Bass recording question

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jagdeep

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Background:
I have a Boss ME 50 guitar (not bass) effect pedal. I connect to this effects box, which connects to my laptop for recording. I have so far used it only for my six strings and keyboards.

My questions were:

1) I just bought a bass guitar, can I plug it directly to the laptop for recordings or is this going to blow away my sound card? What, if any additional precautions do I need to take?

2) Can I use my Boss ME 50 six strings effects box for tuning the bass?
 
Boling the question down, would I need a pre amp between my laptop and bass?
 
the output from a bass, especially a passive bass, is way too low to blow your soundcard. I've done this in the past with no issues.

That said, going straight into your laptop's sound card won't give you the greatest of bass tones, exactly. It'll work, but a pre will sound bette.r

Not too familiar with the Boss unit in question - does it have a "clean" model for its preamp section? That might give you a workable bass sound.

FWIW, I'm still struggling with my recorded bass tone, but the best I've gotten was by running through a Tech-21 pre I got on the cheap, and then sending an uneffected send from the backpanel to the clean channel of my Rectoverb combo, dialed for a pretty bright tone with a touch of grit... Guitar gear can totally work for bass tones, in the right context.
 
and for a poor man's version of "Tech 21 on the cheap" I really like Behringer's copies of the SansAmps - there's a version for guitar, bass and acoustic:

they're all called "V Tone" and models are respectively:

GDI21, BDI21 and ADI21. They're something like $30 each and I really like them (I've had all the corresponding Tech 21 SansAmps).
 
soundchaser59 said:
Where do you get a BDI 21 for $30 bucks? All I can find is the Bass V-Amp for $99. :confused:
Click to expand...
Try here. I don't know what shipping is. The "education" figleaf doesn't seem to be an issue for ordering.

The BDI21 is the only analog effect I have ever used for bass or guitar that I will definitely say sounds better in circuit than out. What it does for flatwound-strung basses is amazing. It doesn't sound great with every bass, but improves most of them substantially.

It's an SMT-conversion of the (unpatented and derivative) SansAmp design, minus a couple of features like phantom power. It's an incredible value.

I got a GDI21 today and am less impressed.
 
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