Recording bass....stuff...

Well, by now you're in on the secret: The vast bulk of bass recording since Day One has been done more or less direct into the board.

I'm sure I've told the story about Ike Turner when he was head producer at Stax: He was recording a session and the bassist and the engineer were putzing around with different microphones on the cab and wasting a lot of time. Turner furiously goes into the studio, yanks the bass cable out of the amp, stomps over and sticks it into the direct bus and screams, "THAT'S how you m-----------g record a m-----------g bass!!!"

The modern spin is to use a modeler or more exotic preamp.

Because of the extreme difficulties in controlling bass frequencies in an enclosed environment, recording bass with a microphone on a cab is still relatively rare and is a bit of a challenge to do right even in a big-buck major studio. At best, it burns up studio time ($$$) doinking around trying to control standing waves, rattles, etc., etc.

My own answer is the same as a friend's who records sound tracks for MGM, a J-Station's Ampeg SVT model varying cab simulations for effect.

I have numerous nice bass amps, but I have never recorded one with microphone.
 
Hard2Hear said:
For a bass, I have to HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the Musicman SUB basses.
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Guitar Center for some completely inscrutable reason dumped a bunch of them a couple of months ago at super-long discount. Some were on sale and identical ones were on the wall at the regular price. :confused:

In any case, I bagged an X01 for $319, purely out of curiosity and the deep discount from an MSRP of $999. You're right, it's just an incredible bass - a super-quality build, no frills, slab body, bulletproof ugly paint, slightly cheaper machine heads, cheapie pickguard, no case. Fantastic metal and plating and supposedly the same features, neck and pickup as the Stingray.

It's not my first choice for a recording bass, but it's an excellent instrument.

Here it is.
 
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass DI

I would recommend trying the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass D.I. It's an active direct box and tube amp modeler (analog). It will give you very nice, warm tones without any amps and you'll have MANY different sounds. You can "model" different brand amp sounds.

It's also great live, you can plug directly into the board and sound like with an amp.

I'm not saying this is the only way, but it would be my personal choice. It's very practical and sounds good. you can find one for under $190 on eBay and possibly way cheaper if you are patient. And they are very sturdy, so even getting a used one should be safe.
 
Gear_Junky said:
I would recommend trying the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass D.I.
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I've considered getting one of these, but I have repeatedly heard complaints that they are noisy from guys who got them for recording and then dumped them. The guys who use them for live playing love 'em though.

Noise is a killer for recording, so I've steered clear.

We may be talking about different SansAmp units, though, I'm not positive.
 
I bought a Sans Amp Bass DI for recording, haven't had the chance to use it yet though. First, I couldn't find a dang 9v (and didn't have the adaptor). Then I shot a framing nail through my right hand - kinda put the kibosh on playing/recording any for the past couple weeks. I'm hoping to get down to the studio tomorrow and give it a try ... finally. I picked up an Ibanez SR900 Soundgear bass on closeout for $600 the week before my mishap. I'm not much of a bassplayer, but this thing almost makes me sound like one.. I love the sounds I was getting through my Safesound P1. That's a great pre for a lot of things I've found, including Bass.

-Krag
 
run the model out and direct out from the bass pod and play with the balance between the 2 or record 2 tracks and blend later. make sure you have the switch on the right setting. toggle back and forth and youll know immediatly which way its supposed to be. i love the original bass pod. sans amp was a little grainy. dont forget the different cabinet settings in the pod. a art tube mp will work great too.
 
Well I got to try my SansAmp Bass DI ... finally. Not too bad of a unit overall. Not sure what I was expecting. I didn't get much noise until I turned up the presence knob. Then the further I turned it up, the more noise I got. I could keep it around 11-12 o'clock and be OK, but any higher and the noise would start to grow.
How did it sound? Again, not too bad. Very much like the Art TPS I've used a lot (before switching more recently to the P1). With either, and my skill (lack there of), a compressor is a must however.
In my short use it seems the Sans Amp would sound/function fine as a DI (for live playing 'direct' through a FOH - which is one reason I bought it). For recording, I suppose it's suitable, provided you don't need to crank the presence. But I didn't find it a step above the ART Tube MP (or TPS) for studio use.
But then again, to each their own.

-Krag
 
The little Sansamp box doesn't give a hot enough line level signal for recording - you need to add some gain from a pre as well. I read somewhere that there is a soldering mod you can do to boost the signal (I think it's buried on Tech 21's website somewhere).

I really don't like the presence knob very much, but it's a useful box.
 
this is what i found

i find the best sound is straight from my bass. i have an ibanez sound gear with active electronics and i get a great sound out of it. i also find that DR high beam strings work very well too. stainless strings seem to have a much brighter sound than nickle and they last longer for me.

i do have stuff tho i just find it easier to get what i want this way.
i have a v-amp pro bass pre amp from behringer, and for bass head i have an ampeg svt II pro (killer head) but the only thing i have found even interesting to record with is an ART BCC (bass command center ) effects unit its quiet and actually has a couple usefull sounds. but they dont make them anymore.

peace

mick
 
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