Kinda goofy but makes sense:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evJo5_qt6mY&feature=related

Kenneth


I'm sure some bassists already know this, but if you can't afford buying new strings often, take them off and boil them in ether (do this OUTSIDE and be careful, LONG extension cord, plug it in when it's far away, let boil, turn it off, let cool at least 30 min. before retrieving them) 

Enjoy your old set of strings sounding like you just put a new set on.

Years back when I played with a perpetually broke jazz band the bassist used to do this once a week.

If you blow yourself up doing this you didn't hear this from me (Jedi wave...)

Great tip when gigging 6 nights a week. Brings them back to life & saves you a few $$.

I have a P Bass special, SD 1/4 pounders in a pj set up, jazz neck. I think the intonation is good. I check every so often with a tuner.  It plays great. Strings are not very old. Bass stays at home in the studio. 

My bass in the mix is getting better. The most helpful tips i received were: turning the bass down and starting with a flat freq response (not eq). I am using guitar rig 5, a bassamp model, more intuitive for me to work with.  I hit the each string to make sure they are all the same volume, adjusted the eq to get them the same.  while playback I adjust the eq again where needed to bring out/blend the bassline. I also hpf at around 80 hz, let the kick come thru a little better.  I am still working on it, but it is far better than before I posted in the forum.  I received all of these tips from this thread.

IM sure someon mentioned this:

Take a good parametric EG and apply to offending tracks (ones where freq crossover is a problem).  you really need one that will allow you to see the freq spectrum of each track. (Fabfilter,in my opinion, has the best EQ hands down  http://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q.php).  Now, take a look at each track's spectrograph and see where they are overlapping.  Make cuts and boosts to carve out space for each instrument in the mix.  Don't be afraid to pan lead or acoustic guitars around.  Be careful panning your bass....can thin it out rather quickly.

The avalon is a good DI for bass, so you definitely have the potential for greatness. Good luck.

bigboi




The avalon is a good DI for bass, so you definitely have the potential for greatness. Good luck.

 Now all I need is skill and talent...lookout greatness, here I come!   LOL!!

You can also try cutting frequencies in other instruments around 400hz,  give or take some, making more room for the bass.

Getting the bass to sit in the mix with EQ and a little compression is the most important thing.

For additional help you may want to try out a little VST that someone on this forum YEARS ago enlightened us with, and I am still using - try BAXXPANDER for grins...  When I can't get enough space to sit in, sometimes its because the bass isn't thick enough itself.  

I use an older 1980 PBass, usually new strings, and run it through my old SWR 900.  I take a direct out and mic one of the goliath III's 10's with a d112.  MOST of the time, I choose the direct out (don't use the mic track at all), and add a little of this VST - and in its case, a little goes a LONG way. 

Best regards,

L 

Bumping this for easy access. Got some bass mayhem to sort out.

I used to do the boil 'em thing, until a guy at GC completely loosened one string at a time  and then snapped it, letting it whack the fingerboard, a half dozen times and then tuned it back up. It sounded new, to my shock and delight! So from then on if someone with dirty hands (some folks seem to shed skin REALLY FAST when playing MY guitars! LOL! )  played my guitars or basses, I did this little process and was back in business PRONTO!
    This of course freed up the stove for regular stuff! Try it out. It is the quicker way and I still wipe them off before retuning from underneath going over the nut and bridge, just to be thorough.
Michael

Just loosening them off and cleaning them with some rubbing alcohol dabbed onto a cloth one at a time brings some life back. I would never go through the bother of boiling strings unless it was an emergency. At a certain point it's best just to change them. Considering they last far longer than guitar strings it's a pretty minimal maintenance investment and it makes such a huge difference. I used to break bass strings so often I never had to worry about them going dead. Fortunately I could get No Fame replacements for $15 a pack. Are they still even selling those? I would have been screwed without that brand. Pretty darned good strings too for the price.