Put a mic on it

[Williamsburgjim]

Does anyone mic their cab (Ampeg or otherwise)?

[CL400Peavey]

Originally Posted by Williamsburgjim

Does anyone mic their cab (Ampeg or otherwise)?

Yes some have been known to mic their cabs...

[baba]

Nah. I'm a minimalist. DI to board and done.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

In the studio, always.
2 mics (D12 & MD421) and a DI (SVTDI).
Whoever mixes the final product then uses whatever they like most.

Live, not that much.
Just not worth the hassle for me.

Regards
Sam

[rapidfirerob]

Not at gigs.

[Foz]

EV RE20 = no brainer under $500.

https://www.google.com/search?q=EV+RE20

[will33]

I mix our little band from stage and stick a 57 on mine when I need to get into the PA. The thing sort of highpasses itself and slots in the right spot without much knob twisting....captures the speaker tone.

[HolmeBass]

Not much, certainly almost never live unless the sound engineer wants to, I'd never even ask. I'm happy if they'll take the DI from my amp, which most usually do.

[anderbass]

Originally Posted by Williamsburgjim

Does anyone mic their cab (Ampeg or otherwise)?

Yep

[seamonkey]

At first glance it seems sensible. When someone believes they have perfected their tone through their amp and cabinet and want that to be mic'ed through the transparent FOH

The player usually perfects their sound with their ears as they stand a few feet away from the cabinet. They should perfect the sound with their ear right up next to the speaker just like where someone is going to place a mic.

Try it yourself, in a studio put one mic up close, and one back a few feet where the bass player normally stands. You can hear which one sounds like what you hear.

Your tone should come from the pre-amp. Use a DI. You'll have more control of your sound out front and in a studio.

[georgestrings]

Almost always post-EQ DI send from my amp...


- georgestrings

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by anderbass

Yep

Ha! That cab looks like it's holding a press conference!

I mic when I use an old rig with no XLR out. I have used both a kick mic and a 57 and they both work fine. It's not my favorite choice but in a live mix there's plenty of "wiggle room". My favorite is ti DI AND mic, but that's a pain to get a sound guy to go along with it. Being a sound guy too, I understand completely.

[Mykk]

I can go either way. But for ease and time most sound guys will run the D.I.... and than proceed to ask me to turn my rig stage volume down until I can barely hear it as to not interfere with the P.A.

[kraigo]

Originally Posted by anderbass

Yep

Yes, but do you ever put a cable into the mics on your cab?

KO

[SoComSurfing]

LOVE the radio mike in the upper left. I'm sure that's gonna sound terrific!

Are you looking for advice on using a mic live or in a studio? I've never been terribly pleased chosing mic over DI in a live situation. I like having a little more control using a post-EQ DI rather than factor in things like the characteristics of the mic itself or the cab, or even mic placement. In the studio it's a whole different ball game since you're much more likely to work with someone who knows a thing or two about placement and mic selection vs your average-joe sound guy I always seemed to be stuck with.

[kraigo]

The stages I end up on are small enough that a mic is going to end up kicked or knocked over anyway. Given the proximity of the mic to the source, the low end roll off of the cab, the low end roll off of the mic, etc. I tend to think a good DI is more appropriate for my gigs. I like the poster who suggested an SM-57. With smaller PA's you don't really need the low end and a 57 would put a little of the character of the cab into the PA. Nice! With a larger PA, DI + a 57 would also be great. The DI for the oomph and the 57, again, for character.

But in reality, with small PA's, NO instruments are going into the PA and with larger PA's a good DI is realistically enough. As said above, get the preamp where you want it and DI - use a VT pedal or something.

All just my own opinions.

KO

[Hot Pocket]

Originally Posted by anderbass

Yep

CLASSIC!

[Williamsburgjim]

Sorry dudes, I am refferring to being in a live situation. My SLM svt classic DI was sending too hot a signal for some reason and was more or less pegg'n the board-something was wrong... .. So I though, hey... (remembering a live DVD performace from 2005 Keith Urban's bassist at the time-Mark Hill- with an SVT/fridge set-up-not the bald dude) that guy has basically my same set-up/fender jazz bass and it growled like crazy, so let me try it. Well it rocked big time. After years of frustration of tone and stage volume v. PA volume and all the EQ issues/battles it somehow worked. Our band leader used an instrument mic (can't remember/it wasn't a kick mic or vocal mic...) and I drapped it over my amp like the dude in the video-off to the left up high. Everyone really digged it. I heard a nice underpinning of tone in the bass within the club and did not have to 'dig-in' all the time to be heard. I guess that's what I'll be doin unless anyone here advises otherwise...

..and ditto on the anderbass set-up...don't cha just love it...

[backup]

when i play live i mostly play small venues where my rig is plenty to fillthe room with my "tone" . most comes from post DI
in studio setting its cab mic and pre DI

[derrico1]

Nice mic technique, Anderbass. On that session, I'd want to add just one stereo pair of small-diaphragm condensers to better capture sounds made by the napping cat.