Best cheap bass guitar mic and kick mic?

vivalastblues · Post by **vivalastblues** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:00 am

Cheap as in the $200-300 range. Preferably not condensers. thanks

vivalastblues · Post by **vivalastblues** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:02 am

I should clarify, I'm asking about two separate mics for two different things, not one mic to handle both.

thegeek · Post by **thegeek** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:27 am

I like using condensers on kick and bass personally because good ones typically have a low enough range to handle those lower frequencies.

When I mic a kick drum I use a Shure Beta 52a inside the drum (usually right underneath the hole where the rack mount for the toms is). Sometimes if I want some more "room" with it I'll put a my Rode NT-2A about a foot or so outside of the kick drum (usually 3x the distance from the beater as the Beta 52). A lot of condensers will work... it just depends on what you're going for in terms of tone. I hate the AKG D112... I know a lot of people swear by it but I don't think it captures the low end well at all... at least compared the to Shure.

For bass cabinets I use a similar setup (it might have to do with the fact that the only condenser I have is the NT-2A.. ) but in "real" studios I would grab any high end condenser they have. AKG C 414, Mojave Audio MA201, AKG C12 all have a good enough frequency range to get a great sound. Those along with a Shure Beta 52 and you'll be set.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:29 am

Favorites:

Kick- AkG D112 (it gets some flack around here but mine has served me well for ages ), Sennheiser E602. Some people like the Audix D6 but I sold mine because I thought it was way too hyped (frequency-wise) compared to the other two I mentioned which are both somewhat hyped.

Bass- SM7, RE20, AT 4033,

The good news about those bass mics is they aren't really even bass mics, they work well for bass as well as half a dozen other things (sometimes for mellower kick on the part of the RE20 or the SM7). For this reason they are a smart buy.

LazarusLong · Post by **LazarusLong** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:48 am

e902 will do both very well. so get 2, I guess. Don't skimp and get the e602, you'll be sorry. e902 both gets the attack and the WHUMP. Good stuff!

SkylerT87 · Post by **SkylerT87** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:01 am

If you have a good enough Pre and EQ a 57 can do well with both these and you can get very cheap. If not I would suggest the Beta 52 kick. Its the only kick mic that is under 200 thats worth it. or if you are a DIY type of guy you can make your own sub kick with a 8-10inch speaker. But know full well that you are probably going to want to team it up with another mic to get more of the high end of both instruments. But I do agree that condensers seem to do a better trick with both these. Options, Options, Options......

BostonBassist · Post by **BostonBassist** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:09 am

+1 on the D112 here - I have plenty of mics to choose from now and still often use that with a direct signal for bass. Use it on kick all the time too - and I have a few to choose from there as well - thinking about building a subkick for fun though... Can usually get a D112 used well under $200...

Marc Alan Goodman · Post by **Marc Alan Goodman** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:40 am

Haven't used the e902, but I rest assured it's at least as good as the e602 which is amazing on kick. Couldn't recommend it more highly.

For bass I usually prefer to use more full flavored mics (my all time favorite bass rig right now is a U47 about 3 and a half feet away from a fender princeton reverb with a 12" speaker). So you might not need to stress it as hard as you think. I don't think I've ever had a mic I considered a "bass amp" mic. A lot of the time I prefer condensers if I'm blending it with a DI.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:02 am

Both mics for $300?

I'd get a SM57 w/ TAB-Funkenwerk xformer, and a Sennheiser e602 (easily found used for $100 or less).

Or I'd spend it all on a used SM7 or RE20 (if you're not usually recording both sources simultaneously). You'd get a hell of a lot more mileage out of either of those, IMO.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:03 am

The Audix D4 is more natural on kick than a D6...I like them both for different things. The D4 isn't bad on bass amp or even heavy guitar. I do agree with others that in a perfect world I would prefer a condenser...though D112s work fine for both, Beta 52 is good but similar to a D6 sound. I like a 421 on bass amp, RE20s are great on lots of sources but pushing your budget...I'd usually use a DI for bottom end and a dynamic for mids if using a condenser wasn't an option.

In your budget for dynamic I'd try to either find a used RE20 for bass, or get a D112 and a Beta 57, or a pair of D4s.

Artifex · Post by **Artifex** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:17 am

LazarusLong wrote:e902 will do both very well. so get 2, I guess. Don't skimp and get the e602, you'll be sorry. e902 both gets the attack and the WHUMP. Good stuff!

Love the e602.

mscottweber · Post by **mscottweber** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:32 am

Artifex wrote:
LazarusLong wrote:e902 will do both very well. so get 2, I guess. Don't skimp and get the e602, you'll be sorry. e902 both gets the attack and the WHUMP. Good stuff!
Love the e602.

Agreed. Although I have never used the e902, the e602, when applicable, has never failed to give me the sound I was looking for.

I would be interested to hear the two in comparrison, though.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:35 am

I am a big fan of teh Beyer TGX50, which I am not sure if they make anymore. It works great as an unhyped kick sound. Also nice on bass guitar.
The kick ball by blue isnt bad. It will nail most pres with too much level when on kicks. It does do a good job on bass guitar and it has a bass cut/flat/lift switch.
I like my GT fet condenser on kicks as well.
The sennheiser MD421 can be good on bass as well.
D112 I dont like. It is too hyped. that said, it can surely be a time saver in getting to a finished drum sound, it just seems to only do the one sound.
The D12 I like a lot better but thanks to ebay I never see them for less than $400.

digdoug · Post by **digdoug** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:55 am

Just picked up an EV N/D868 and I love it. $130 from a Music-go-round online. Seems to have a bit of a low-end hump (50-60 Hz?) and scoop in the ,middle, but nothing outrageous. I'm sure I could use it on other things besides bass/kick. Maybe worth adding to your list of possibilities. (disclaimer: I'm a novice)
D

vivalastblues · Post by **vivalastblues** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:00 pm

Thanks for all the awesome replies. I'm leaning against using a condenser (I have up till now) because I'm doing live stuff with multiple instruments in the same room and am trying to minimise bleed so I wanted to try dynamics.

So far the Beta 52 and e602 are looking good, with the sennheiser just beating out the shure. People seem to say a lot that the AKG (d112) has only one sound and you can't do much about it, so I'll probably rule that one out. Someone online also made a comment that it has a very 80s sound, not sure if that's true but yeah.

So say I got the e602 for kick, what should be the other mic I get for bass? Or should I just grab 2 e602s? I figure I should have some variety with these.

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Best cheap bass guitar mic and kick mic?

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