Nah, not really. It's true that the waves are much longer. This is why all those booming kicker boxes you hear rattling your windows or at the intersection coming from some tiny-wheeled Altima are much more distinct to you at a distance than the rest of the music. Imagine how imbalanced a frequency curve you have if you place the mic there. Now for the guy inside the Altima, the mix is perfect and he doesn't understand why he's still not getting laid.
Put the mic too far back and it will be delayed too much in relation to the other tracks. Some people mic bass cabs the same as guitar close micing smack up against the cloth. Me, I like it a little further out, like a foot if I can get away with it. Bass cabs are usually the worst culprit for bleed into drum mics, so positioning is critical.
-kent
