Micing a bass amp tips

[James-Doolan]

Hey guys im going to try micing a bass amp for the first time (been using d.i and sansamp untill now) and im lookin for some tips on mic selection/placement.

Will be micing a svt 4 pro head into a svt 4 x 10 cab and here is my mic collection

Microphones :
- Audix
D6 x 1
D4 x 1
D2 x 2
I5 x 1

- Shure
SM57 x 1
SM7B x 1

-Audio-Technica
ATM-450 x 2

-Beyerdynamic
MC 930 x 2

What mic would you guys go with ?? Any general tips on placement??

At the moment im going to be approaching it the same as micing a guitar cab (sweeping the mic with cans on untill im satisfied with the tone) but im unsure about the distance from the speaker i should be.

With a guitar Cab im right up against the grill with the mic should i do the same with the bass Cab or should it be back further as the wave form is larger?

As for mic selection im thinking of going with a sm7 (for mids) D6 (for lows) combo, what would you guys use out of the mics i listed above and why?

Im also planning on using the d.i signal in the mix also and im looking for any advice on dealing with the phase mess im going to get between the miced cab and the d.i

The bass in question is a yamaha 5 string rbx 775 into a country man d.i into mic pre on my saffire pro the song is a mix of fast 16th note tech sections similar to btbam and alternative rock sections kinda smashing pumpkins like

Any pointers before i start this would be helpfull and apreciated

Edit 1 : Also any tips on amp settings for the svt 4 pro?? What about driving the svt with an od 808??? Or what about using my mesa head through the svt cab iv heard of this before anyone have any experiences??

Cheers,
James

 

[scorpio01169]

Me being a bassist, I would use the sansamp d.i+d6 combo. the D6 an inch away from the grill. use the direct signal to get the highs/mids or twangs of the strings and then bring the levels of the mic up just enough to fill out the lows.

 

[roy22341]

I'd try taking the D6 about an inch away from the grill and a D.I. I've had some decent results putting a 57 a little further back and sitting it low in the mix, just seems to add a little bit to it, I'm not sure why.

 

[462studio]

I would probably....

57 on the cabinet for midrange/high end.
DI split two ways, a super compressed direct signal, and one to a VST amp sim like Waves GTR for more of an Oommph sound. I think the amp I use a lot is called "ThunderBass"? Not sure on that.

 

[ahjteam]

are you going for more of a clean or distorted sound? If you are going for distorted, then use SM57 mic for highs and DI before the distortion pedals for lows

 

[if6was9]

I'd probably go with a 57 or I5 with the D6 and then the D.I aswell, no harm in tracking them all.
Something I tried with the last band I did was using a Ribbon mic with a pop shield in front of it about 2-3 inchs away from the cab, I really like the sound off it- the ribbon mic needed very little eqing since it already had a roll off in the high end. Gave a lovely warm thick sound. I only tracked it to see what it sounded like and was planning on using the D.I I took but ended up using only the ribbon mic istead!

Guessin thats the new tune ye played in Limerick James, looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

 

[462studio]

are you going for more of a clean or distorted sound? If you are going for distorted, then use SM57 mic for highs and DI before the distortion pedals for lows

Yeah, this is why I take the approach I do. So I can automate the amounts of each at any given time to fit the song/part/etc.

 

[James-Doolan]

I'd probably go with a 57 or I5 with the D6 and then the D.I aswell, no harm in tracking them all.
Something I tried with the last band I did was using a Ribbon mic with a pop shield in front of it about 2-3 inchs away from the cab, I really like the sound off it- the ribbon mic needed very little eqing since it already had a roll off in the high end. Gave a lovely warm thick sound. I only tracked it to see what it sounded like and was planning on using the D.I I took but ended up using only the ribbon mic istead!

Guessin thats the new tune ye played in Limerick James, looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Yea thats the same song Ciaran cheers for the tip on the ribbon mic btw unfortunately i dont have access to one at the moment iv heard good things about those t bone ones on thommann though i may check them out.

 

[James-Doolan]

are you going for more of a clean or distorted sound? If you are going for distorted, then use SM57 mic for highs and DI before the distortion pedals for lows

Some sections will require a distorted sound and some sections will be cleaner so do you think the sm57 would be a better choice than the sm7 for the distorted mids also how close to the speaker do you place the sm57??

 

[ahjteam]

Some sections will require a distorted sound and some sections will be cleaner so do you think the sm57 would be a better choice than the sm7 for the distorted mids also how close to the speaker do you place the sm57??

The same way I mic a guitar cabinet

 

[digitaldeath]

Guessin thats the new tune ye played in Limerick James, looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

More Irish Sneapsters?

 

[egan.]

I'd go with the Sm7 and give it about 2-4" off of the grill. Definitely get a DI as well. IMO the d6 is a bit too scooped for this application.

 

[James-Doolan]

I'd go with the Sm7 and give it about 2-4" off of the grill. Definitely get a DI as well. IMO the d6 is a bit too scooped for this application.

Cheers for the placement advice man

Yea i was looking at the frequency response graphs of all my mics and the d6 is pretty scooped in the lower mids but i just want to use the d6 to capture the lows of the amp and the sm7 for the mids. Im probably giving myself far to many options come mix time as il have d.i (for clean lows) D6 on cab (to blend with d.i lows) and Sm7 on cab (for distorted mids)

Maybe i should just stick with the d.i for the lows and ditch the d6 then again i can always ditch it come mix time anyways so i guess its no harm in using it

 

[if6was9]

More Irish Sneapsters?

Yep- Sure I met you in Limerick too Niall, Ciaran here from Limerick, I would have been teching the night ye played in Bakers cept ye have Little Dave to do it instead!
There's a few Irish guys on here now!

Yeah I've got one of those T bones james- Rb 100 I think it is, was only about 80 euro and its savage- Nice on guitar cabs, clean vocals, bass, I've used it as a drum room mic too, though the outputs pretty low for that. Gonna try it on a china next recording I do. Definately worth looking into at least!

 

[Seizure.]

I'd go with the Sm7 and give it about 2-4" off of the grill. Definitely get a DI as well. IMO the d6 is a bit too scooped for this application.

A bit too? haha its the opposit of what anyone would want in a mix i think

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

A bit too? haha its the opposit of what anyone would want in a mix i think

word!

I think an SM7 alone is already too scooped and also I don't think it's generally a good idea to mic the bas guitar with the same mic as you're micing the kick drum, since they will be interfering with each other more quickly than when you use different mics with different responses.

I'd definitely hook up the 57 and perhaps check out what blends nice with it. And of course track a clean DI for the tight low end.

I'm a big fan of d112's on bas guitar, often in combination with a 57 to add some more mids and grit.
Perhaps the D4 will get you somewhere near a d112, not sure, but I guess it sounds less scooped and "big" than the D6.

 

[James-Doolan]

word!

I think an SM7 alone is already too scooped and also I don't think it's generally a good idea to mic the bas guitar with the same mic as you're micing the kick drum, since they will be interfering with each other more quickly than when you use different mics with different responses.

I'd definitely hook up the 57 and perhaps check out what blends nice with it. And of course track a clean DI for the tight low end.

I'm a big fan of d112's on bass guitar, often in combination with a 57 to add some more mids and grit.
Perhaps the D4 will get you somewhere near a d112, not sure, but I guess it sounds less scooped and "big" than the D6.

Really because the sm7 has a pretty flat response up to 5000 i wouldn't called it scooped.

Interesting idea using the d4 instead of the d6 i might try that cheers

 

[Seizure.]

I'm pretty big on MD421N's at the moment! tried on with a Sm7B next to it and a sansamp track and that pretty much killed everything in a 2 mile radius!

I like my mids anyway haha.. I useally crank them on the amps themselves..

 

[refreshingapathy]

I'd use the D6 an inch or so from the grille of one of the 10" speakers. Play through it, and if that doesn't have enough bite try the SM7. Those are literally my two favorite mics when I have to use a bass amp... usually it's just DI and go

Although mad props to Seizure because I <3 my Sunn amp too

 

[GarethSE]

Call me bland, but I love the D112 on a bass amp.

Take the time to mic it well and dial in a good tone and you're set IMO.