How do you mike your cab?

[Mog]

Almost time to hit the studio again. This time around we're planning on using a different engineer and producer. However I'm fairly picky when it comes to recording as you'll see.......

Usually my sound comes from a blend of direct bass, a reamped signal through a JCM 900 into a gk goldline miked with a bog standard SM57 and a reamped signal through the TE into an Ampeg 4x10 with a Ribbon(+ pop filter) mike at the cone and an AKG D 11 at the port.
Sounds tricky I know but its a good mix.
I usually only get away with it when recording with our usual guy and have lots of time, but with a new engineer time may be tight and I might not be able to run that set up.

So, how do y'all record yer bass tracks? I'm looking for mic suggestions, plugins, anything really.

[skej21]

[quote name='Mog' post='1044011' date='Dec 1 2010, 04:44 PM']Almost time to hit the studio again. This time around we're planning on using a different engineer and producer. However I'm fairly picky when it comes to recording as you'll see.......

Usually my sound comes from a blend of direct bass, a reamped signal through a JCM 900 into a gk goldline miked with a bog standard SM57 and a reamped signal through the TE into an Ampeg 4x10 with a Ribbon(+ pop filter) mike at the cone and an AKG D 11 at the port.
Sounds tricky I know but its a good mix.
I usually only get away with it when recording with our usual guy and have lots of time, but with a new engineer time may be tight and I might not be able to run that set up.

So, how do y'all record yer bass tracks? I'm looking for mic suggestions, plugins, anything really.[/quote]

Personally, I have a number of methods. For the 'amp' bit, usually a large diaphragm condensor placed about 1-2ft in front of the speaker, slightly off to the side so that the air doesn't blast through the diaphragm and destroy it. Then a dynamic mic right up close to the speaker to get all the thud.

Then mix that together with the DI signal. My DI signal is mostly a 'line out' job from my amp head and then through a compression unit (Aguilar TLC Compressor OR DBX160A depending on what I'm after). However, sometimes I don't use an amp at all, in which case it's just Aguilar Tonehammer and Aguilar TLC Compressor straight into the DAW of choice.

Although, what usually happens is, I turn up and plug my bass in where the engineer says so and let him do what he does best. It is his/her JOB after all and I'll hold my hands up and accept that they are an engineer for a reason, the same as I'm a player for a reason lol.

[Mog]

cheers lad.

[ironside1966]

As above is good advice.
But there is not a one stop solution you need to experiment.
If you cab has a high frequency driver you will need to take that in to account
I sometimes I place a kick drum mic in the port. But one microphone in the right place is worth a dozen in the wrong place

[PapillonIrl]

My best result came from Neumann U47fet or some clone thereof (bass cab not as fussy as vocals so a decent clone will do) into a good compressor (Tubetech CL-1B/Urei LA2A for smooth, Purple MC76 or Urei 1176 for agressive) into a good preamp, into a good converter. Shure SM7 also good, as is EV RE20. I like to compress to disk/tape YMMV.

[ShergoldSnickers]

I used to engineer in a recording studio that I helped build - late 80s/early 90s.

First step was to listen carefully to the cab output, and try to replicate that position with a mic - that gives you a starting point. We'd then tape a small cross on the front grille of the cab showing the mic position - this becomes a positional reference point from which instructions like... :up 1 cm, to the left 2cm etc could be relayed. By being methodical it was usually easy to find a good position using the one mic. Keep it simple.

Type of mic? Depends on whether the DI or cab sound should dominate, and how good each is. If the cab sound was good then a condenser to capture the full range was a starting point. It was often decided that the DI was now of use only to beef up the sound a tad, if at all. On a mediocre cab, I'd go mainly DI, and experiment with mics until you found one that complimented the sound in the band setting.

I seem to remember using a consumer Technics electret condenser on one cab - it did the job, and just goes to show. We even tried a couple of Tandy PZMs rewired for phantom power and placed on a big 'V' shaped baffle to give a stereo pair. Awful. Not bad for drums to capture the room sound though.

Still got those Tandy PZMs somewhere. Must plug 'em in and see if they still work.

Edited December 2, 2010 by ShergoldSnickers

[Low End Bee]

Sansamp DI. Saves a lot of time. Our producer loves it and he's won a grammy and everyfink

[Mog]

Cheers guys, some nice ideas there.

[WHUFC BASS]

Some sort of DI box for me - either a Sansamp VT (now sold though) or sometimes even just a preset I've made up myself.

Rarely mic an amp up although the idea of using a mixed DI and mic'd signal does intrigue me, its just the hassle of setting everything up and getting the right sound. I usually find it easier to just go direct in.

[joegarcia]

If you're using an engineer and producer why don't you leave it to them? If you've chosen to work with them they must know what they're doing? Surely this is what they do for a living.

[Protium]

[quote name='Mog' post='1044011' date='Dec 1 2010, 04:44 PM']Almost time to hit the studio again. This time around we're planning on using a different engineer and producer. However I'm fairly picky when it comes to recording as you'll see.......

Usually my sound comes from a blend of direct bass, a reamped signal through a JCM 900 into a gk goldline miked with a bog standard SM57 and a reamped signal through the TE into an Ampeg 4x10 with a Ribbon(+ pop filter) mike at the cone and an AKG D 11 at the port.
Sounds tricky I know but its a good mix.
I usually only get away with it when recording with our usual guy and have lots of time, but with a new engineer time may be tight and I might not be able to run that set up.

So, how do y'all record yer bass tracks? I'm looking for mic suggestions, plugins, anything really.[/quote]

DI

[paul_5]

The best recorded sound I ever had was an ampeg SVP pre into a power amp into a Hartke Hydrive 4x10. We took a DI from the Ampeg, close mic'ed the cab with an AKG D112 (dynamic kick drum mic) and then put an SE2200 (large diaphragm condenser) about 18" away slightly off axis. We did this for all of the tracks on the EP and varied the mix depending on the sound we were after - lovely.

If time's tight then I just use the Ampeg and boost about 1.6kHz to emulate some of the 'punch' from the cab mic.