pre's and channels for bass and guitar

J

jdavidb

New member
I've read up on all the $550 to $750 preamps and channels such as the Toft, the Spec, the P1 and a few others.

5 string bass recording is my top priority. I was interested in a Sansamp RBI recently. Now I am thinking that something like an EC-1 or a P1 would render an RBI useless. Is that right? I can re-assign that $250 for the RBI to some other piece of equipment on the short list if I don't need an RBI.

I definitely need a preamp for mic'ing though. So, here's my order of priorities 1. 5 string bass direct-in 2. mic'd guitar cabinet clean channel, semi-overdrive and full overdrive. 3. vocals. Yep, vocals are at the bottom of the pile for me. So when it comes to mic'ing guitar cabinets, which of the $550 to $750 preamps are you all liking most?

I don't record drums or any other sort of multi-mic / multiple simultaneous track recording. It's always one thing going in at a time. So, one awesome front end channel is all I need at this time. Or, maybe two channels if an RBI will still be useful for 5-string bass.
 
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Save an extra $250 so you can be in the $1k/channel pre-amp range. So many more doors open up.

Regarding pres that excel in recording bass, look at the A-Designs MP-1 or MP-2. I recently bought the MP-2 and one of my main needs was a good bass DI, along with a clean pre for vocals.
 
i've recorded all 'my' bassguitars trough a Joemeek VC8 Fathead,
guitar preamp,
with distortion, opto compressor (presets and 1 'compression' button),
and an EQ,

the thing sounds clean enough, the compressor has a nice dark color, the unit is supersimlpe to use, only the eq has a bit 'weird' frequencies it works on but it has always done a nice job,
you can plug instruments in it, and on the back you can plug line-level machines in it

i think i paid about ... €300 for it , but this machine is pretty hard to find,

another cheap solution that works for me is this:

bass direct into a (cheap) dbx 163x , and that compressor is connected to a small fully parametric Eq (symetrix sx201, very cheap too),
fat compressor and the eq is good enough to cut away some dirty frequencies

oh and i must add that this unit has phantom power and i recorded alot of vocals with it (with an akg 44) , sounds OK but i always find myself changing EQ during the mixdown... this works for me, but i think you're looking for more 'high end' stuff...no...
 
Save an extra $250 so you can be in the $1k/channel pre-amp range. So many more doors open up.
Click to expand...
good point. it doesn't really start at less than $1k. great river is the one to choose. not sure about the mp-2 if you want something high end
 
It is, indeed, true that you'll step into a whole different class of preamps if you get into the $1000 range. However, you also said that recording your bass is your top priority. And, I'll tell you this. The SansAmp will give you a whole lot of bass tones that you won't be able to get from ANY mic pre + compressor + equilizer combination. That thing has TONS of useful bass tones, from clean to heavy grunge and everything in between. While I'm not a big Rush fan, check out any of their more recent recordings for some examples.
 
I just purchased the sansamp RBI about a week ago to be used in my recording setup... i have not had too much of a chance to run it through all its paces but so far it has impressed me with the many sounds you can get out of it. i used it right into my da7 mixer and i also used it yesterday at my bands gig (one output into a swr workingman for a stage monitor and the other into the PA... its also great for recording because it has an affected and unaffected output (with the unit "not activated" it just works as a DI box)).

i wasnt too terribly impressed with the sansamp circuitry not on with MY bass however i dont think my bass is the best recording bass out there (its a dean edge pro 5... active EMG pickups). however, with the circuitry on i found it easy to find a sweet spot or a little growl or punch.

hopefully this helps you a bit... i dont think you can go wrong with getting the sansamp rbi or bass driver. at the same time tho, i wouldnt discourage you from investing in a nice preamp/compressor unit as well.

my advice: get a used rbi (i did it and saved $120) and give it a real good rompin on and see if you like it and if it satisfies your tones and all... then go from there.

hope this helps

-dan
 
Thanks everyone. It's cool to see the RBI almost get eliminated then its own reputation brings it back to "irresistible" status. Yeah I'm gonna get one for its diversity plus I don't really want to always be having to crank up my one and only high dollar channel for everything. So there's that money still allotted.

My preamp price seems to have shot up by $300 though heheh regarding the AP-1 and the 1-channel Great River. They're both around $1000. That's cool though. I can quit eating for 2 months. Just kidding. It'll just take a little longer than I planned.
 
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