Please sanity check this P bass clip for possible recording issues

[JonnyBGood 7]

Not entirely happy with my new Squier  Affinity PJ bass tone,  which I bought for some recordings only and intending to record direct to interface. Before I ask about  possible pickup upgrades elsewhere on the forum, I'd be grateful if you guys that record with P basses could have a listen to this recording to help me rule out any possible recording errors on my part.

The dry recording is P pickup only, tone wide open, played with pick between the P and J pickups, recorded direct to Scarlett interface @ 24/44.1 (inst. level), with zero post processing, fresh Ernie Ball Slinkys. I'm not a recording noob (though its been a long time since I recorded bass) so I'm pretty sure there's nothing amiss with the recording  - but asking here just in case I am about to have a forehead slap moment.

To my ears this sounds really  dead, muddy and muffled. Is this what I should expect from a typical P bass recorded dry, or from a Squier?

 Wet track has a shitload of EQ and is approaching something acceptable for me.

Thoughts?

Dry.mp3 Wet.mp3

[Dad3353 8,049]

Disclaimer : I'm a drummer, and quite (no, very...) old, with duff hearing. Of those two tracks, however, I hear nothing amiss. I'd be surprised to hear the sound of the 'wet' track recorded 'dry' from a 'P' bass. If that's the sound you're after, carry on with the '*-load' of EQ; there's no problem with that. The 'dry' sound is a perfectly reasonable, dry (d'uh..!) bass, played with a pick, max tone and DI'ed with no amp. It's certainly not 'dead', 'muddy' nor 'muffled'. What are you monitoring through..?
Just my tuppence-worth, subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Dad3353

[JonnyBGood 7]

43 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Disclaimer : I'm a drummer, and quite (no, very...) old, with duff hearing. Of those two tracks, however, I hear nothing amiss. I'd be surprised to hear the sound of the 'wet' track recorded 'dry' from a 'P' bass. If that's the sound you're after, carry on with the '*-load' of EQ; there's no problem with that. The 'dry' sound is a perfectly reasonable, dry (d'uh..!) bass, played with a pick, max tone and DI'ed with no amp. It's certainly not 'dead', 'muddy' nor 'muffled'. What are you monitoring through..?
 

Ok, thanks for that.  I should say I'm not aiming to get my wet sound straight from the pickup, but maybe more in that direction? I have this clanky Precision sound in my head and the dry recording seemed an awfully long way from it.  Perhaps I need to lower my expectations of what is normal for DI bass.

My studio monitors are Tannoy Reveal, cans are Beyer DT770.

[Dad3353 8,049]

Lower away, Jonny; lower away. 

[ahpook 2,126]

1 hour ago, JonnyBGood said:

Ok, thanks for that.  I should say I'm not aiming to get my wet sound straight from the pickup, but maybe more in that direction? I have this clanky Precision sound in my head and the dry recording seemed an awfully long way from it.  Perhaps I need to lower my expectations of what is normal for DI bass.

My studio monitors are Tannoy Reveal, cans are Beyer DT770.

Perhaps lowering your strings and not your expectations would help ?

It sounds OK to me, but I'm not a P-bass player. If it's clank you want then a bit more string-fret noise might be what's missing. I know if there's not some of that going on with my basses I think  they sound a bit lifeless.

YMMV

[Elfrasho 172]

Sounds fine to me. Doesn't sound muffled to my ears. The tone is a bit lifeless though so I'd be sticking it through an amp sim. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Elfrasho

[Elfrasho 172]

Also. Remember not to eq to just the bass in solo. 

[Nobatron 40]

Sounds like a normal P bass recorded dry to me. An amp sim would probably get you closer to where you want to be. If you haven't already you should grab the free Amplitube SVX SVT sim whilst it's still available.

 

[JonnyBGood 7]

OK many thanks for listening and input guys, that's unanimous & just what I needed to rule out any recording issues.

14 hours ago, ahpook said:

Perhaps lowering your strings and not your expectations would help ?

It sounds OK to me, but I'm not a P-bass player. If it's clank you want then a bit more string-fret noise might be what's missing.

I know what you mean but my action is already about 2.5-2mm, as low as it will go without lots of buzzing (with current strings) which is not what I want.

 

46 minutes ago, Nobatron said:

Sounds like a normal P bass recorded dry to me. An amp sim would probably get you closer to where you want to be. If you haven't already you should grab the free Amplitube SVX SVT sim whilst it's still available.

 

I thought about an amp sim, saw that thread and actually tried to install this a few days ago, I had several problems with the installation and registration procedure and eventually gave up as I couldn't be bothered to raise a ticket thru their customer support process. Maybe I'll revisit this one, I think you're probably right that my ears want to hear an amp & miked up cab.

[radiophonic 164]

Sounds exactly like a DI to me. Blend with a cab for more life or use a sim if that's not possible. Just watch the phase of the two signals and be prepared to time align. The riff sounded like New Model Army?.

[JonnyBGood 7]

28 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

Sounds exactly like a DI to me. Blend with a cab for more life or use a sim if that's not possible. Just watch the phase of the two signals and be prepared to time align. The riff sounded like New Model Army?.

Thanks and yes it was!

[skidder652003 761]

44 minutes ago, JonnyBGood said:

OK many thanks for listening and input guys, that's unanimous & just what I needed to rule out any recording issues.

I know what you mean but my action is already about 2.5-2mm, as low as it will go without lots of buzzing (with current strings) which is not what I want.

 

I thought about an amp sim, saw that thread and actually tried to install this a few days ago, I had several problems with the installation and registration procedure and eventually gave up as I couldn't be bothered to raise a ticket thru their customer support process. Maybe I'll revisit this one, I think you're probably right that my ears want to hear an amp & miked up cab.

as per another thread I started, maybe give this a go? Free to demo, costs about £8 to buy

https://www.2getheraudio.com/effects/rich/