Recording Bass

[doc_backmask]

I currently own a F255 and am awaiting the arrival of a F405. The pickup selection is done via individual pickup a nob at the back that can adjust the pickup blend. Which model is it? The easiest way to get articulate notes is to record with a pick on brand new strings. Some people do the whole boiling thing, which helps, but brand new strings is best. I put them on the day before tracking to let them adjust to the guitar. I also use a 0.99mm pick for speed and flexibility.

My tone on our record is a blend of the bass DI and a reamped track through an Ampeg SVT3Pro pushing a Peavey 810 TVX miced with an Audix D6. We tested three mics, and that sounded best on my cab.

You can hear samples at backmask.com. The F255 is on:

New Revelation
Blacklisted
Prisoner of Mind
Dark Fiber

All others were recorded with the ESP LTD B500, same chain.

 

[ReliXKeepeR]

Well, I think that you have more than one problem.
First of all I don't know your bass, but I guess you can make a little bit better tone of it.
Second, may be you can play just a little bit better and clearer.
Third, your record is noisy as hell!!!! I don't know if it's your bass (hardly), the Behringer DI or turned on monitor near you or (which makes noise for your recording), but you have to deal with it if you want high freqs in your bass. If you don't it's not that big problem, but still you can loose a little bit of the attack.

btw I tried to mix your track with some drums and here's the bass sound I ended with. Not that bad I think!

Clean bass:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4f36z9

Some drive:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4f36z9

 

[blackcom]

From DI -> Mic preamp -> Add a little around 25hz. Hipass at 10k. Remove quite some at 1k. If the bass is boomy remove some at 100 with narrow Q.

Use two or three compressors. Really fast attack and release. First compressor at a really high ratio, second one a little lower and so on...

Also, from the DI unbalanced, feed a hi-gain guitar-preamp with a speaker-simulation output. Highpass at 120hz or more, lowpass at 10k. blend with the clean tone to get more attack and distortion.

Make shure the bassplayer don't do anything else then sticking to the song. Bassplayers with huge ego's and "smart" ideas" can be very problematic in a recording situation.

I never mic bass-amps....don't think it's neccessary.

 

[whitedamp]

Put a lot of compression and try this eq:
300: +6dB (low shelf)
700: -5dB
1000: +9dB
9000: -7dB (high shelf)

to add more sparkle use an exciter instead of just add more treble

 

[Hell Breath]

Make shure the bassplayer don't do anything else then sticking to the song. Bassplayers with huge ego's and "smart" ideas" can be very problematic in a recording situation.

Amen to that.

Of course, the same can be said about guitarists, drummers, vocalists etc.

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

what i usually do is record 3 tracks of bass guitar:

1: clean DI signal
2: sansamp
3: mic in front of the cab

the mic is especially to give the bass player the idea that the tone you will be hearing in the mix is HIS tone. you don't go and buy a $3000 stack and plug straight into a board. If you choose an amp, that's whatyou want to hear. (you can always ditch it in the mix if it sounds like shit )

the DI signal is usually compressed to hell and lowpassed very low so i just use it for the tight, clean low end

the sansamp signal is usually highpassed from the point where the DI is lowpassed (around 120 Hz) and used for the grindy mids and highs.

what i do with the mic signal is very much depending on the amp used.

most important thing when recording 3 channels of bass: always make sure the are no phasing issues!

 

[Jaymz]

 

[metaldrmmer83]

Hey guys,
So my band's in the process of trying to track bass and we're having some issues. We're getting a nasty hum from the bass just going through a Countryman DI box. The ground switched is engaged but we're still getting something. When his active pickup switch is engaged, it hums until the bass player touches something metal on his bass to ground the hum. When he flips his active switch to passive, it's not as bad, but we lose the option of using his tone knobs. Half the problem could be the circuitry of my studio but when we used the same set up tracking guitars with a DI signal, we had absolutely no buzz at all. If anyone has some insight on my dilemma, please feel free to post your thoughts. Cheers!

 

[JBroll]

If it disappears when he touches it, something is grounded wrong. His active electronics may need to be grounded to the bridge (most common problem with those symptoms), or it may be grounded to the bridge when it shouldn't be (common with incorrectly installed actives) - get that checked out by a better tech than whoever set the thing up.

Jeff

 

[Deaf Ear]

It could literally be hundreds of things. Interference from cell phone towers or power lines. It could be your lighting, your computer monitor, anything powered. The wiring in the guitar could be the problem as well. However, a guitar wired properly is still an antenna until you ground it out by touching the strings. There will never be a perfectly silent guitar. Try turning off the monitors and going through the cans. Turn off lights one at a time and unplug everything you're not using, again, one at a time. Turn off your computer monitor and see if that helps. Also, to state the obvious, have you tried other cords? Make a checklist and get to it.

I'd definitely run down a process of elimination, and if that fails, get thee to a tech. If I try and record during the daytime hours, I get a lot of guitar noise that goes away at night. It's all about what's in the atmosphere at the time. Have him walk around the room as well, see if there's a spot where the hum goes away.

 

[JBroll]

If the interference is dropped more on touching metal, having the ground to bridge checked should be the easiest way to have it as quiet as possible as often as possible. Take it to a tech if you can.

Jeff

 

[metaldrmmer83]

Thanks for the help guys. I had the guitar take to Gary Brawer who's one of the best guitar repair men in the San Francisco Bay Area. He replaced one of the pickups b/c the adhesive holding the pickup in place was leaking onto the pickup and the shielded all the wiring. But i'll take it back to him and have him look at the ground to bridge and see if that will help. I'm also going to get my hands on a Fender P-Bass just to try another bass which i've used before and KNOW won't cause much hum. Thanks again guys!

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

You guys have both pickups' volume on when recording direct?

 

[scorpio01169]

try different setting and see what sounds best for you.