Mic Techniques for Bass Guitar

[riffmachine]

First off, since this is my first post, I would like to express my thanks for the existence of this forum and the people who participate in it. I have learned a lot and found myself absorbed by all the useful information and cool samples that people have posted. There definitely is a lot of talent lurking around here. And now, to my question. I was wondering if anyone had any helpful advice on ways to capture some good bass tone. For my situation, my bassist is primarily playing a Warwick 4 string through a Ampeg SVT-3 Pro Head, into an Ampeg 4x10" and a 15". So far we have experimented with a Sennheiser 421 and Shure Beta 52A, and it seems the best tone was captured by the 421 pointed straight at the 15" speakers dust cap, and about 4 or 5 inches from the grill. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions they might want to share in regards to mic placement, specific mics, or tricks/techniques that have yielded badass bass tone. Thanks.

And btw, we have tried recording direct, but so far we just like the sound of a mic better.

 

[black sugar]

Great first post. Welcome aboard!

Here's my $0.02 on the subject... I agree with everying you mentioned. Sounds like you have a great rig to work with.

With bass, I always aim right at the dust cap, start at the grill, and move back. I usually end up back on the grill, though.

My current favorite bass mic is the RE20, but the Beta52 is nice as well. I've found the Beta52 has a more aggressive high end than the RE20, but the bottom isn't as nice, IMHO. I don't have access to a 421, unfortunately. It's also hard to go wrong with a D112. I'm going to try a D6 on bass very soon. Maybe tonight even.

I prefer a mic'ed cab, too, but it's always good to have a clean DI signal just in case.

 

[gumplunger]

When equipment permits, I like to split the signal and run one direct and the other into a mic'd amp and use the amp signal to get a nice agressive top end and use the direct (with some plugins) to get a solid low end.

 

[Ermz]

I usually try to get as many options with the bass as possible. I think the last time I tracked it I ran a DI'd signal and also mic'ed the cab with both a Beta52 and a D112. The reason behind this was that the room I was tracking in was abhorrent and I just needed as many options as I could get.

 

[riffmachine]

Thanks for the responses everyone, they are much appreciated. When my drummer gets back from vacation and we get the chance to do some recordings, I will post some songs.

 

[Shpongled]

Dude, your band sucks!! hehe

 

[riffmachine]

Dude, your band sucks!! hehe

Damn you (shakes fists), you are a poopface!!!

btw, please welcome my bassist to the thread.

 

[carl@laruso.com]

When equipment permits, I like to split the signal and run one direct and the other into a mic'd amp and use the amp signal to get a nice agressive top end and use the direct (with some plugins) to get a solid low end.

Yeah man I always find that to be the best way .... "art" do a really cheep and great sounding signal splitter pedle that does the trick (£20ish)... for the solid low end on the di'd signal i like to use the waves maxbass pluggin... it does rad things with psycoacoustic's!... and makes bass audible on teeny weeny speakers.

mic wise I favor a d112 or sometimes even a c3000 (depends on the material i'm working on but deffo something that goes down to 20Hz) 1 thing tho, make sure if you'r tracking a di signal with an amp signal that you pop it's phaze.... but if your using an amp sim I find they usually do the phaze invert for you as part of the mic modeling tech.

and cab wise i'd mic the one of the cones on the 4x10 .... more punchy... you'd get the low end you need from the pure di.

Hope that is of some use to you buddy

Yo

C.

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[SPLASTiK]

last time I used a DI'd signal combined with a Sennheiser e602 (kick mic) and a Neumann TLM103.

 

[Nebulous]

smooth bass response= Beyerdynamic M88
Thats all there is to it!