Members mistersully Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 i have a sterling by music man ray 34... i really like the bass but am looking to improve my recorded tone would love to pick up some any tips on recording an active bass.... the preamps/DIs i have are a universal audio solo 610... a golden age projects pre 73... and an fmr rnp the hardware compressors i use are an fmr pbc-6a... a golden age projects comp 54... and an fmr rnc (which i'm not that keen on for bass) i generally use high pass filters on my other tracks to leave the bass room to breathe any ideas would be appreciated... cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 the 610 to the PBC should work perfectly , I'd leave the "thick" on the PBC and hit record . I would also use the GA73 as well . I see no problems there . I might use IK Ampeg SVX and maybe a few UAD plugins after it's tracked. Sometimes if I'm not too lazy I'd double track with both pre's and leave one clean and the other add the plugins and blend . I would think though that the 610 and PBC would work for almost anything . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ctrlaltdelete Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 Seriously though, after you make sure you have the technical considerations addressed (impedance, stage levels, RF offset issues, etc), and you are getting quality tracks, the rest is a matter of opinion and dictated by the mix. The finer points of my tone are usually lost in the mix and won't make-or-break the song. I usually track the DI from my amp, a DI from my bass (sansamp or whirlwind is what I use at home), and mic my cabs. I mix and EQ those tracks, compress, and rip it down to a single track. Any sort of effects is added afterwards. Each signal sounds totally different to me. The Amp DI is usually the sweetest tone in my setup (usually use a Mesa mPulse 600). The Bass DI tends to be bright and have a lot of upper harmonics. I will usually bring this track up in the mix if I am soloing otherwise, I just use it to add some brightness rather than trying to add with an EQ. I love the sound of speakers when they are pushed hard so Mic'ing the cabinet is something I always do. I tend to get a lot more low end to work with as well. Close-micing a 10" with an SM57 (40 - 15k I think), along with an AKG-D112 (20 - 17k) works super-great for me. I am sure there are better mics for bass recording but they were cheap and I am happy with them. EQ is probably the hardest part for me. 80Hz range will drive the overall bass in your track but it is nice to have 20 - 40Hz available. Even if you can't "hear" it, it makes a difference when it is there. 120 to 350Hz is where the character of your bass is usually heard and this is (for me) the most difficult part to EQ for any given track. This is what has to sit with the rest of the instruments. I am not an engineer but I have spent a lot of time in the studio. I would (also) like to hear what other people are doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 Everyone you ask is going to suggest something different. Different styles, different techniques, different equipment, and all based around what sort of music they're recording, what they want it to sound like, what sort of guitar/drum sounds it goes along with, etc... You have plenty of good gear there to get a good sound. I've had good results plugged straight into an RNP before. Take some time to experiment with EQ and compression, but there's nothing wrong with the gear you're using. Remember that your upper mids (around 3-4k) can be important with bass tone, and don't go crazy in the 800-1k area because a lot of the time that's where the meat of the guitar sound lives (although not always). But the biggest thing to remember is that there are no hard and fast rules, just guidelines. As long as what you're doing sounds good, it is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted April 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 the 610 to the PBC should work perfectly , I'd leave the "thick" on the PBC and hit record . i only (very) recently got the pbc-6a and had spent very little time with it... last night i spent quite a while messing with it and the 610 and i have to say it's a killer combo... i was getting much closer to the tones i'm looking for... i'll try tweaking in ampeg svx tonight thanks for your input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted April 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 i haven't gigged as a bass player for ages, so i don't currently own a bass amp... i'm thinking of picking up a smallish combo for mic'ing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted April 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 Everyone you ask is going to suggest something different. Different styles, different techniques, different equipment, and all based around what sort of music they're recording, what they want it to sound like, what sort of guitar/drum sounds it goes along with, etc... You have plenty of good gear there to get a good sound. I've had good results plugged straight into an RNP before.Take some time to experiment with EQ and compression, but there's nothing wrong with the gear you're using. Remember that your upper mids (around 3-4k) can be important with bass tone, and don't go crazy in the 800-1k area because a lot of the time that's where the meat of the guitar sound lives (although not always).But the biggest thing to remember is that there are no hard and fast rules, just guidelines. As long as what you're doing sounds good, it is good. thanks for the specific eq tips... that stuff is definitely helpful i'm open to lots of different opinions... i'll give just about anything a whirl and see what works for me i have to say though, i think the pbc-6a might be a big part of what i was missing... what a great little compressor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 I've been eyeballing one of those as a replacement for the RNC in my live rig, actually. I only use it to keep from getting blaringly loud if I slap a couple of notes in the middle of a song, though, not really as a tone-shaping device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted April 7, 2011 Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 Bass to Zoom B9.1ut which creates ready for recording tone. That sends signal to mixer which goes to Fostex multitrack recorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted April 7, 2011 Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 Sansamp Bass DI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rimmer Posted April 7, 2011 Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 Sansamp Bass DI. Yep. I've got some of the best tones out of that thing.. Mine doesn't have those 'line' 'instrument' switches though.. ?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One Bad Monkey Posted April 7, 2011 Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 I use the DI out on my Radial BassBone into a Tube Compressor to the board. Works great, easy to set up and control, makes the engineer happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted April 7, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 Sansamp Bass DI. i like this idea [video=youtube;8G1kawKA_Jo] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J the D Posted April 12, 2011 Members Share Posted April 12, 2011 I look for the DI to do nothing but convert my unbalanced signal to a balanced signal. I do not want it to do any coloring or other tonal changes whatsoever. That allows me to establish the tone before the DI using whatever effects or EQ I want. I use Audipile's Active DI for both active and passive basses. It works off a nine volt battery but will use phantom power w/o drawing on the battery if phantom power is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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