Session work begins with a good Fender Precision Bass (or two . . . or three) and this is one of mine. I upgraded this one with my favorite Fender Custom Shop ’62 pickups and keep it strung with roundwound strings (typically DR Fat-Beams). It has a warm but articulate tone that works equally well with fingers or a pick. All P basses tend to record well but this one has some real magic to it. If I’m going into an unknown recording situation this is usually the first one I’ll pull out.
This bass has a wonderful old school tone. It’s an American Vintage Fender Precision with a rosewood fingerboard and a set of Fender Pure Vintage ‘63 pickups. I keep it strung with LaBella flatwound strings to give it that thump for Motown-style work. But it’s also great for jazz or any other track where you want a lot of body and depth without the sharper attack of roundwound strings.
This bass is a bit of a hybrid, though it’s pure P bass. I built it to be my bar room brawler for gigs where I just wasn’t comfortable bringing the Fodera. It has a set of Aguilar PJ pickups and a Noll TCM3 pre-amp (that also allows for passive use). The Noll is a wonderfully subtle pre-amp that’s very musical. After playing around with different strings I was surprised to learn just how good this bass sounded with a set of Thomastik-Infeld strings. It has this lush, almost creamy tone that I just can’t get enough of.
This is my new Fodera Monarch. Man, is this thing ever a joy to play. It has a neck like nothing I’ve ever felt and it’s quickly become my favorite for playing live. It’s tone is warm and full but it just punches through a mix with a clarity that’s unreal. It’s also very versatile. Aside from the standard tone with the pre-amp I can put just the neck pickup in passive dual-coil mode and get a great P-bass tone. Or I can put both pickups in passive single-coil mode and get a great Jazz Bass tone. If I can only bring one bass this will be the one.
This Fender American Jazz Bass is an absolute tone monster. Its rosewood fingerboard gives it a warm, round tone but the EMG J-Series pickups give it a fuller sound while keeping that clear attack Jazz basses are known for. It’s a dream to record with, especially if you are looking for a more focused, modern tone.
This one is my “pretty” bass. I had it built with an unlined ebony fretless fingerboard on a roasted flame maple neck. The body is flame maple laminated over a swamp ash body. It wears a set of Fender Custom Shop 60s pickups with a Noll TCM3 pre-amp. These days I keep it strung with a set of Thomastik-Infeld strings that give it a wonderfully full, almost orchestral tone. It’s an absolute joy to play and record with.
I originally built this bass to try and capture Mark Egan’s tone on the Pat Metheney Group’s White Album. It’s an unlined fretless with an ebony fingerboard. It has an ash body and a set of passive PJ pickups with a Telecaster style selector switch. I keep it strung with DR Sunbeams strings that give it a sharp but full tone that people describe as “woody but articulate.”
amps, etc…
I went round and round on amps for years but have finally settled on the Fender Super bassman 300. It’s heavy and expensive but it gives me that rich, saturated tube tone that I’m after. That’s what I use live. But it also has a very nice integrated DI that I’ve used with good success in the studio. Then I also have an ACME Motown DI and an Aguilar Tone Hammer Pre-amp/DI. I’ve had great success stringing the two of those together in the studio, plugging my bass into the Aguilar and then plugging that into the ACME. The Aguilar gives me to tonal control that I need while the ACME provides that vintage saturation I can’t get from the Aguilar alone. The two together create a signal with a ton of character, especially with the Aguilar’s AGS circuit engaged. I also have the full Amplitube suite that I can record through if there’s a particular tone you want me to go for.
I use Mogami cables for everything. And if anyone tries to tell you cables don’t matter they’re wrong. They do. And the Mogamis are great.