I've been disappointed with Oteil's sound with Dead & CO, too. It lacks the deep fundamental and presence that Phil always got, but even worse, it doesn't represent how truly awesome Oteil's sound on its own is. Having heard him play live since 1991, I have a certain expectation and for some reason, in Dead and CO, he's pretty indistinct. One of my pet theories is that in this context, a neck through instrument (such as an Alembic) would provide better low end than a bolt on, but his Modulus should sound better than it does.
I actually asked him about this when he did an AMA last year on Reddit. It got the most upvotes, so obviously there are plenty of people that share our opinion. Idk what the problem actually is, but the Dead and Co experience suffers big time from it basically being a bass-less...
"Oteil,
You have been consistently low in the mix, since the beginning. I assume partly due to your desired tone, but partly due to probably the others behind the board. When you play with a pick it certainly helps, but that's a small percentage of the time. What can we do to turn you up in the mix? As a bassist, it is really disappointing to consistently struggle to hear you at concerts and in recordings. I mean this not as a criticism, but I really want to hear you more, as do many others. Can we get something done about this?
Thank You! See you at Alpine."
"[Oteil] Since this has been “upvoted” to be the number one question, let’s address this. First of all, I have absolutely no control of my volume in the PA that the audience hears. As some of you may know (or may be able to see if you are close up), I use inner-ear monitors so I can hear myself just fine and am not able to tell what you guys are hearing because I have my own mix. I talked with the sound man about it last fall because we saw lots of fan comments about it back then and he’s constantly adjusting to a situation that is always in flux. Maybe you guys should try trading the “Let Oteil Sing” shirts for “Turn Oteil Up” shirts! Haha"
