Best bang for buck?

[bscenefilms]

I am not a bass player...

I play guitar in a trio - drum, kbd and...me.

The keyboard player fills in the bass for what we do but occasionally we have a guest bass player fill in. Recently, our drummer convinced me that we should record in my living room (our normal rehearsal space...).

I agreed but said we need to get a bass amp so we can record a guest bass player...

So my question is - What are some decent amps that would suit this purpose? I am guessing a 15" speaker is probably the min for this? We play mostly classic rock type stuff (Think Steely Dan to the Allman Bros).

TIA!

[Rick Auricchio]

Try a good direct box and everyone use headphones. A living room just isn't the place for a rock band. Too much structural vibration, lots of knick-nacks to vibrate too.

If you must use amplifiers, use the smallest possible.

[bscenefilms]

Well my living room is not the typical living room - There is nothing in it but band gear... No furniture or nonsense in there - Just some acoustic blankets at strategic points... I get away with this because my wife is the keyboard player

[bscenefilms]

Wow - this forum scrolls pretty fast...

[bscenefilms]

Is this decent?

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....mbo?sku=482900

[Muckaluck]

Yeah I'm with the DI side of things. Get something like the Sadowsky Outboard Bass Preamp or the Countryman 85 that people seem to really like.

[naturalkinds]

Strange to see so many recommendations that the OP not get an amp when the OP is asking for advice on getting an amp.

: /

What is your budget? $200? $500? $1000?

[JMac4strngr]

For direct use a Sansamp, or a Line 6 Bass POD....... For a 1-15 combo, the Ampeg BA115 would be the best sounding low buck combo that I have tried out.

[MNAirHead]

the answers you're receivinng are baseless without knowing how you're recording.

[Din Of Win]

I'm not sure where you live, but i'm a diehard used gear fan.

In the DC area here we have an awesome used place that sells stuff for super cheap and you can try everything out allllll day long.

So if you have a place like that, buying used is always the way to go... especially if it's not going to be your main thing.

[bscenefilms]

Well, my only experience with DI is with guitar and mic'd is always better for that because of the dynamics that the guitar creates with proximity to the amp... Is bass different in this regard?

The recording setup is this:

All amps / drum kit are mic'd and fed into a Mackie 1200f. A seperate mix is then sent to each musician's headset that is customized for them. The Mackie goes into a Mac Pro that is running Logic Studio.

[MNAirHead]

Get a clean 10' cord and plug directly to your board.. you should be good enough... if you can create separate mixes, no need to add noise boxes.

Tim

[bscenefilms]

Fair enough. Will give that a shot!

Thanks, all

[megadan]

While I love amps, I agree that it's in the OPs interest to use a non-amp device here.

Either a regular DI box if you want a straight clean bass sound, or a sansamp for some dirt, or a full on preamp if you want some more gain and eq options.