Recording bass guitar - amp or DI

[John N]

Does anyone here record bass primarily micing an amp? (assuming that the bass and amp in question sound good)

I know many of you are going to say use both and combine but there are phase and other issues involved with that.

I prefer the tone of a well recorded amp rather than the generic and somewhat anemic DI signal. Then again I have a fairly mediocre DOD active DI box.

But then again I have yet to achieve a great recorded bass guitar sound on my own.

[rty5150]

DI. you can always reamp or use a modeller if you don't like the DI tone. hard to do that with a mic'd bass cab.

[fossaree]

i had a session last year , and as usual I've tracked both .

When mixing I've choosed only mic'ed track . But recently I've re-mixed it for fun and prefered the D.I ...

That happens !!!

[A LaMere]

this is one of those things that I think you have to try out for yourself...

I pretty much always prefer the sound and feel of a mic'd amp...
but a DI's bass is certainly useable and often is much easier and more convenient to record.

I know some people who flat out prefer the sound of a di'd bass...

So again, try both... and figure out which you like.. .

Some people... many people... record both and mix to taste..

[jbr101]

It's one of those personal preference things. I prefer DI, gives me less of a headache to deal with. There are occasions I will mic an amp, but if I do that it's because I'm looking for something very specific that I'm not going to get from DI.

[BOWIE]

Generally speaking, I'd say that 90% of the stuff you hear out there is a DI, sometimes with a little amp mixed in. Most of the amp-only bass tracks are Punk bands as that style usually calls for an amp.

[fossaree]

keep in mind , also , that a mic'ed amp generally requires a really good amp !!!

not only a good amp , but an apropriate aproach to mic the cabinet , regarding style ,musician , gear and goals .


I'm saying that because I've been into trouble a couple of times that I made wrong decisions while tracking ( most made on situations where i wasn't aware of in advance !)

Whenever it's possible , however , it's always a good idea to have both ... just in case !

[ZEBRAAA]

ribbon it....best ever

[staticwhitesound]

i definitely like recording both, and then i can dial in how much of each i want depending on the song, or even the part of the song...

[rocksure]

Mostly I just record a DI'ed bass unless a bass player particularly wants his amp mic'd, then I use both. The ticket when using both I find is to move the mic'd track ever so slightly (while listening/checking) in relationship to the DI track to keep them in phase. Often a good result can be had by running a DI out of the amp rather than out of the bass direct for a bit of a different character.

[completeidiot23]

I say if you can record both at the same time. Do that.

that means if you ever later on down the track, decide that the mic'd amp doesn't suite the mix, you can fall back on the D.I.

and if you can't get the bassist back, maybe even running the signal back through a different amp, then mic that with a different mic.

[DanH]

Originally Posted by rty5150

DI. you can always reamp or use a modeller if you don't like the DI tone. hard to do that with a mic'd bass cab.

+1. DI then reamp if necessary. I do like recording both when there is time, though.. phase issues, if any, have been pretty easy to correct when recording clean.

[RCM - Ronan]

Despite my aversion to recording guitars direct, I find I can get really good bass sounds with a good DI, but I can always reamp into a bass amp. If I am recording a bass player that really has a sound he has developed with his amp, I will always take the amp (but probably with a DI)

[rty5150]

Originally Posted by rcm

Despite my aversion to recording guitars direct, I find I can get really good bass sounds with a good DI, but I can always reamp into a bass amp. If I am recording a bass player that really has a sound he has developed with his amp, I will always take the amp (but probably with a DI)

\m/\m/

ronan digs it! that is good enough for me! now if i could get kevin shirley to verify it, too...

[Chrislpp]

I've heard good tones combining a DI and SM58 even, but plenty of options.

Get the phase right.

[Unclenny]

DI for me.

Need to get something going on though on the way in to keep things interesting.

I go through a BBE DI box with the Sonic Maximizer engaged......then into my Trident strip for some 'EQ magic' and compression.....then through RNLA for further stompage.

Other than all that......it's simply DI for me.

[music_food]

I always find d.i. by it's very nature boring and at the same time, I like the idea of committing early to a tone of bass (through the guitar and the amp) that you feel will artistically fit into your mix. I can understand the utility of d.i. and reamping.

[wwittman]

If you put a mic on a good amp, you have an instant good bass sound

whereas those who record a DI are invariably "discussing" how to MAKE a good bass sound.

the exceptions are:
a) when you have that extraordinary player with that extraordinary instrument, where it might indeed sound fine taken DI... but it will still sound BETTER through a good amp
b) when everything ELSE is also DI (drum machine, synths, etc) and the bass blends better by being in a similar plane
c) when you have absolutely no other choice.

[Hi_Flyer]

I record alot punk bands with some very unique bass sounds. sometimes I get great results with mic'ed cabs, sometimes the mic is absolutely horrible. I haven't been able to get good results with any consistency, although I suspect it depends alot on the bass player, their gear, and their ability to dial in a decent tone.

These days I usually try to get both DI and a mic'ed signal if I can.

[John N]

(from the OP...)

well its somewhat reassuring that others have problems with recording bass guitar.

I did some experiments in the last several days comparing miked Amp, straight DI and DI coming off the line-out of the amp.

first off the amp is a pretty basic 50 watt Ampeg BA112 with a stock 12" speaker. Its pretty good sounding little amp but not fantastic. The bass is a Fender Jazz with DiMarzio Area J noisless vintage style pups. I just ordered a Lindy Fralin split coil Bridge pickup for it.

Mics tried: modded Oktava MK219, AT4047, Blue Kickball, Joly modded nady rsm-4 ribbon.

The DI is a basic DOD active.
In these tests I preferred the DI coming off the line out of the amp as the best compromise. Its a little too HiFi but EQ can deal with that. basically it captures the tone of the amp's preamp like the mic but eliminates the room and there's alot more extention to the low end - more fundamental. The amp has more punch but that seems to be all up in the muddy midrange.
I guess my next test should be a combo of the 2.
Thanks all!

[kittonian]

What I do is use my REDDI and record a DI. I then comp all the takes together and make sure everything sounds great and in time. From there I use a Radial X-Amp and Radial SGI to send the signal back to my bass amp in order to reamp the bass. I dial in my tone, adjust my mic placement and then I take my Radial Phazer and adjust for the phase difference between the original DI and the newly mic'd up amp.

Once that's all dialed in I hit record and I'm all set. I've been doing this for a while now and this is why we just launched the AudioLot Studio Toolkit that combines all three of these studio tools in one low cost package. You can check it out at: Radial Engineering*-*Radial Studio Toolkit - Pro Audio Sales - AudioLot - 888-224-3343

Once you've got the tools handy it's very easy to replicate what I do every day with bass. The nice thing is you can also do this with guitars (i.e. use an amp sim to track the DI'd guitar performance and then reamp during the mix to get the exact tone required).

Very cool stuff!

[noah330]

I have one of those old Ampeg B-15 flip tops I bought for a couple hundred bucks about 15 years ago.

I usually put a 421 or a 57 on it and take a DI out of an Avalon U5.

I don't see much about it on here, but I really like the IK Multimedia Ampeg software for bass tracks.

I don't find myself mixing them together much, I usually use one or the other.

The main issue I have with reamping is that (and I say this as a guitar player) I tend to treat my amplifier as an extension of the instrument. The interaction between the amplifier and the guitar does have an affect on how and what I play. I will play differently on a Les Paul into a Marshall instead of a (for example) Fender Twin.

[BarbieDoll]

DI and re-amp...at least according to Michael Wagener

In the Studio with Michael Wagener Pt.4 - Bass - Audiofanzine

[Pies]

I di and track the amp at the same time
but 9 times out of ten I end up reamping the DI
cutting the bass amp mic and blending that with the DI track
that I usually run through a bass amp modeling plug

[fossaree]

nice trick thumbsup