Best bass rig ideas

LazerBeakShiek

Find Polaris..and Return
What ideas have you got for a nice bass rig? Anything in your collections that records well, with what microphone? Anything special that you do when recording, like adding in 50 hz on the kick drum post, type thing?

There are a couple setups I intend to try. My old ADA MB-1 is tight with the ADA HX 2x10 and 1x15. Plenty of mic options for those cabinets. Could be confusing.

My VBA400 might be an easier capture with a simple VBC412 4x12 cab. Mic up with a dynamic, card or supercard.

What are you using?
 
It's funny, I have never been asked to record anything other than direct on any professional studio project. On my own projects, I've also kept things direct for tracking, and if it needed a little spice, I just did so with plugins after the fact.

Live is a completely different matter--I have a variety of pedals I use to color individual songs over the course of an evening, but I've found my recordings like the fidelity of a DI more.
 
When I tried the direct approach, I used the line 6 Bass DI. It had a bunch of models none of which sounded spectacular in preset form.

This is what I am afraid of, the AMPEG SVT VST might be better than an attempt at the real thing.

The bottom end is ambient and boomy on anything naturally recorded. The low end even order harmonics are unstable at best. I end up drawing a ridiculous picture in the EQ window with some wild scoop.
 
It's funny, I have never been asked to record anything other than direct on any professional studio project.


Same here...I record bass DI like 99% of the time...and I don't mean into some bass amp modeler...just DI.
I found that FET-based DI inputs seem to always sound best with bass guitar...or it just might b e the case with mine. These days my go-to bass DI is the one on my Langevin DVC unit. After that, I can shape the base easily during the mix stage...and for that I've been partial to the Waves Renaissance Bass plugin.

Recently I bought a vintage Ampeg Portaflex SB12 amp, so I'm going to have to try miking that at some point...plus I picked up some new bass plugins, which might work out better than the Waves.
 
Same here...I record bass DI like 99% of the time...and I don't mean into some bass amp modeler...just DI.

Same here. Always DI. Never record through an amp. Ok, take that back, I recorded some gigs and ran a DI out of the amp into the mixer. But for home recording, never use an amp. I used to do the same as Miro where I didn't use an amp sim. I went DI, added some hard compression and a little EQ and called it good. Now, I use bass amp sims on UAD interface. I purchased several and really like them. A lot of variety.
 
I would suggest, if you can, to give a couple of DI pedals a try. One would be the venerable SansAmp Bass DI, the other being the SansAmp SVT DI. That's all I got.
 
Would the recording compensated output of the Bass Preamp be a similar thing?

My ADA MB-1 has a compensated out. The GK MBE has a recording out. The Marshall VBA head has DI out.
 
Direct Inputs (DI) In or Out are usually line level signals. Most, if not all, audio interfaces can accept them. Or you can plug you bass directly into the interface with the Instrument jack.

Which interface are you recording with?
 
The Apollo USB. In reaper.

Here is a measure looped. I left the guitar in too loud, but it is something rendered as an example I can share. Trying for a strong bottom end. It doesn't go that deep if you ask me.
 

Attachments

  • song1232a.mp3
    219.9 KB · Views: 19
The Apollo USB.

Oh cool. Try the demo versions of the different bass amp sims.

In reaper.

Here is a measure looped. I left the guitar in too loud, but it is something rendered as an example I can share. Trying for a strong bottom end. It doesn't go that deep if you ask me.

Yeah, I agree. I thought the guitar was just a tad too loud, but drums and bass were well balanced. Any tweaks would be a matter of personal preference. Maybe bring the bass up a little more; that would be my preference.
 
Sill not there. This is a bass run with a simple beat. You can hear my frustration. I have turned the treble down almost all the way. Boosted all the sub freqs around 50-80. It does not sound bass-ic at all. More muffled than a clear deep humm. Suggestions? The lower I go in sub frequency the quieter it gets. Perhaps a 1176 in all button would bring it back up, I don't know.

Normalized to -14 Lufs.
Annotation 2020-01-17 112606.jpg

Sm58/P420 combo on a ADA MB-1 rig. Next time I will unpair the channels 1 and 2.
Effects thrown in for fun. Something to wobble around.

20200115_093612.jpg

Perhaps I need to try the VST.
 

Attachments

  • 111a.mp3
    312.2 KB · Views: 19
Last edited:
Based on those settings, you are taking out a lot of the low end. OK, not a lot, but the rich bass sound.

I usually put my eq at a drop around 50/60 HZ to make room for the kick. Then I open it up. Sometime I might filter out above 1K, but usually it is not needed since I am down on the top of the neck. Then to tame the sub I roll off below 40 for the whole mix.

Turn off the EQ that you have and see if you get your bottom end up. Try DI'ing and just EQ that (no amp sim, just bass), if you are getting bass with DI, then most likely your mic has has the low end cut off switch on and is filter it out.
 
Yes, the low cut is enabled. And the pad.

For recording bass I want to turn that off?

The low cut is on at the , preamp, the interface, the microphone, the DAW track. At every junction, low cut on.

OK, So that is bad. Noted.
 
Only if you want bass is it bad. Sometimes you want it off. If something is too boomy.
 
The bass cut, cuts the bass. Check.

I thought it would remove the thumping from outside noise live, and I could return the loss from the roll off in post with the EQ.
 
None of those eq curves look like anything I have ever done.

Maybe a slight cut around 250 depending on the genre. Control of the subs with a HPF and maybe some enhancement with a sub generator. I do love the 'Waves Submarine' plug for getting the way low stuff.

Some times a slight boost around 2K, but only with a really good EQ (Fabfilter ProQ). I don't like stock EQ in Cubase for boosting. I actually don't use it for anything other than high pass filters. Not sure how the Reaper EQ's are.

I also go with a passive direct box. Tried many bass preamp/Di's and have found them really noisy and not as good as just running in direct and adding stuff in the box later.

EDEN WTDI IMO is noisy and sounds like crap compared to direct input and add some PSP Vintage Warmer.

When a really percussive bass player comes in and has a actually unique tone, I will also mic his bass rig. It makes a big difference combining the tones, but not usually necessary.
 
Plugging my bass in real quick to test DM60's theory.

Did I find the bass? Did his suggestion work? Here, hear. Disabled all the low cuts. Popped some notes. Normalized to -14 Lufs. Brite change at 10 sec. Subs to 10's.
 

Attachments

  • bass.mp3
    653.6 KB · Views: 19
Plugging my bass in real quick to test DM60's theory.

Did I find the bass? Did his suggestion work? Here, hear. Disabled all the low cuts. Popped some notes. Normalized to -14 Lufs. Brite change at 10 sec. Subs to 10's.

Sounds like a bass to me at 10s.
 
EDEN WTDI IMO is noisy and sounds like crap compared to direct input and add some PSP Vintage Warmer.

When a really percussive bass player comes in and has a actually unique tone, I will also mic his bass rig. It makes a big difference combining the tones, but not usually necessary.

Sure does(not talkin about the Eden never tried it). Those cabinets are 100lbs for a reason, besides causing back problems.

I isolated the bass guitar for the first 10 seconds, cutting as much of everything as I could and still hit the subwoofer. I wanted to test the deep end. Searching the waves Submarine pluggin that sounds cool.

The mic preamp in the UA apollo is the Neve 1073. Mics placed a fist or two away. Top and bottom blended. USA Fender Jazz Bass.

Everything beside the p420 and the Apollo are from around 20 to 30 years ago. I do not use much software. Some leftover Focusrite red 2,3 Vsts nclude a reverb, compressor, eq, gate. Based off the tools in the ISA producers pack. Then Reaper's package. Not graphical but supposedly solid.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top