Recording Bass

[Jules]

I picked up an Evil Twin di box, it's one of the best...Spendy though...

Jules

[Eric Bazilian]

PBass, Jazz, Rick, whatever, but NO active electronics.

Ampeg B15. EV RE20 or Shure SM7. Neve, Daking, Fearn, if you can. Manley ElOp, LA2, 1176, DBX160 also if you can.

Direct IF you must, Fearn's big red pricey tube DI.

[crowdog]

Yeah - lot's of good suggestions ...... so many variables - there is a great interview with Tony Visconti in Nov. EQ, since he's a bass player, much of the article is about recording it. He talks of reinforcing the fundamental freq. of the key that the tune is in & then it's harmonics with subtle EQ to bring it out.

My experience is that your room needs to be right to record & especially mix it well .... that there are no freq cancellations due to room nodes etc. - a whole other can o' worms!

I have a Sadowsky J-bass & Mod Graphite 5 string fretless that I record DI through a Vintech 1272 & mix with a signal from a Bag End 2x10 with a Walter Woods amp - pretty happy with those sounds. Definitely try Di + amp signals combined & see what happens for the BIG sound you hear - DI for definition & amp for the lard.

In the mix try giving the kick & bass different freq to emphasize for separation (try switching between which one's higher or lower) - & try high pass filters around 20-30hz to tighten it up , & low pass around 5-6khz & see what you think.
My 2 cents
Tony

[C SMITH]

For years I carried around an Alembic F1X preamp and an Ampeg B-15 Portaflex amp. I recently sold them both and got a Bass Pod. It isn't exactly like the real thing, but it is much more versatile and easy to dial in. In a mix it is very difficult to hear the differece. I really like the compressor in it. It is a model of an La2a that sounds pretty convincing. Give it a shot. I don't belive that I am giving up any sonic quality.

I like to get the drummer playing the song and then pick the bass sound that fits the groove. I do very little bass guitar eq at mix these days. The Bass Pod allows me to get good sounds fast. The session can keep moving and I can customize the sound for each song.

By the way, I have not had good luck with the guitar Pod. I use it on keyboards, but I haven't found it as useful as the bass Pod.

[aurix1]

OK... got the point. Wich takes us to issues number two: DI boxes recommendations...
aaaand
pre amps recommendations as well. (last time I used a Sadowski, but , I know surely it's my fault, it didn't sound as I expected).
Thank you, guys.

[aurix1]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Eric Bazilian:
PBass, Jazz, Rick, whatever, but NO active electronics.

Direct IF you must, Fearn's big red pricey tube DI.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


This is a major surprise for me! Do you mean no EMG that sound awesome on stage? Any one else on this issues?

[Eric Bazilian]

My apologies...this is speaking from personal experience only. However...experience has also shown that there is often little correlation between awesome on stage and slamming in the studio. Then again, maybe not...

------------------
Eric Bazilian/The Mousetrap
"Music Is Good"

[This message has been edited by Eric Bazilian (edited January 01, 2001).]

[aurix1]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Eric Bazilian:
My apologies...this is speaking from personal experience only. However...experience has also shown that there is often little correlation between awesome on stage and slamming in the studio. Then again, maybe not...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Au contraire!! No need to apologize. I appreciate you're sharing some of your experience with us (in this case, with me)
and of course 'live' and 'studio' are diffetent situations. What I meant was that
I would expected active electronics to sound great in studio.
Thanks a lot Eric!

[aurelio funk dias]

Fender Jazz Bass both volume all the way up (Forget Jaco sound), Good DI (CountryMan), Good Fingers, Good External Compressor if you need, Decent Tube Pre-Amp

[aurix1]

ok, and has anyone tryied the Focusrite ToneFactory on the bass, is it any good?
It would be a more versatile tool in studio rather than the BassPodPro (wich looks fine, by the way).