bass cab mics

[schnozzle]

Has anyone had success recording a bass cabinet with any microphones other than the usual suspects (D112, Beta 52, Sennheiser 421...)?

--Schnozzle

[djimbe]

The one that gets the most use at our place is a Beyerdynamic M380. It's a figure 8 and apparently not made anymore (it's not the studio's; it belongs to one of our regulars). Most of it's work is in front of an SVT driving an 8-10 cab in a very small and dead amp closet. Works great, usually sounds good, not hard to find the "right" spot. I'll grab the 421 long before the D112, especially for weird stuff, like when your bass player gets a hair up his ass to play his '74 P-Bass through his Peavey Classic 30 practice amp. Good thing there was a UA M610 around to help on that chore, 'cause that bass track sounded WAY better than I thought it would...

[Kyle]

I like the AT4030 and a 57 with a seimans mic pre has never let me down.

[Eric Rottmayer]

there was recently a thread about using condenser mics on bass cabs and
i recently tried this with my studio projects C1 and loved it. it depends on how
loud the cab is i guess, but at lower levels i think it sounds great.

eric

[doc]

One engineer I know (recorded and ran live sound for Sunny Day Real Estate and currently The Firetheft) swears by the shure 55SH (the elvis looking mic). He says he almost never uses anything but that on bass cabs. He also uses the D112 on snare a lot and sounds great. The 55SH is basically a 57 capsule in a cool housing. The metal frame definitely changes the characteristics of it compared to a regular 57. I've also gotten really cool sounds from bass cabs using a Crown boundary mic that I modded a bit.

-doc

[nutone]

i love neumann 47fet, or m149. for both bass cab and kick drum. u87 can also be cool on bass cab. i usually will use omni if micing close, or figure 8 if far away.

[I'm Painting Again]

EV re20 works well

[eh91311]

The best recorded sound I've ever gotten on my bass rig was in a "pro" studio that used a Neumann TLM103 on my 410 cab at moderate volume... sounded great.

[Red Rockets Glare]

I used the Royer Tube-mod Mic on the bass last time I did a session & got a great sound. the bass had a lot of guitar-range sound as it was going through a bassman amp. the royer really picked up the mid and upper grit of the amp but had sort of a too-huge bottom end that sounded fine once compressed.

[analogcabin]

I really like either an RE-20 or a GT MD-1a, in combination with a Jensen DI. Check the Phase..........

e.maynard

[schnozzle]

Doc:

I'm curious about the Shure 55SH mic that you mentioned. I assume this was the old model, rather than the recent re-issue. I actually have one of the re-issues...do you know if there is any difference between the new and old? I'll certainly give it a try.

Thanks,

Schnozzle

[cassembler]

Beyer Opus 66.... supa phat!

[doc]

Hey Schnozzle,

The 55SH is the new one. I think the vintage ones probably have a little more output on average but the one my friend swears by is the new one you can get anywhere for about $100. Try it out, you might like it. I've been pretty impressed with the sounds he's gotten with it. Keep in mind, however, that he's exclusively micing loud rock bands (lots of cranked up, rumbly Ampegs and Fenders). It might not work so well for soft/moderate rock or other genres.

-doc

[JES]

Shure KSM-32 sounds awesome. But in some mixes, so does a 57 or 58. Sometimes you don't need all that low end.

Best,
--JES

[schnozzle]

Doc:

That's great to know, since that's the mic I already own! It just didn't occur to me to try it on a bass cab. And yeah, I'm recording stuff that's really loud and rumbly too, so that's no problem. Thanks for the tip!

Schnozzle