Getting Good Bass Sounds?

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kakumei47
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Post by kakumei47 » Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:01 am

Recycled_Brains wrote:i've been extremely happy with the results i'm getting just using the D.I. on my Hamptone tube preamp with a little bit of "over-easy" compression through my DBX 160x. sits so well in the mix. great tone. i'm planning on grabbing a sansamp soon. i've used the bass driver a lot and love it.

if i'm micing a cab, so far the best sounds i've gotten were using an sm7b, or AT4040.

for amps, my new favorite is the Ampeg V4-B. so awesome.

-ryan
so similar for me. i've been recording bands with totally different ideas of bass sound and how the bass fits in the band so it changes, but for my own bass and playing i love the hamptone tube DI. i was using the grace 101 for a while (pretty good for mid present stuff), but the hamptone pretty much rules on the bass di.
for cabs the re20 usually just doesn't do it for me, but i like the sm7 a lot, 421s sometimes, and my akgc28/lomo capsule ldc if i'm not using it on something else. i used to sometimes do the sm57 as a second mic at a 45 degree angle thing, sounds cool for some stuff but haven't done it in a while. my bass really likes a little compression with the 1176...lends a feel my other comps don't.
i do mic and di, but most of the time i rely mostly on the mic signal.

oh yeah, the v4b totally rules. the straight up v4 is almost exactly the same but has reverb. they can sound like an svt, but you can push it more easily so you have a lot of tonal options. ruling.

AstroDan
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Post by AstroDan » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:28 pm

I've never gotten a satisfactory bass sound...but I am taking notes.
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TeleKing
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Good on you

Post by TeleKing » Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:54 pm

Nice response, AstroDan.

I. like you, have never achieve a bass tone I'm truly in love with. I have nice equipment. Definitely nailed great tones in guitar, drums, vocal. I've accomplished many sounds base-wise that I tolerate and even sometimes enjoy, but I've never gotten that sound that really excites me.

My best friend and bass player plays through a Ampeg Classic and 410. He recently set up his bass and got just the right mix on the pickups. His tone is probably the best I've heard in a long while. I don't come close to reproducing it on disc and I feel bad. It's such a great sound and I just can't seem to capture it, or really come close. I know it's a volume/distortion thing, but I sure would love to do him justice as I always can with the other instruments. I do think it's refreshing to see people admit they just can't find heaven no matter how hard they try.

takeout
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Post by takeout » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:10 pm

Currently favoring a borrowed Evil Twin DI and a 57 on the player's cab. Past experiments have also involved CAD E100s when I want more high end (rare).

I keep meaning to pickup a Sansamp Classic for trial purposes.

Did a 388 recording recently where the perfect thing for the band was a 57. Period. The desired bass tone was described to me as "unobtrusive".

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:00 pm

When I'm working on other peoples records I never have te time I need to experiment so I always go with my default - a DI and mic on the amp. The DI is always the same, a passive, cheap yorkville unit run into a McCurdy pre. The mic can range from a Beyer M88 to a 421 (the lo-fi M88) to an RFT DM2414 or an SM57.
Just remember to check the phase on the DI. On my set-up it's always out of phase with the mic.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:02 pm

P.S. When I mix I almost always use a low-pass filter on the DI signal to kill the clicky, fret-buzzy direct sound.

takeout
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Post by takeout » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:21 am

junkshop wrote:P.S. When I mix I almost always use a low-pass filter on the DI signal to kill the clicky, fret-buzzy direct sound.
At what point do you usually set your filter?

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Huntlabs
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Post by Huntlabs » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:37 am

I've been really happy with going direct through a Great River MP2M. Gets a nice fat sound. I like the Hamptone tube pre too but I like the GR just a bit more.

The GR is a great pre in general too.
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Red Rockets Glare
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Post by Red Rockets Glare » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:41 am

I'm pretty into;

Jazz Bass -> Sans Amp Bass Driver -> ART VLA (taking 2-6 dB off on the auto setting)

Re-Amp if needed. For me, rarely.

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NU-TRA
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Post by NU-TRA » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:49 pm

I use a A Designs REDDI for the direct and a RE20 with a 451 taped to it (phase aligned). It gives me many options.

JASIII
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Post by JASIII » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:25 pm

I'm going to take the not-always-useful route of suggesting that if you don't have a good bass PLAYER, you won't often get good bass sounds. I'm lucky in that my roomate and close friend is a fantastic bass player. Everytime I record him it sounds good, if not great. Doesn't matter what gear is used. It's in his (or anyone else's) fingers. I've seen him use the crappiest gear and get a good sound. I swear to god you can tell the tone is going to be good just from the way the right hand fingertips react to and 'bounce' off the strings. It's all in the delivery. People like James Jamerson, McCartney, Jaco, etc would get a wonderful sound if you gave them a $50 bass and cheap di box.

That said, I normally use a Sansamp ( a new one), or I've had ok luck running a SWR bass head through my 2 x 12 guitar cab and micing from about 4-6 feet away with a AT 4033.

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A-Barr
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Post by A-Barr » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:59 pm

It's in his (or anyone else's) fingers.
Try telling that to this guy,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDLvlicXBV8

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:06 pm

takeout wrote:
junkshop wrote:P.S. When I mix I almost always use a low-pass filter on the DI signal to kill the clicky, fret-buzzy direct sound.
At what point do you usually set your filter?
Depends on the bass, song, player, blah blah blah. Sometimes i kill everything over 1K, some times only the really high stuff.

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:14 pm

I've always been a DI guy, lately through the Sansamp, but a few months ago I got this Lab Series L2 mini-stack, and it sounds fantastic with a 57 in front of it. So my last couple of tunes I have mic'ed the amp by itself. I have to try DI/mic at some point now...

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Post by wookie » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:31 pm

Ampeg B15 R.

It sounds fantastic with a mic of course, but 9 times out of 10 the XLR out sounds way better than the Avalon U5, no kidding. Most of the time I end up just unhooking the speaker so there won't be any bleed in the drum mics. Sounds good direct to the console, really good through an old altec pre.
Tube preamp + tone stack = tuff to beat.

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