How best to mic a 2x15?

[Kevsy71]

Morning all - any tips please on mic placement for home recording of a greenboy Dually 2x15? I have a Warm Audio WA87, and a cheapy vocal condenser. 

Cheers!

Kev

[Dad3353]

13 minutes ago, Kevsy71 said:

Morning all - any tips please...

Assuming it's for tracking the bass alone (not 'live' with others playing...), just place the mic at mid-height about 1 metre or so in front of cab. Room acoustics will play a part in the sound recorded, so moving stuff around and trying different locations (cab in a corner, or in the middle of the room etc..?) could be rewarding.
If there are others playing at the same time, it will be difficult to completely avoid 'bleed', but the mic at mid-cone height, horizontally halfway between cone centre and rim, 20 cm from the cab might be a place to start. More 'toppy' towards the cone centre, less towards the rim, distance to be adjusted by trial. Closer: less 'bleed', but less 'girth'.

Just my tuppence-worth, subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others. Hope this helps.

[Kevsy71]

Thanks Dad - 

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

Assuming it's for tracking the bass alone (not 'live' with others playing...)

Correct. Cheers for the tips, I'll give that a go later this week and also see (hear) if there is a difference between micing the upper or lower speaker - I'm guessing the lower will have more lows due to being closer to this floor.

Much appreciated, I'll post the results!

 

[bazzbass]

a cheap condensor might not handle the bass frequencies too well. You'll soon know, best of luck

[Kevsy71]

4 hours ago, bazzbass said:

a cheap condensor might not handle the bass frequencies too well. You'll soon know, best of luck

Thanks! I'll use the WA87 to mic the cab, and see if the other condenser (the cheap one) can pick up anything useful as a room mic. 

[BigRedX]

If you are close-mic'ing pick the driver furthest from any ports. If both drivers are the same distance then off-axis mic as far away from the ports as possible.

[roman_sub]

I would typically try having the mic on axis / fairly central for a speaker - and play with distances. 1 foot +/- would be a good starting point - bass cabs do sound a bit better with slightly more distance than guitar cabs. If WA87 is like the U87, may be worth experimenting with different mic pickup patterns. Cardiod + figure 8 can be useful for minimising unwanted room reflections / bleed (by reducing pickup from back/sides, respectively); but omni may actually sound more natural.