober" then....... I am now. And when I got it, all I had was synth bass lines, so ANY real bass was bound to be a noticeable improvement over any synth bass, and that's what I heard......an improvement. Now the sound is more important than the party. And I am learning what better sound can actually be. Same reason why I am just now getting around to making all those changes with my guitar rig. I am much happier now with my guitar sound and my playing, as I'm sure I'll be happier with my bass a few days from now.....

One thing I do like about the active 'tronics......it plugs into the board direct pretty well, and with just a hint of limiter on it, it really doesn't sound too bad for a DI.... so after this setup I'm guessing it will DI well AND play better too! - SC