I have heard the following repeated a few times…
- Be On Time
- Know Your Parts
- Be Easy to Work With
Has anybody else come up with any crucial tips?
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I think all the other tips are variations on these three main parent categories. Maybe another rule would be - bring the right tool for the job.
That was when I invested in a Fender P-Bass.
I was tired of being the session player showing up without the most common/expected/reliable tool in the biz.
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YES man did we both wait a long time to learn that lesson. I did the same thing for so many years. So many folk records in Sonoma County have Peavey Cirrus on them for no good reason.
And to be fair, so did Sean Hurley, he talks about it in this interview:
It took Matt Wright (a great engineer Gio and I have both worked with) telling me flat out that I should bring Fenders to sessions, to actually get my ass in gear and start learning about P bass tone. I’m so much happier in sessions now.
BUT, for any beginners reading, this is more of an issue for pro-level session work + gigging, it’s perfectly fine to go do a bar gig with your garage band with whatever the hell bass you want to.
I might add to the list:
4. Grow Big Ears
People who listen to me are fun to play with and I want to play with them more. People who don’t, aren’t, and I don’t.
Breaking that down, “big ears” to me means:
- Doing the ear training to be able to understand what your bandmates are playing, either instantly or close to it
- Being in the habit of listening more to everyone else than you do to yourself
Both those things take years to develop, and infinity to master, so it shouldn’t keep anybody from doing some jamming with other people at their level.
But not only is having big ears really important - it’s also super super fun to be able to actually respond to what other people are playing in the moment!
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in my opinion :
- understand a bit what makes a good mix
Listen carefully to records, find what sounds good or not, understand the relashionship between the different tones and how they complete each others to make a compact and uniform mix.
I find it helps a lot to find good amp settings on various situations (live or recording). for a same band and a same song, the mix can change drastically the final result.
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Josh, this is my long term goal. I was never skilled enough to do this when I was young and I’m looking forward to doing the course and getting the foundation I need to be able to do this.
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Yes! I feel like I’ll always be working on that, so much nuance to how different instruments inhabit the frequency spectrum in different contexts alone. Not to mention all the different ways musicians can interact, sizes of bands, genres… endless fun!
When in doubt - P bass. 
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When in doubt - P bass.
that’s my strategy 
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This is interesting to me because there is a whole universe of basses out there with bells and whistles, and shapes, and sizes, and sounds, and yet, despite all the technology and time, it’s Fender’s P-bass that is still the gold standard of session musicians, and recordings. This is way past where I am with things, I still like to try different basses out, but, noted on passive P-basses, and their ability to outlast any other trend.
My thought is, when you get to this level, it’s about practicality more than anything else.
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I think if I was gonna get a third bass (I’m not, totally happy with two 
I would get a MIJ P/J Precision. There’s only three problems with that.
- They are heavier than I like (both of my basses are under 4kg and one is closer to 3kg, and I love that)
- The P pickup is in a different position than a normal P and won’t sound the same (but may sound deeper I guess)
- I like the J necks more
so I guess if I ever actually get one it will have to be a frankenbass.
My Warwick is a P/J and I like the bite that the J pickup brings in. When I want it anyway. That P pickup is the real star of the show though.
Of course another option is the Yamaha BB734, which I almost actually bought. Its a great bass with a different set of tradeoffs:
- Doesn’t sound just like a Fender P. Still sounds awesome though.
- Still heavier than I like (probably heavier than a P)
- Neck is amazing, prefer it to any Fender I have picked up.
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There’s a great story that proves the opposite point from session legend, Anthony Jackson. He showed up to the session for the O’Jays and tracked “For the Love of Money” on his self-invented 6-string-contrabass…
He showed up with a fancy bass that no one had ever seen before, and plugged it into (gasp and shock) effect pedals. The studio folks were all “where’s the P-bass?”. But Anthony Jackson stuck to his guns (being a super confident badass helps in these cases) and when he played his ideas, it was like… oh. Right. We’ll do it that way.
So.
If you have the confidence in your sound, and you have the confidence in what you’re gunna play, bring it.
…just, also bring the P bass. In case they are People Of Little Imagination.
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