fender precision tone question

ogy

hi folks just looking for some advice on getting a nice tone from a fender precision

im a guitarist but ive got a few gigs lately deping as a bass player. the bass i usually borrow went arse ways on friday night so on saturday i decided to buy a bass. i needed it for that night and the shop didn't have a brilliant selection so i went with a mexican fender precision bass.

so it got its first outing last night and while it sounded really clear and quality the tone was a bit bright and toppy. i was playing with a plec too so that probably didn't help, it all sounded a bit hair metal:)

i took off some top on the amp eq and boosted the low end quite a bit but that tone was still fairly prevalent

so my question is, is there anything i can do (other than learn to play without a plec:))? is that just the characteristic of the p-bass or is there a way of getting a more solid low end less guitary tone out of it. i guess the new strings have something to do with it too?

im playing through an old peavey bass head into a 2 x 10 cab, maybe this is to blame too

i didn't mess with the tone knob on the bass to much and i wasn't too dramatic with the amp eq maybe i shouldve been

any advice appreciated

Parsley

I wouldn't put the tone up too high, that'll make it sound thinner. An amp with larger speaker(s) would make it deeper sounding too. Try boosting bass an low mids on the amp's EQ... That's all i can think of... Except maybe picking closer to the neck or the pickup, and further away from the bridge.

Doctor J

Sounded hair metal? It probably sounded like JJ Burnel of the Stranglers, which is a magical thing, if you ask me

To get the tone you're looking for, set the EQ flat on the amp and use subtractive EQing - ie go through the frequencies and take out the ones that you don't like, rather than just blindly boosting low end. Only start boosting at the end if you need to really emphasise aome of the tone. Start with everything flat and then adjust the tone on the bass until it's more to your liking, then work the amp. You should have no trouble getting the fat thumping sound that Precisions are famous for. ider using a softer/thinner plec. If you still want a fatter sound, experiment with lightly muting the strings by putting a reasonably firm sponge under the strings just in front of the bridge so it applies enough pressure to take some of the sharpness out of the sound but not so much pressure that it kills the vibration altogether (think that Motown bass sound - all Precision). You can also buy aftermarket string mutes which should fit any Fender.

ogy

cheers for the advice lads, got a much better sound going last night, kept the tone knob on the guitar fairly low and it sounded really nice and natural, made a huge difference. guess i was used to leaving it up full and rarely touching it on guitar, thanks again!