Recording Bass Direct

J

jeffoest

New member
Hi all,

I looked through the FAQs/Stickys but didn't find the answer to this question (well... maybe I missed it!).

I'm thinking of buying a bass (probably an SX jazz bass - seems like a good one for the money) for use in my amateur recording studio. Right now I use a synth/workstation for my bass (the Yamaha Motif) and figured a real bass would be a nice alternative.

So....to record this thing, I'm inclined to go direct as it seems this solution is a bit more useful than going direct for guitars. I both mic amps and go direct for guitars currently.

To record direct, do I need anything other than what I have now? I have
Preamps: Grace 101, RNP, Joe Meek MQ3
Guitar DI: POD XT

I've seen DI's such as POD Bass and Sansamp Bass made specifically for bass, but would I just be able to leverage my existing investment in preamps? Advantages/Disadvantages?

Thanks for any advice!!
 
you wont get the fullness of the bass going through a guitar DI you get a bass sound in the confines of the guitar's range on the DI.....just stop by the music store and pick up a small $20 DI....behringer has a small DI and DBI DIs are pretty good too...oh yeah and find the ones closer to 90+ db...some are 80db others are 101db
 
You do not need anything else. I have used both the meek and the rnp for bass direct with very good results.

I would warn about cheap basses... they will work, but you will likely want to budget an extra $150 to have new electronics put in... Just about anything by dimarzio or seymour duncan should work. I would suggest passive pick ups.

Here are some samples of bass recorded direct through the rnp...

This is a $100 bass with $150 pick ups into my RNP:

www.soundclick.com/rmutt (song: virginia)

This is an upright with a fishman into my Aardvark Q10 built in pre

www.soundclick.com/danwhitakercountryband (song: all)
 
Thanks for the tips guys!

I'm still just a little confused though. Both the RNP and Grace 101 Pre-amps do have Hi-Z inputs on them. Would I still need a DI? If so, in general - what would be the reason?

Excuse me if I'm being overly dumb!!
 
A D/I is just taking a Hi-z input (inst., line level or speaker level) to balanced low-z xlr mic level, so the're very handy going into a pre. But the pres you mentioned also cover the hi-z function.
Wayne
 
jeff - I'd consider a Sansamp DI box, the Bass Driver one (about $189), especially if you are using a cheap bass. It will thicken up your tone and give you a useful range of sound options. Its a very good little box.
 
jdier said:
You do not need anything else. I have used both the meek and the rnp for bass direct with very good results.
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance, but I can't find the Hi-Z input on my MQ3. Which input do you plug the bass into?
 
I think he must have been mistaken or was talking about a different Meek. I just checked my MQ3 and you are right - there is no Hi-Z input on it. I have one on both the RNP and the Grace.

Well - GAS has won over and I ended up buying the Sansamp Bass Direct. This seems like a pretty liked product that I can almost not go wrong with especially since the bass I have is a sub-$500 one.
 
I've used the sans amp bass driver and it sounded really good for punk/hardcore type music. I liked it a lot, and so did the bassist.

Now I just use my GR mp-2nv. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
You guys . . .

The best DI for the money if you want mostly clean to somewhat fuzzy is the ART Tube MP mic pre.

The best DI if you want more tonal options and amp modeling is the Sansamp.

The best DI period regardless of price is the Avalon M5 or U5 or whatever. :D
 
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