hi bill, do you usually record the bass first, as part of a rhythm backing track along with drums, or do you record it last so that you can play some melodic lines that compliment the rest of the song? paul mccartney said that he did the latter on all beatles albums from sgt peppers, and you can really hear how the bass sounds so much nicer when it compliments the rest of the song, because it was the last thing to be recorded.
a long time ago i used to do it early, but nowadays i do it last. Actually most often on a solo project it's good to continue doing a series of temps and then go around the band and re-do each part, so everyone gets a chance to hear everyone else while they're playing (almost)