Most versatile pickup config for bass

gearjunkie

gearjunkie

Inspired
Hey guys I know this is usually a personal preference but I'm a guitar player first and a bass player for recording purposes only. I've owned a few low to mid range basses over the years to record and practice with. Lately I've been looking at buying a good bass. So my question is for the bass players out there. The bass I have in mind comes in a P/J config or two humbuckers that can be split to singles. What would be the best for rock, hard rock and metal primarily. I don't care for all those old jazz and funk tones etc. I don't really care for overly distorted bass tones either. (But it's good to be able to get these sounds if needed) Just good solid punch and warm growly tones. I don't have access to the different basses to try so I'm asking the bass players here. What are the pros and cons of each or what would they be more geared towards because I honestly don't know. Thanks
 
I think you're 100% on the right track. As you said, this is a lot of personal taste, so there is no one simple answer to what is best. A traditional old standby Fender P bass, stock passive, run through an excellent Ampeg SVT tube rig with 8x10 speakers can sound incredible for rock, hard rock, metal, etc. Been there and done that.

I'd suggest you enlist a bass player friend to accompany you to the nearest music store with a good selection of basses to spend an afternoon sifting through the various flavors of neck/bridge configurations, not to mention active/passive electronics and humbucker/single coils.

As with guitar, a universal rule is that the instrument and amp only account for so much of the tone. Don't underestimate approach and technique with respect to bass guitar...pick or fingers... or thumb or pop/slap...aggressive touch or light touch...heavy strings or light gauge...pick position at the bridge or neck or in between. It all matters when it comes to the final tone outcome. I would say that 50% of my tone comes directly from my technique and how I approach/attack the bass.

Personally, my tastes in bass run the gamut from a simple Sterling Ray34 Ca (classic active four string with a single bridge position pickup, bass/treble/volume), to a Schecter Stiletto Studio Elite (4 string with EMB 3 Band active EQ, bridge and neck position p'ups), to my Wal MK2 (4 string with bridge/neck active pickups - pickup blend knob, but a very unique proprietary EQ section for each pickup). I get versatility out of all of these basses, but obviously a lot more tonal flexibility from the Schecter and Wal basses due to the preamp electronics. But that's just me. Plenty of quality bassists do just fine with some form of a Jazz bass with passive electronics, too.

Hope this helps.
 
How good is good? :) IOW how much coin are we talking about?

Anytime someone mentions growl bass and rock, the first thing that comes to my mind is a Fender Jazz bass.

For some detuned metal and overall growl / rock this is a great bass: American Deluxe Jazz Bass® V (Five String) | Jazz Bass® Bass Guitars | Fender® Bass Guitars

I personally prefer and own a 70's Fender Jazz 4 string for tracking rock bass when I want some growl. It's setup with roundwound med / heavy strings. Excellent at cutting a mix and adding some growl without having to use too much distortion on a patch.
 
Around $2000-$2500. I'm looking at a Spector Euro4. They come in P/J or 2 humbucker. It was my fav bass back in the day. I played one once. All the guys that used them back then had the P/J config so I know it's capable of doing what I want, I'm just wondering if newer options available nowadays would be the better option.
 
I've watched tons of youtubes and the bridge J pickup by itself is a tone I don't care for. With the P and both together it's pretty good. I have and Ibanez SR705 now that I kind of like the two humbucker active configuration. It's just I have no way to try both models together to see what I like. I like hearing actual bass players opinions
 
I have four main basses that I switch around depending on what I am tracking.

70's original Fender Precision with flatwound strings.

70's original Fender Jazz with roundwounds.

80's Steinberger with roundwounds (This one has EMG humbuckers and really has remarkable tone and intonation. Incredible for playing high position chords in perfect tune.)

Early 1900's Juzek Acoustic bass with Thomastik strings.
 
gearjunkie said:
What would be the best for rock, hard rock and metal primarily. I don't care for all those old jazz and funk tones etc.
Click to expand...

you want to most versatile pickup config and you don't care for other tones than rock and metal? seems odd! :)

For me the most versatile and all round bass is a jazz bass (2 single coils). You can get pretty much all the tones you want out of it.
jaco style: bridge pickup
slap style, all round fingerstyle sound etc.: both pickups
old school P-like sound: neck pickup

do the rest with the treble knob

What more do you need? (my fretless Wal bass! ;))
 
Not odd at all. I primarily play rock and harder styles. I like a specific type of bass tone. I'm not personally interested in the other types of sounds although the ability to achieve them is a benefit because I want a good "recording bass" for what I want to do primarily and possibly what others who come by may want to do. I ask this question because I'm looking to learn. In almost 30 years playing guitar I can tell you what pickup configurations are usually used for and the types of tones produced by each. If someone asked me what's the most versatile for guitar I'd tell them H/S/H with a push pull pot to split the coils. Because this can cover every type of style. But when it comes to bass, I can hear a tone I like and don't really know what's involved. As I said on my SR705 it has two humbuckers (or singles I'm not sure they look narrow for humbuckers) and I like the neck Alone or the neck and bridge together. I guess I'm just asking bass players "if you could have one bass only, whatever your favorite is but you choose P/J, humbuckers, or singles" and why? I will buy a Spector (just unsure which one) or possibly a Warwick with same pickup choices. Interestingly enough I talked to a bass player friend who's been at it a long time as well and has some pretty high end basses what he thought and he said go for the humbuckers for primarily rock and heavier. He also said he's never found a P/J config where the P sounded as good as on a P bass. I've been listening back to a lot of the albums that I know guys used Spector basses with the P/J config on the album and some live clips and I like it....so I'm still unsure. First world problems. Thanks for the input guys
 
The Fender Stu Hamm has both jazz Pickups and the Precision pick-up.

urge_bass2.jpg
 
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