Well doing a 2 week prison stretch atm (politicians put the spin on it and call it quarantine). Luckily I’ve got my P Bass with flatwound La Bellas. I’ve been meaning to ask this since pretty much the start about getting the sounds right. (I’ll cut n paste into the forums as well). I know I can’t get the sound like the recording but to me anything I play on the D and G strings sounds a bit tinny to me. Atm I’m just playing into my Vox Amplug but at home I’ve got an SWR 400 (good old Californian Amp). At this stage I don’t use any pedals. I suppose knowing the correct question to ask is probably the hardest thing but where do I start to try and a little more whoomp on the notes? Btw I can get a nicer sound if I use my thumb.
2 Likes
on a P you can adjust the “treble coil”, the part of the pickup dedicated to the D and G strings. with the 4 screws of the pickup you can adjust individually the height of the magnets and coils relative to each string. that’s what you should try first IMO 
5 Likes
Thanks for that…would you know which way to go to give a deeper tone? I should read up on it a bit
2 Likes
Bringing them closer to the string will increase the volume of the tone.
Have you tried simply rolling off the tone knob a bit?
3 Likes
What gauges are your strings? Maybe you could try a set of “fatter” strings?
4 Likes
Tried that as well. Still not what i was after
2 Likes
Only thelight ones at this stage. I’m bit worried about going to the high voltage cables at this stage… Would a Mim handle them? I know id need a new set up
3 Likes
The string gauge is important for tone on a guitar but way less on a bass, in my opinion. even very light bass strings are still huge, regarding the impact on a magnetic field.
6 Likes
If it sounds better with his thumb maybe it’s simply plucking technique?
4 Likes
it seems way more realistic to me than a string gauge issue
4 Likes
That’scwhat I’m leaning towrds as well. Maybe angle the fingers a bit more to get more meat on the string…
2 Likes
Yeah try moving your thumb anchor point to rest on the A string so you can pluck with your fingers more perpendicular to the guitar.
3 Likes
Could simply be an intonation thing. Take it to a pro. They will restring it, adjust the truss rod, adjust the action, pickup height, check for loose wires bad soldering, etc…anywhere from $50-$100 depending on the music store you take it to.
Thanks for all the advice. Got a few things to work on…and I thinkt the big high voltage cables are on the list. I’m more into the older rock n roll so not gonna do any slap