Help choosing a bass for recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcmd
  • Start date Start date
M

mcmd

New member
It’s time for me to add some bass to my guitar tracks. I nearly went for one of those De Armond basses…

Anyone using Fender’s Deluxe P Bass special (Mex), -jazz neck, P Bass body, P/J pickups. I played it at my local GC, ($440), seems like a versatile instrument.
It sounded and felt “good” through the amp in the store, but I’m not a bass player.
More importantly, should I expect any surprises recording direct? I will use my Joemeek pre, but I have heard some basses can be disappointing direct.


Thanks,
 
I don't have a Fender bass, but what I've found is recording the bass direct with just a preamp usually isn't the sound I want for the bass track. There's not enough deep , impact low end. It has to get added in after recording. For awhile though I got to use a friend's Sansamp Bass driver which did let me dial in the deep, powerful sound I wanted.
 
Thanks Elco.
I’m wondering if the more expensive bass guitars (>$1000) would also require a Sansamp Bass driver or Bass POD, when recording direct.
Perhaps, I should be considering a less expensive bass guitar and a Sansamp/POD?
 
Don't expect the sans amp to work miracles. Buy a reasonable bass; say a fender standard (made in mexico) and if you can afford it also buy a sans amp. If you get a cheap bass you'll get a cheap sound with or without the sans amp; IMO. You are thinking about the bass pod, well if you can afford a cheap bass and a bass pod you should have enough for the fender standard (jazz/precission) and a bass driver.

Also do a search. Search in the guitar and basses forum and search titles only. try one with bass and the other with sans amp.
 
I've got a '98 MIM Fender P-bass that I use with the SansAmp Bass DI AND a J-Station. Check out my mp3 to hear how it turned out. This is my first attempt at recording the bass direct with these two units (I used both units togeather because I couldn't get the tone I wanted out of just one or the other..) The more I listen to the track the more I think I should of raised the level/volume of the bass though... Also, you might want to wait a little while for the Fender "Zone" basses to come out in stores. One of them is a MIM and has the P&J pickup configs too.

My latest mp3
 
Krystof01,
did a quick search…looks like a bass drive is recommended for a decent sound.

dabluesman,

I listened to your mp3, - I like it…blues/rock is my style. I definitely got a good sense of your bass sound, - it’s big and full. Its funny, I listened to some Pod demo samples and some Fender precision domo samples, and they both sounded thin with fret buzz…maybe it was a lo-fi download…

Is there any info on the fender Zone basses…I don’t see if on the web page

Thanks,
 
Thanks mcmd, I think the bass came out pretty well for my first "real" try with my current setup. I have sloppy technique so I suffer from fret pop/buzz. I tried to filter them out a little but you can still hear them, though they are not too bad.

Zone bass info: http://www.fender.com/FrontlineExtra/product/show.php?node_id=3 (the Zone basses are near the bottom)

Here's another: http://www.bassstreet.com/product/show.php?partno=0135800xxx (use the links at the top to see other basses)

Here's some pics taken at Bass Player Magazine's "Bass Day LA 2001" (Pre NAMM) by extreme (an FDP member) http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=637760&a=13424463

I hope these links are what you are looking for.

-dabluesman
 
Yeah, I agree the sans amp bass driver is highly recommended. All I'm saying is don't expect a miracle. It's there to take your sound and enhance it in a way. If you don't have a descent signal going into it the resutls aren't going to turn out the way you expected them to, IMO.
 
dabluesman,

Thanks for the links. I will definitely wait for those Zone basses to hit my local GC.
I wonder, in general, does active EQ help with recording or just give you a hotter signal?

Krystof01,

so my VC3Q won't do much to enhance the sound?
 
mcmd, I would guess that recording direct with an active pickups/eq config would be the better way to go. However I have yet to try it, but to me it seems that you could have more control of the frequencies(?) during the recording process. I hate going back after a track is recorded and filtering out un-wanted frequencies.. maybe with an active setup, you can deal with that more easily!?! Either way, I'm waiting for a Zone Deluxe to try this with.. I just hope that the "growl" is still there.
 
Back
Top