Piano LH conflicting with bass guitar - suggestions?

Hello all,
 
      I'm working on a mid-tempo piano based pop tune, but I'm having quite the issue getting the bass part to fit with the left hand of the piano.  I'm using Addictive Keys for the piano and a Dim Pro bass patch for the bass.  They just don't... "fit".  I don't think it's a timing issue, maybe more of a frequency overlap problem.  If I remove either the bass track or the LH of the piano, it seems too empty.  Is there a tried and true method for dealing with this, perhaps just EQ-ing the low end out of the piano track?  Making sure the piano LH and the bass are lined up to the exact tick?  I don't want it to sound too "perfect".  Or any other tricks I should be aware of?  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

+ 1 to Mike's suggestion. 
You can open up Piano Roll View, select the tracks tap, pick tracks and see both the notes of the bass and piano part. Under most musical situation we don't want to have 2 different bass notes.
 
If I were you I would try Studio Instrument bass which IMHO has a a few better bass patches than dim pro. 
 
You might also consider layer up a synth bass patch from example Zeta  with a lower volume and perhaps transpose it an octave lower to fatten up the bass.

Sounds more like an arranging issue than a mixing issue... Writing arrangements where the left hand of a piano playing in the same range requires many kinds of scrutiny... If they're not playing the same part, how do they relate? Are conflicting notes happening simultaneously? Is the rhythm getting crushed due to the competition?

If you're the writer of the parts, you might want to consider altering them so that they can act as one, whether doubled or complimentary... Clusterd notes are more difficult in lower octaves, so I would recommend writing the parts using more primary rhythms/harmonies. If I have a keyboard player who's parts are amazing, I rewrite the bass to compliment it... For me I'm very bass-centric so I write my bass part first then adjust my keyboard part(s) to fit... Gotta lose player's ego to make the arrangement work...

Keni

+1 to the above.
Yes, check the arrangement first. If you listen to/watch jazz piano players, you'll hear/see that they keep their left hand well out of the way of the bass player ... rarely going below the E below middle C and mostly don't play the root note of the chord.
 
(Not your boogiewoogie and the likes type of piano though, cos that's a particular style)
 
If the piano part exactly double the bass part, that can work too depending on the song, but you want to avoid the piano playing low chord notes in the bass region.
 
With the 'live' playing and the 'recording' thingy: you'll see Elton John hammering away on 'live' with his left hand, but most of it will be equed out of the way and the bright end of the piano focused on.
 
You want to avoid the piano area (kind of the octave below the G below middle C) being too chordal down there as it doesn't sit very well with bass. If you eq out a lot of the piano though and make the piano quite bright, that could work too.
 
It does depend a lot on the song though.
 
The thing is I suppose that pianists playing solo are used to covering all the parts (bass, chords and melody), but when playing piano in a band, you've got to adjust the playing style a lot or you run the risk of annoying the bass player because the piano is treading on his/her bass note choice and sometimes clashing badly. So they've got to be exactly together on the same bass note or the bottom notes of the piano removed.
 
I've seen myself sometimes recording a midi piano part and then going into the piano roll and taking a lot of the low piano notes back out!

Great suggestions, everyone!  I usually play solo piano, or in a small group with a drummer and guitarist, so my LH parts usually provide the bass.  It sounds like simplifying the LH along with some EQ would probably get the piano to fit with the bass a little bit better.  Also, some careful listening to the recordings of the artists I mentioned above is in order.  There's a band called The Fray who manage to get piano, bass, and electric guitar all fitting together without conflict, even though the frequency ranges can significantly overlap.  That's the sound I'm after.  Thanks for the advice!

I did consider the sustain pedal as a possible source of conflict. However, I never would have thought to split the part into 2 tracks and use panning to achieve separation and clarity. Great suggestion, Bitflipper!

In most bass player-piano player situations the pianos left hand is relegated to chordal comping while the right hand is freed up more so for filler type licks or soloing. This is very apparent in jazz trios or quartets. The pianos left hand is hardly ever used for bass lines. When it is used for bass it is usually during a breakdown where it is just solo piano. This is also the case when one poor keyboard player has to play piano while playing horns or strings or possibly organ with the free hand.
I played in a group for a while with a keyboard player that expected the bass player to play exactly what he was doing with his left hand. It was a disaster until we convinced the pianist to stick his left hand in his pocket for a couple of songs. He finally understood!