Bass: DI or Mic

[Bulls Hit]

How do you guys do it?

I'm not getting anywhere fast trying to record bass by micing the amp. Is it a different technique to recording guitar? I'm in a small room, 13'x7'

Or do I forget it and go DI?

 

[mrbowes]

i generally use DI since it's the easiest, but occasionally experiment with DI + Mic.

Here's a track that has a few bass lines DIed. (the slap bass you hear is from a synth).

just to give you an idea of what a decent DI sounds like.

chain was aria pro fretless -> a desgins mp-2 -> e-mu1820m. that's it.

no compression, limiter, etc on the bass.

 

[Dogman]

i generally use DI since it's the easiest, but occasionally experiment with DI + Mic.

Here's a track that has a few bass lines DIed. (the slap bass you hear is from a synth).

just to give you an idea of what a decent DI sounds like.

chain was aria pro fretless -> a desgins mp-2 -> e-mu1820m. that's it.

no compression, limiter, etc on the bass.

Man, that is a really good bass tone. (actually the song is a pretty good song. ) Have you ever used any other preamps to do this, or is this the only one? I've never tried to DI my bass, but can't ever get a tone that good. I think I will try it, but my pre is an Audio Buddy. It seems pretty clean, but maybe it will work. Just wondering what other stuff you used, and how the sound compares....
Thanks.
Ed

 

[larry_emder]

How about using a bass pod or similar. I use a guitar pod for bass and it sounds good on some models.

 

[mrbowes]

Thanks for your kind remarks.

As far as other preamp/DIs go, i've also used my e-mu 1820m pres and the Studio Projects VTB-1. The 1820m pres are actually pretty decent for bass. Clean, open, and somewhat punch. Not a lot of balls in those pres though. I thought the VTB-1 was awful, unless overdriven to give a distorted fuzz sound, which thus makes it a one trick pony...at least to me.

As far as general bass DI(not pres), I've used the Sansamp DI box everyone talks about, and in adittion the that, the Sadowsky bass DI. I liked the Sadowsky a lot more. Although it was less flexible/versatile, it really added some meat to the tone and just made everything sound more like a fender jazz bass.

The A-designs MP-2 is really in another class from all the other pres/DIs. It's got real tubes and has a lot of metal in it, which helps it have such a ballsy tone.

The truth, however, is that the majority of the bass tone comes from the fingers/technique/bass/strings/pickups. I'd say 90% of the sound is determined before it even hits the preamp/DI.

 

[ecktronic]

Ok even using a sub standard Peavey bass amp it is possible to get a decent tone.
Set up a DI and def a mic. Something like a D112 or Beta 52A or if you dont have something like that use an Sm57 or Sm58 or something similar.
Place the amp up off the ground on a table or something. Place the mic about half a foot away from the speaker and find sweet spot by moving about the speaker.
Compress slightly on the way in if your bass player aint got totally solid dynamics. and compress alot more at mixing. Boost at around 3-5k and 100-160Hz (rough ideas).

Dont use a POD please. A DI'd and (mic'd) Peavey bass amp will sound well better and more realistic as the DI will be going from real amp circuitry and the mic (because placed back a bit from the speaker) will pick up some depth and beleivability.

Good bass guitars to record are in my view usually quite bright sounding guitars, like the Fender Jazz bass.
Active basses sound better usually because the pickups are powered. Make sure if you have a panel on the back of your bass guitar that you change the battery regularly and especially when going to record, becuase a half dead battery will make the bass sound muddy and lifeles. Along with new strings your bass tone should sound real nice even through a Peavey bass amp!
Amp settings i would go for is take soe lo end off so you dont get any deep rumbles from the speakers, boost the highs and play with the mids till you get the clearest tone that still has body. (ie not thin.)
Make sure you dont forget your bass guitar tone settings. I ususally put all tone knobs up full. Try that and if the tone is a bit too high just lower the tone knobs a little.
As you were saying about 90% of the tone prob comes from technique. Using a nice hard thin pick where posible will give you more definition and calrity and punch. Although not always possible ie. (slap bass)
Good luck.
Its a hell of a lot easier than recording electric distorted guitar anyway.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Thanks for the replies all.

I think maybe one of my mistakes was having the mic too close to the speaker like it is for guitar.

I think I'll try the DI+mic combination as suggested. Question around how I split the signal.... I have a firepod so I'm thinking I could insert out of channel 1 into the amp using the 1-click trick. Or is there a 1-2 1/4" splitter I should use instead