suggestions for recording bass direct

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gritzy

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I need to get a bass setup strictly for recording purposes. I plan to go direct into a Fostex VF-16 and I want something fairly simple and cheap but quality (what else is new). The Line 6 Bass Pod looks pretty sweet but I really don't think I need that much in the way of modeling and effects. I just want some sweet tone in my low end. Also, I need an actual bass guitar along the same lines, quality sound for the nice price. Any suggestions for either?
 
I just run a line out from my bass amp into the recorder.
 
I have a Bass Pod and I love it. It's pretty easy to tweak the presets and get a sound that fits into a track. My favorite models on it are the Ampeg SVT, Acoustic 360, and the Eden Traveller. The LA-2A compressor model it has is really cool. The LA-2A is a classic compressor that sells for a couple of thousand dollars. The model of the comp. is highly usable and adds a lot of punch and fattness to the sound. The Big Muff effect it has is great if you are into rock or heavy sounds.

Fender makes some good quality basses for not too much money. The Jazz and P-Bass start around $300 and record really well.
 
The Bass Pod sounds like it would be the ulimate choice, ..for a few less bucks , you can get a sansamp bassdriver that sounds REALLY good, although not alot of variety to it. The other alternative if you record to computer software, use a bass enhancing plug in, like Waves Maxbass..it adds big time bottom to the low end.
 
Passive DI boxes can be had for less than 50 bucks.This has been the main way to record bass for a lot of folks for a long time.
Regular 1/4" low Z inputs make you use your boards mike pres real hard to get the voltage up (distortion). While the DI method uses balanced XLR that takes advantage of the 60 dB boost consoles automatically provide low Z inputs.Your pres aren't working so hard and you get a cleaner sound.
Often this DI sound is blended with the miked cab to suit.This is also the best place to EQ the sound,proir to tracking.If the console has 3 band EQ,much of the highs can be rolled off because they simply aren't there.A small boost at 100 K and a small cut at 200 K are also commonly done to "tighten" the sound.
I also have a j-station with its bass emulations and that product does a good job on bass as well.But primarily I wanted to give you the "old school" conventional wisdom.

Tom
 
Thanks for the info people. I'll have to mull it over and see what I can find in the way of a good deal.

Tom...you said that the DI is often blended with the miked cab. Will I lose a lot if I use only the DI? At this point I'm not planning on buying a bass amp. I want the the simplest, most portable arrangement that will offer me any sort of quality.
 
Well, maybe I'm cheap and pathetic here...but this is my opinion. To me, the perfect bass sound is one that you don't even notice when you listen to the tune. I mean, the tune would sound naked without it, but it should blend so well that you don't even realize that you're hearing it a lot of the time. Now this doesn't always apply...but for the music that I play, it applies most of the time.

Here's what I do. I run a guitar through a multi-effects device which has some pitch shifting features. I put it at an octave down, massage the EQ a bit, and use a cabinet simulator...then I go direct. I can't tell the difference. But I'm not a bass player either.
 
oops- my bad mea culpa

I didn't mean to suggest that bass lives in the 100,000 to 300,000 cycle range! I meant cycles per second (cps) or hertz (Hz) when i suggested bass EQ points.Sorry!Maybe that was another thread,"Psycho-Acoustic Effects of Very High Frequency Waves" or something...
Yes,the DI bass sound alone without the miked cab will do you just fine.Do you have a compressor?Often it makes sense to compress the bass gently while tracking to help make up for level variations during the take.So you don't get dropouts.
Also ,its better to EQ at the front end than later down the line.And SUBTRACTIVE EQ REDUCES NOISE,so twist 'em knobs down instead of up.Good luck.

Tom
 
Plugging a passive bass or guitar into a mixers line in can adversely affect your tone and make the guitar sound 'dull' or 'tubby', this is because passive pickups need a certain impedence to retain their high end. At the very least you should use a direct box.
 
I'm not at all impressed with PODs anymore. I do kind of like my Sansamp Bass Driver DI box for recording bass direct. Very natural sound, but it won't blow you away. You really need to run the Bass Driver into a preamp though, it doesn't put out the juice on its own, and really wasn't designed to. The Bass Driver into an ART Tube MP can produce some cool results.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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