Need Bright and punch for record

[Delapaz]

Well First of all i want you to get noticed about my gear, i got a Genz Benz ShuttleMax 12.0 GREAT head, 1200 watts of monstrous power, and a Basson b810 (the ones that nikki sixx uses on stage) well i just started recording right now, and i need to know how can i pull more bright and treble from my cab, i mean it got the best low end i´ve ever heard, but i lacks of highs, should i pull off all of lows and just leave cranked up all highs? i need somebody to help me, and if it is the best way to record using, Mic on cab, and D.I. from my head? genz benz says this is XLR Studio Quality D.I. Thanks for everyone who replies

[Sartori]

I thought Bassons were known for putting out nothing but low end.

Turn off the lows and crank the high mids and treble. You can also DI from the head to get around the cab's issues if it's inherently bassy. Or just DI from the bass, if you're okay with that sort of thing.

[old-fashioned]

Play your bass in a seperate room from where the cab is being miked. Use another mic and track to record the clacking sound coming off your bass (just the acoustic sound which comes out from the bass while you play). Blend them in the mix. This will especially be useful with roundwound strings.

[Phatbottom]

New strings. Boost mids, roll off bass, give treble to taste.

Mike with a LDC and use a DI not from the head.

I've never heard a "studio quality" DI from a head. A Radial or Countryman would be leaps and bounds better IMHO.

[riotorgun]

i have a heavily distorted tone,so in the studio we mike the cab and take a di from the bass and mix it for a little bit of definition.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by Delapaz

Well First of all i want you to get noticed about my gear, i got a Genz Benz ShuttleMax 12.0 GREAT head, 1200 watts of monstrous power, and a Basson b810 (the ones that nikki sixx uses on stage) well i just started recording right now, and i need to know how can i pull more bright and treble from my cab, i mean it got the best low end i´ve ever heard, but i lacks of highs, should i pull off all of lows and just leave cranked up all highs? i need somebody to help me, and if it is the best way to record using, Mic on cab, and D.I. from my head? genz benz says this is XLR Studio Quality D.I. Thanks for everyone who replies

Holla! those B810 cabs are kinda like that, great low but a bit omnipotent down there to easily fit in a record.
Unless you just use a yamaha
sub kick on the cab just to collect what it does best and take all the mid and top end from the di with a suitably set high pass filter.
Another idea is use the Genz pre amp EQ and DI. just pull your speaker cable out of the Genz power amp and just use the line out jack into your guitarists heads FX return thus just using his tube power amp and see what the studio has in the way of bright forward mid bass guitar cabs to hook up.
If they don't have any you really love go to another studio.

[BogeyBass]

What do you use for distortion?

is it a single tone knob kinda thing...or is it multi band


Or when you mix the 2 bass signals its possible that they are out of phase...so it might be canceling out certain frequencys

if your using software or a mixer somewhere their should be a Invert button, phase switch...

change the phase of just one of the tracks and see if the sound changes.

if it sounds better then they where out of phase, if it gets worse then it was ok.

Usually DI works better...but with lots of distortion a cab can work better since it removes harsh upper frequency.
essentially its a final filter....

so use a DI and run a software plugin cab emulator to clean it up. just turn off all the amp simulation and just use the cab emulator as a final filter.

Otherwise can you borrow a different cab if thats really the problem.

[MuzikMan]

Try running an D.I. signal with a miked cab signal. During mixdown EQ the D.I. for lows and the miked cab for mid and highs.

[IvanMike]

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

Try running an D.I. signal with a miked cab signal. During mixdown EQ the D.I. for lows and the miked cab for mid and highs.

good idea, and use a different DI for the direct signal - (a mic preamp is even better). That and the sound engineer should be able to work with you during recording, mixing and mastering to give you the final sound you want.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

Try running an D.I. signal with a miked cab signal. During mixdown EQ the D.I. for lows and the miked cab for mid and highs.

I think the original poster mentioned he had a basson B810
and wanted sugestions on getting bright forward mix cutting mid from that cab that isn't making enough of that sort of sound whatever he seems to do with the eq.

[IvanMike]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

I think the original poster mentioned he had a basson B810
and wanted sugestions on getting bright forward mix cutting mid from that cab that isn't making enough of that sort of sound whatever he seems to do with the eq.

ah yeah, DUH!

I still say try a mix of a good direct signal (you can try the one from the amp, but something like a mic pre, an Avalon U5, or even a regular "good" direct box might be better) and the amp with a mic. Of course you need to be careful not to get phase cancellation due to the position of the mic, so have a competent engineer do this if you can. You may also find that you will get a better sound by not including a mic signal from the cab, and simply using the amps internal DI, or a better one. I generally only mic an amp for recording if I'm trying to get some speaker "grunt" to add to the direct signal.

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by BogeyBass

What do you use for distortion?

is it a single tone knob kinda thing...or is it multi band


Or when you mix the 2 bass signals its possible that they are out of phase...so it might be canceling out certain frequencys

if your using software or a mixer somewhere their should be a Invert button, phase switch...

change the phase of just one of the tracks and see if the sound changes.

if it sounds better then they where out of phase, if it gets worse then it was ok.

Usually DI works better...but with lots of distortion a cab can work better since it removes harsh upper frequency.
essentially its a final filter....

so use a DI and run a software plugin cab emulator to clean it up. just turn off all the amp simulation and just use the cab emulator as a final filter.

Otherwise can you borrow a different cab if thats really the problem.

You can always slip a track a few samples, use a micro delay if 180 don't get it close enough for bedroom studio jazz, or if you are really pro, a little labs phase tool is coolest.

[pasta4lnch]

+1 DI for sure . . . EQ and blend to taste

[MuzikMan]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

I think the original poster mentioned he had a basson B810
and wanted sugestions on getting bright forward mix cutting mid from that cab that isn't making enough of that sort of sound whatever he seems to do with the eq.

That's right. Cutting the bass on the cab will have the effect of pushing the mids and highs forward............presto!

[duff84]

a bright punchy amp for recording id suggest a Gallien krueger 1001 RB II head or 2001 RB head should do the job for that type of tone, killer cutting rock and roll tone.

[fourfinger]

New roundwound strings, if you don't already have some on. New GHS Boomers are great, as are many others.

[Sartori]

I always found GHS Boomers to be exactly what their name described.

[Delapaz]

I´ve just used my Peavey Foundation 88, and an MXR D.I. with highs up, and my basson was better than anything, JTX Kick Drum on Cab, and the direct signal to a presonus BlueTube with Groove tubes gold.... My Sound is like a million bucks now, next bass i´ll record will be my ampeg big stud 70, and then my american p-bass a 90 model..... that MXR m-80 sounds pretty Rock N Roll, it gave me the extra highs i needed... give it a try, i will stick to record with this, then i´ll post some samples, thanks again to everybody

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

That's right. Cutting the bass on the cab will have the effect of pushing the mids and highs forward............presto!

Adjusting frequency bands is a wonderful thing, a mate of mine, made a turbosound 21" sub sound almost like a a jbl slot tweeter when he accidentally plugged the bass bin into the hf amp rack.
Well if you ignore the fact that the signal to noise ratio had slightly deteriorated due to some techy ******** about horses for courses, resulting in the mains hum being actually quite a bit louder than the brilliant agile hf we could slightly hear.
he was so enthused by this new found control that he then proceeded to make an amstrad tape deck:

sound just, well almost like an Ear customized Studer C37 2" master recorder:

all with just the aid of a simple parametric eq.
After 40 years at the top end of audio recording engineering.
I find it much too easy to start with the instrument naturally sounding exactly like you actually want to record it.
Now I am into bigger and better things like recording double bass and then add pitch shifter and loads of eq if I want a violin sound.

[Delapaz]

Thank you all for your replies now i´ll be getting a kickass sound! i´ve just finished recording with my babies, the ampeg big stud, and the peavey foundation... the fender P basses i have didn´t gave me that bright even with ProSteels wich are the most bright strings i´ve ever tried, i have an american 90´s and a 2005 mexican modded with badass bridge and quarter pounders, none of them sounded as cool as the big stud and the foundation, what helped me the most was using an MXR m-80 active DI it sounds pretty awesome