What are you using to record bass?

StillLearnin'

StillLearnin'

New member
Just curious... Bass has been my nemesis for years trying to get the sound I want recorded. I'm so far from what I want it makes me sick.

My quest at this point is to try and get close to the bass tone that Johnny Christ in Avenged Sevenfold gets. It seems like it's got the right balance of everything - plenty of high mids for definition, lower mids for balls and low end to fill the rest of it in. No one element is overpowering. Right now I've been using an Ampeg SVP tube/solid state preamp that is missing the mark.

I'm trying to avoid buying a Gallien-Krueger 2001RB and 4x10 or an old SVT just for recording bass...

Anyone have any tricks and soundbytes of stuff you've really nailed down a good bass sound on?
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

I don't think I'd part with your money just yet. What is the preamp not giving you? I normally just record everything dry and let the mixer do what he does, but I've also had a lot of success with a SansAmp RB1 run direct as well. You might consider a compressor to even things out a bit, start with all of the settings at neutral point and build from there. What kind of bass are you using?
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

not that Im recommending it but I just got a $100 bass off musiciansfriend.com and will be recording through my $50 toneportGX
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Go here:

http://www.soundclick.com/interstatex

Look for the clips called "The Good Stuff" and "New Instrumental". "Soulcatcher" for a different sound.

My bass rig for those tracks is a crappy MIM Jazz Bass with stock pickups, and a cable directly into my Roland VS880. I run a compressor and EQ in the effect insert path. The EQ is almost always -10 dB @ 60 Hz, +4 dB @ 200 Hz, +3 dB @ 1.4 kHz.

2:54 into "New Instrumental" is a good example of the sound I usually shoot for. "Soulcatcher" uses the same settings but with slap bass.

If you browse through the other crap I've got listed there, I probably used the same bass settings on all of it. I'll play closer to the bridge or neck depending on what type of bass tone I'm going for, but I've only ever used my MIM jazz bass, direct with a little compression & EQ.

How do you have your bass EQ'd in the mixes you're doing?
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Hellion said:
I don't think I'd part with your money just yet. What is the preamp not giving you? I normally just record everything dry and let the mixer do what he does, but I've also had a lot of success with a SansAmp RB1 run direct as well. You might consider a compressor to even things out a bit, start with all of the settings at neutral point and build from there. What kind of bass are you using?
Click to expand...

Thanks guys.

I'm using a DBX compressor with it. Going into a Tascam console. Using two different basses - Hamer Cruise Bass and a MusicMan Stingray. I just don't think there's a way around getting speakers involved but I was hoping to get somewhat closer without going the route of a bass rig.

What's it not giving me? Balls - The sound isn't bad - it just has no throat or real body to it - just a real generic bass sound - it's there, you can hear it, just has no character...

Listen to this - it's youtube so the sound quality is marginal... This is what I'm hunting - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8akxHCUBLk

Innerdream - I haven't yet mic'd the bass since all I have in my possession at this point are guitar amps. Hell I'll probably give that a twirl through a couple 4x12's .
 
Last edited:
Re: What are you using to record bass?

What about a good DI box and some software like Guitar Rig? Plenty of bass possibilities in there, and it won't cost you a fortune.
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Jay 77 said:
What about a good DI box and some software like Guitar Rig? Plenty of bass possibilities in there, and it won't cost you a fortune.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I need to explore that - I haven't played much with emulators etc...
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

I record a P-Bass into a TonePort.

The Line6 modeling (in the software domain) is very good.

Here is an old clip, that was made entirely with a TonePort and its accompanying GearBox modeling software (TonePort hardware + GearBox software = POD. The difference is that a POD can stand a lone and the TonePort / GearBox setup requires the processing power of your computer.)
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Hey - Thanks for the responses. Now I have a few different paths forward to choose from thanks to you guys.

I'll let you know how it turns out in the form of a new tune
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Happy Dude said:
not that Im recommending it but I just got a $100 bass off musiciansfriend.com and will be recording through my $50 toneportGX
Click to expand...


Yeah that's pretty much exactly what I did. Works well for my little half a$$ed recordings!
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

Ive found the Amplitube Ampeg SVT plugin to be the single best solution for bass. Has a wide range of amp and cab models and also a number of effects. Ive tried guitar rig and waves svt as well, plus also have the complete line6 plugin bundle but the Ampeg plugin just sounds by far the most like a real bass rig.


I guess the on bad point depending on your viewpoint is if you like Ampeg heads and cabs or not as thats all there is
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

millsart said:
Ive found the Amplitube Ampeg SVT plugin to be the single best solution for bass. Has a wide range of amp and cab models and also a number of effects. Ive tried guitar rig and waves svt as well, plus also have the complete line6 plugin bundle but the Ampeg plugin just sounds by far the most like a real bass rig.


I guess the on bad point depending on your viewpoint is if you like Ampeg heads and cabs or not as thats all there is
Click to expand...

Yeah - I'm a huge fan of SVT's... Where did you pick that up?
 
Re: What are you using to record bass?

You can download a demo from the IK Media website, fully functional I belive

Good way to check out what it can do

Has all their head and cab models, for 8x10's to 15's etc


Coolest thing is when I use it as a plugin, I record the track dry, but monitor through the effects, and then I can go back and try different cabs and amps til I find something that works, then mix it down.

or you can take your track, and double with a different rig as well and have a bi or tri amped sound etc

very versatile way to work
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Snake Aces
Brainstorming for Custom Bass Cabs
Replies
13
Views
702
Snake Aces
Snake Aces
GuitarStv
Bass guitar and mids - rules of thumb?
Replies
3
Views
878
dystrust
dystrust
A
What Eminence speakers are in Ampeg SVT-210AV Micro Bass Cabinet?
Replies
0
Views
2K
alex73013
A
D
All amp cabs are made the same, why?
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
some_dude
some_dude
D
Bass Amp "matches" for common Guitar Amps
Replies
15
Views
4K
jeremy
jeremy
Back
Top