Anyone use the RNP to record Bass directly?

U

umair

New member
Tried this out on the bass forum but got no responses. Thought I'd try here.... Cutting and pasting:

I just got my RNP last week. Prior to getting it I was looking into getting a Sansamp Bass Driver. However, does anyone have any experience with the RNP recording bass directly and if possible any samples? I won't have a chance to record for another week or two but I want to be prepared in case I need to buy the Sansamp... but I don't want to buy stuff that I don't really need so it would help out a lot.
Thanks.
 
It depends on what kind of tone you're after. Plugging in to something like the RNP is basically going to pass a clean, unaltered signal in to your recorder. It'll sound . . . just like your bass.

Something like the Sansamp is meant to take the place of an amplifier by mimiking the characteristics of a speaker -- including some of the distortions and frequency changes and what not. It does a good job of sounding like an amp.

Two totally different things, basically.
 
I've done the RNP DI thing and it's just like the man said. Just clean bass sound.....kind of..whappy.. bappy sounding. It can work with some songs. But I get a better bass fit in a mix using a V-amp. I've also mic'd my guitar cab playing the bass through it with the RNP and an NTK. Good sound. Some do this: split the bass signal through a DI, run the Hi-z through the RNP DI and mic a cab with the low Z. Record both at the same time onto two tracks and then mix to taste. I haven't done this yet but from what I've heard on the 'net and from experience with both sounds, I believe that would be a very excellent plan. Another note: when using the RNP, I get a lot of noise from the interaction with the bass pickup. The noise problem is greatly reduced when I use the V-amp. This may just be a result of having a sorry pickup in the bass though. (Peavy T20)
 
Yeah.. I guess that's kind of what I figured. I guess it was more wishful thinking....
hey.. I have a Gallien Kruegger 1001RB that has a DI out on it. Maybe if I use that Amp's DI and mic the cabinet... might not sound bad? The only thing is that I only have the following mics:
AKG D112
SM57's
SP C1
Rode NTK
AT3035
Beta 58A

Not sure which one would work best becuase I have never mic'ed a bass cab before. I have used my Boss GT-6 but I wasn't thrilled with the sound for bass.
 
A clean DI like the RNP and one of the condensors or even the 57 on the cab -enough options to go anywhere.
I'm more used to the RE-20 on bass which has no proximity effect, but I go square on dead center on the cone for the most articulation. But I wonder if you might end up rolling off some low end with the condensor up close.
Wayne
 
I have had some good luck with running DI into one channel of my RNP and putting a SM57 in the other and mic direct in front of my Bass where I am picking and slapping. Mix alittle of that track in and it adds some sizzle.

Now if I could just improve my playing!
 
tmix said:


Now if I could just improve my playing!
Click to expand...

ha ha... I hear that man.. I'm a converted guitarist because my band couldn't keep a bass player around... didn't realize how hard it is to play consistently with the kick.

Anyway thanks for all of the suggestions... I will DI and mic.
 
Umair,

When we mic the bass cabinet, we usually use an AKG D112, and combine that with a DI into either the Great River MP-2NV, the Millinia SST-1, or a Drawmer 1960. The RNP has a unique DI tone that really works well when you need a lot of bass definition.
 
I have done a fair amount of bass DI since getting my RNP.

I am very happy with the results.

I will try to post within a few days a sample.
 
I tend to run bass in clean through dmp3 or other preamps and then play around with amplitube and a bit Eqing to get a a half decent bass sound in my mixes. RNP should be perfect in conjunction with amplitube or if you are looking for a clean sound and your bass pickups sound great.
 
OLP Bass-->Ampeg SVTII--->Ampeg 8X10---->D112---->(Avalon..but will SOON be a ME-1NV)--->Apogee Rosetta---->1880. The compression on the 737 is alright for bass. But with the tone I'm going for, I turn down my Tone on my bass and go for smooth, warm sounds. I like this better than the Direct thing. I use flatwounds too. I'm also getting a RNP soon and will experiment with that too.
 
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