Best recording techniques for bass

[runpre311]

Hey- I just wanted to open up a discussion about different ways people have successfully recorded their bass tracks. I usually just go direct.. Sans amp, EQ, Compression, etc. But I have messed around with some processing and sometimes can get some crazy tracks. Let me know about your bass recording experiments... thanks.

[dagosto]

I usually go direct and mic the cabinet as well. I've been using a Beta52 because otherwise it would just sit in my cabinet. The main tone comes from the processing I use on the bass.

I usually end up using a few different free plug-in's to get the bass sound I like. One is a compressor called BLOCKFISH that can be downloaded at digitalfishphones.com along with a number of other quality free plug-ins.

The other is a effect called Cyanide 2.0 found here:

http://bram.smartelectronix.com/

It's an interesting waveshaper that I use to add some fuzz. It has a mix knob which is great for automating to get control the amount of fuzz on the track.

[runpre311]

Sweet. Sounds like you got it down; Im gonna go check out those plugins. I have an AKG D112 which is a good mic to use on bass and guitar amps. It captures a great sound (I just prefer to go direct w/ bass cuz my amp is crappy). But the guitar amp sounds awesome with it. How do you go direct and mic'd at the same time, is there a DI on your amp head? Do you use a Sans Amp?

[dagosto]

Right now I'm using a little IMP2 from Whirlwind. I do have my eyes on one of these though.

[Bellringer]

I like to blend 1 track of my direct signal from the head (ampeg) or recently experimenting with some POD settings. On a 2nd track I like to use an AKG D112 Mic about a foot from the 15" speaker. I usually get the attack from the 1st track and blend in some low end from the mic. Works for me.

[clineaudio]

What I'm seeing more and more of on hard rock recordings now is this lick (takes a box or 2 to accomplish):

Guitar> Impedance matching Y-box (like something from little labs, 2-3 outputs- a,b,c)
a: Tube Guitar head (you'd think it'd sound funky to not have the "rumble", but trust me, nothing makes that bass cut, in a tasteful manner like a marshall head or the like)
b: Bass Cab w/ mic
c: DI

[smopo24]

yea, the more angles the better.....but direct with a sans amp is good; i like the sound i can get from them.

[909one]

The best luck I have had is using a large diaphram condensor mic such as a AT4033 or a Rode NT1 on the cab. There is something about the large diaphram that works so well for me on bass. I have tried direct but I just don't like the sound usually. Sometimes I use two mics, like a 57 for the upper mid punch and a d112 for the low end. I like the d112, but the one thing annoying about that mic is that it tends to make certain notes louder than others due to the extreme low freq bump. I also tend to compress bass to recording, definitely helps in getting the highest bit depth when recording.

[lukedavo]

I would have to agree with smopo on this one. Sansamp RBI Bass DI. Thats all you need! Great result every time........every time!

[johnS]

What kind of tones can you get from the RBI? Is it only good for overdrive sounds? I just need something that sounds decent as a bass DI for my recording rig. For this application, would you choose an RBI over a modeling do-hickey? Like a Pod or a V-Amp?