tracking/reamping guitars - low end question

[Fragle]

there's one thing i always wonder about....
for example, many guys on here with a 5150 will record it with bass and resonance way up....like between 7-9.

how the fuck do you guys deal with the low end?? i guess everybody wants a thick tone, but every time i crank up bass and resonance i'm getting a lot of excess lows that require a lot of post processing, e.g. high pass depending on the tuning plus a low shelf taking off a couple of db below like 150hz.

i'm not quite sure why you'd want to have them that high anyways. i don't even use that much bass in a live situation, so why would i when recording, where it's even more important to let kick and bass handle the low end?

so, is there anything to be careful about when using that much bass, like mic distance from the dust cap, any special post processing or something?
i'm using a 212 cab btw, which should normally pump out even less bass than with a 412. i already tried decoupling it from the floor, no significant improvement though.

so, what's the deal?

 

[Fragle]

bump

 

[Emdprodukt]

I'd like to know more about this too. I think that Black Dahlia had the bass on the 6505 somewhere at 9.
I always thought we wanted the low end come from the bass.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

If you are gettng too much bass its usually a sign that you have a bad room. I have my resonance at 10 and the bass on 8 for the red channel and even after micing up still find the low end beef to be lacking, although that is the result of my speakers mostly, i still have pretty thin guitars. Realistically if you are tracking in a good room, have a decent cabinet with good speakers and have a proper mic setup, you shouldn't have to worry about having too much bass on a 5150/6505 almost ever.

 

[egan.]

I think most of the guys running their bass and res that high are using a tube screamer which is going to rob some bass and compress what it leaves.

 

[Klosure]

Just a few questions sort of relating to this as I am also struggling with my bass and guitars...

I am correct in assuming that you want bass from guitars as well as from bass?

Or do you generally mix the 2 together?

And in guitars bass means where? 120hz and below? I know the frequency ranges I sometimes wonder how the 2 interact and what sort of level or interation you are after.

I noticed that sometimes the bass seems louder in chorus than in verse is this additional bass guitars would you think or is it the low end of the guitars?

 

[visceral]

Ive wondered about this myself. I know my room isnt the greatest, but I usually have the bass at about 5-6 and res about 6-7. If I turn it up much more it gets waaaay out of hand.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Just a few questions sort of relating to this as I am also struggling with my bass and guitars...

I am correct in assuming that you want bass from guitars as well as from bass?

Or do you generally mix the 2 together?

And in guitars bass means where? 120hz and below? I know the frequency ranges I sometimes wonder how the 2 interact and what sort of level or interation you are after.

I noticed that sometimes the bass seems louder in chorus than in verse is this additional bass guitars would you think or is it the low end of the guitars?

A lot of guys around here will tell you that bass in guitars is not important at all and they high pass at ridiculous levels. Personally I think the guitars should be as thick and beefy as possible without having any sub-fundamental lows or a peak resonance below 150 during palm mutes. Get as much beef from your guitars as you can that are still controlled. Think of bass as the instrument that helps solidify the root note of the entire mix and connects that with the kick.

When I look at bass and guitars in the mix, the strongest resonance will be at the fundamental and drop off, typically leaving a nice spot for bass to sit and for guitars to sit. The low of the low from the guitars will be about 120 and the low of the lows of bass will be at about 60 rolling off hard enough to give the guitars room. Basically both responses will look the same but the guitars will be staggered an octave higher than the bass and both guitar and bass bottom end will have its own room to shine.