Bass Treatment

[Jay Messina]

Originally Posted by mtstudios@charter

Hi Jay,

In 1986 you and Jack Douglas did a record for a band I was in called Rough Cutt. If i remember right you used a RE-20 on the Bass Amp. Is this your go to mic for Bass or do you now use the amp modeling? How do you generally treat Bass Amp vs. Bass DI (EQ, go to Compression and ect.)

Thanks Jay glad you are doing this.


Matt

Hey Matt,

I still like the RE-20 (at least for a starter) on the bass amp. I recorded Matt Bissontte not too long ago in LA, at Capitol Studios. He had a Markbass setup. I recorded a DI and a RE-20 track. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to use more of the mic, than the DI in the mix. It's usually the other way around for me. It sounded good in the studio, so I just added a bit of compression on both the mic and DI. If I have a Fairchild available, that's what I'd use for compression. I like API 560's for bass EQ.
If I can get the amp sounding good in the studio, it's usually better than any of the amp modeling. Having the DI recorded separately means you can always experiment with modeling after the fact.