Instrument Rental?

[Machines]

Isn't what the bass sounds like your choice?

[Old_Ben]

IF push came to shove and I hated the way the bass sounded it wouldn't get used, but we are working with a producer and paying him to help us make an album, to make decisions about sound feel mood etc, so It'd be pretty stupid of us to ignore anything he suggests esp. as we are paying him for this exact reason, also I'm not averse to trying new things just to shake things up. Just like we'll be using different heads / cabs, in total there'll probably be a lot of kit knocking around, if half of it doesn't get used then that's all cool, but if we use everything that's also cool, anyways I need another bass as I only have 1!

[Truckstop]

I think you should take his suggestions on board and see what you can get hold of before going in to record. I actually am quite refreshed to hear that he would rather try different instruments to nail the tone he wants rather than struggling with something he's not 100% on.

So, I suppose a passive bass would be a good choice to partner the Surveyor. A P is good, but maybe a little limiting because it's only got one pup, see if you can find a PJ to borrow. Yamaha BB's are great and widespread and nail the P sound as well as the oft emulated 70s disco sound.

Warwick or Spectors sound pretty similar to me. Aggressive and focussed mids and plenty of burp. Loads of people love that sound, if your producer does and knows how to work it then you should play to his strengths.

Sincerely hope someone's able to help you out! Best of luck!

[merello]

Sorry - I just don't get this. He is there to record your sound, not the sound in his head. Just tell him you can't get another bass and it's up to him to sort it out.

[BigRedX]

There's nothing wrong with trying different instruments or amps for a different sound feel to a track, but IMO most of that should be done outside the studio where it can be done in the cheaper environment of the rehearsal room. That for me is what pre-production is all about.

I've found that in the main the choice of bass unless it's a very radical one such as fretted vs fretless makes little difference in the context of the final mix unless you have a very "transparent" amp.

Listening to the tracks you linked to earlier in the thread, unless any the new songs are going in a radically different direction your current bass coupled with a decent amp should be more than capable of covering the tones required to fit perfectly into the mix.

[sbrag]

if you are in Bristol it might be worth a call to heron or treblerock as it may be the sort of thing they can help with.

Id offer a loan if it helps as i dont have a gig for a couple of weeks but ive only gota couple of 4 strings at the mo. A tobias growler and my trusty old yamaha bb1100s (which is really versitile) but you are welcome to try them if it helps.

[Jakester]

I've done a fair bit of recording over the years as a drummer, and when the recording tech starts saying things like "oh, we prefer our kit" or "try our snare" it tends to mean they don't know how to record anything that isn't their house gear, so alarm bells start ringing.

The tech/prodcer's job is to capture your sound, not change it. If they can't record your sound, and you're paying them, I'd be a bit worried.

Over the years I've stood firm over my sound, which is open, well tuned drums, instead of thick, over damped heads. Similarly the bassist in my old band said "that's my sound" and the tech had to capture it. A little eq tweak is fine, but changing instruments, unless you want to, is not.