I'm designing the ultimate John Kahn bass. The two basic tones you need are a stock P-bass and a Steinberger... you could argue that the modded '58 P from 78-79 has it's own tone, plus the G&L L2000 from '83 is pretty distinctive too. But really for most years the stock P and Steinie do the trick.
I discovered the other day that the P and Steinberger are actually pretty compatible and it got my wheels spinning. Not only is the neck pickup in the exact right spot, the pole pieces inside are actually split-P in configuration!
In my mind the primary characteristic of his Steinberger tone is that it's punchy and extremely mid-scooped. Well, P-basses are plenty punchy and mid-scooping can be accomplished by any number of commercially available preamps. So I'm taking a stock P, adding a bridge pickup http://www.bestbassgear.com/emg-pickups-hb-bass.htm and probably a Sadowsky 2-band preamp, and there you have it.
I discovered the other day that the P and Steinberger are actually pretty compatible and it got my wheels spinning. Not only is the neck pickup in the exact right spot, the pole pieces inside are actually split-P in configuration!
In my mind the primary characteristic of his Steinberger tone is that it's punchy and extremely mid-scooped. Well, P-basses are plenty punchy and mid-scooping can be accomplished by any number of commercially available preamps. So I'm taking a stock P, adding a bridge pickup http://www.bestbassgear.com/emg-pickups-hb-bass.htm and probably a Sadowsky 2-band preamp, and there you have it.