Advice for a rounded sound for recording

    I usually play bass on my demos before a proper bass player does the job but I'm never too thrilled with the sound I get.
    The instrument (Fender Jaguar) is well set up and I've tried flatwound and roundwound strings over the years.
    The genre I most write in is pop/indie so I'm after a well rounded bass sound with no distortion and not too woody.
    When I'm equing I either push or cut a bit of 160hz as that seems to be one of the problem frequencies for me.
    If I turn up 100hz to get the low end I always seem to make thinks flabby and muddy.


    Any expert advice from you proper bass players?


    PS I really like the bass sound on this:


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    The classic "smile curve" for bass Eq is as follows: boost at 80 Hz cut at 400 Hz and boost at 2.2kHz - if you are setting that up in a parametric Eq like the studio Eq in the KPA try fairly broad Q values and boosting and cutting by ~ 3dB and adjust to taste. The 400 Hz range contributes to muddiness in a mix and the boost at 2.2 kHz will help the bass cut through in a mix and articulate better.


    I don't know how the production was done on your Cockney rebel tune - it could easily be just DI with some Eq and compression. When recordings were done with fewer tracks the simple solution of one mono bass DI track printed to tape was commonplace. Bass is often recorded with a blend of DI and a mic'ed up cab. You can blend the amp sound with the DI sound in the Kemper also - "direct mix %" in the Amplifier section. Compression is also widely used on bass to smooth bass levels and sculpt the sound.