Mic a bass guitar?

[NYMorningstar]

When you mic a bass guitar amp, what is the best distance to keep the microphone? Does the wavelength of the bass make a difference? Someone told me it's like 15 feet long. Does that mean the mic needs to be that far away?

[knownuttin]

Nah, not really. It's true that the waves are much longer. This is why all those booming kicker boxes you hear rattling your windows or at the intersection coming from some tiny-wheeled Altima are much more distinct to you at a distance than the rest of the music. Imagine how imbalanced a frequency curve you have if you place the mic there. Now for the guy inside the Altima, the mix is perfect and he doesn't understand why he's still not getting laid.

Put the mic too far back and it will be delayed too much in relation to the other tracks. Some people mic bass cabs the same as guitar close micing smack up against the cloth. Me, I like it a little further out, like a foot if I can get away with it. Bass cabs are usually the worst culprit for bleed into drum mics, so positioning is critical.
-kent

[Shailat]

Besides some hard rock and MAYBE !! a very personal sound I dont understand why people insist on micing a bass

Keep the mic close for tight sound with good defenition.
To much room ambience and the sound will be muddyand/or boomy. Prop the amp on a chair or stand - that will help you control the low freqs even better.

Watch the volume of the amp so u dont overdrive the mic.

[t_chance]

I just go direct in when I'm recording the my bass.

[octoruss]

I'm with Tchance. I plug my bass into a DI box, straight into the mixer. I find I can get clean sounds without disturbing the neighbors.

[darrin_h2000]

A LD mic in front of the string close to your hand gets the finger slapping you will miss going direct in.