Recording, Looking to pick up GREAT amp - "combo amp" or "cabinet + amp head" + why?

[Gatsby]

Hey I play electric and acoustic guitar but I'm looking to buy a real nice bass guitar, my first, so I need to also get a bass amp. My question is what should I get, a combo amp or an amp head and a cabinet? What are the pros and cons of each? (budget, let's say 3 grand total for fun)

I'm not going to be performing so I don't need something massive with a ton of wattage. But I am recording, so I have serious interest in getting an amp that has the best tone, color, texture, and diversity of sounds (lows, mids, highs). Which leads to another question, I know I can record bass directly through a DI Box into an interface, but what is the advantage to actually miking a bass amp?

Back to amps, just looking online I was checking out these combo amps, the SWR Redhead, the Fender TB-600, the Trace Elliot 1210, the Mesa/Boogie M6 Carbine, and the Markbass CMD 103H + Markbass CMD 102P. But they're pretty limited in regards to speakers and I was wondering if I'd be better off with a cabinet that has a more complex series of speakers + a good amp head for tone and color? As for getting a cabinet and head I'm clueless, so any recommendations for recording quality would be greatly appreciated. The only cabinets that looked appealing just from online research are the Accugroove cabinets. As for heads, I just know of brands - SWR, Mesa/Boogie, Ampeg, Markbass, Aguilar, EBS, Epifani, Warwick, Fender, Eden, Genz Benz, Gallien-Kreuger.

So yeah, "combo amp" or "cabinet + amp head" and why? Any combo amp/cabinet/amp head recommendations? And what are the benefits of miking an amp versus Direct Injecting?

[mulchor]

I vote DI.

If you're going to mic the amp, cab + head seems more convenient, cuz you can put the cab in its own soundroom and still twiddle the knobs.

[fretno]

with that budget you could get a great pre like a API lunchbox and any 500 module like a API 512 or countless others and a Classic Ampeg B15 I'm serious about a killer pre though it would work on all instruments and vocals . As for recording most pros do both DI and mic'n at the same time then blending the 2 to taste . I also recommend a nice compressor for inline tracking like a FMR PBC , LA2a or some such . 90% of the homestudio stuff I do is direct from a API or ADK or Shadowhills . DI'd then often I'll blend a track with a amp sim like Ampeg SVX for amp like grit .

[countrybass007]

For your purposes Phil Jones would be the best amp choice. We record with both direct box and mike in front of the speaker, but we usually end up using the miked signal because of the tone. I record with a Phil Jones Suitcase.

[Jim Carr]

Countryman type 85 DI, and a Sadowsky Metro 5-string. IMHO, the bass player comes first, then the bass/strings setup, and then the preamp. Any reasonable studio ought to have a couple of Avalon pres, a good quality channel strip, or a tube DI.

Every serious studio I have recorded in and these WERE big home studios, basically, had what was needed. IMHO a miked bass is often a noisy and boomy bass. YMMV. I would never show up to a session with an amp. I would bring a couple of basses, and a DI.

[Gatsby]

fretno I am about to pick up my first great mic pre, the Aurora Audio GTQ2. A compressor is coming much later since I don't know how to use one and will probably learn through the use of a plug-in first before I buy hardware.

I don't know much about using DI, people have recommended Sans Amp products like the Bass Driver DI. (I'm picking up my first bass by the way) Really newbie question, but if I run my bass into the instrument inputs on my mic pre, is that the same as using a DI box? And if I'm not miking an amp where I have dialed in a tone that I love with my amp head, if I direct inject, how am I able to sculpt my bass tone?

Based on what you said Jim about a miked bass amp being noisey boomy I guess I have to really look into the DI option.

So if I'm only spending enough cash to buy an okay amp for just personal performance and songwriting purposes, what should I be looking at in regards to DI? What am I to be buying? Also, does anybody have any websites to refer me to, or threads to refer me to where I can read and self-educate myself about the DI approach?

Thanks

[cosmicpimp2]

for recording I'd say a DI with reason on the computer. thats got a bunch of stuff. or a bass pod

[Bongolation]

Absolutely record direct.

[BartmanPDX]

Jim is right. A decent DI is what you really need. Amps are much more fun to look at and buy, but in the studio, a DI is where it is at.

FWIW, I have a Summit TD-100 (tube preamp/DI) that sounds fantastic in the studio, but any decent DI (like the Countryman type 85) will do.

[shakerattleroll]

I'm gonna throw in some rec's, although it may or may not be what you're after. If 3K is your total including bass, then you could get an Ampeg b15, but, you could also pick up a REDDI, or a Low End True Voice, and a Linden Barber, and have so many great tones at your fingers.

Then, you've got about 2400 left for bass, which gives you so many options of wonderful basses.

And of course, API style stuff is great, A Designs makes awesome stuff (the REDDI included).

[TheNightLife]

when ive recorded i usually run through an avalon u5 pre or a countryman di and we re-amp the bass after any editing through an ampeg b2r head or an oldschool b15.

[fretno]

Originally Posted by Gatsby

fretno I am about to pick up my first great mic pre, the Aurora Audio GTQ2. A compressor is coming much later since I don't know how to use one and will probably learn through the use of a plug-in first before I buy hardware.

I don't know much about using DI, people have recommended Sans Amp products like the Bass Driver DI. (I'm picking up my first bass by the way) Really newbie question, but if I run my bass into the instrument inputs on my mic pre, is that the same as using a DI box? And if I'm not miking an amp where I have dialed in a tone that I love with my amp head, if I direct inject, how am I able to sculpt my bass tone?

Based on what you said Jim about a miked bass amp being noisey boomy I guess I have to really look into the DI option.

So if I'm only spending enough cash to buy an okay amp for just personal performance and songwriting purposes, what should I be looking at in regards to DI? What am I to be buying? Also, does anybody have any websites to refer me to, or threads to refer me to where I can read and self-educate myself about the DI approach?

Thanks

That's a nice piece , and it does have a DI built in so you are set , the only reason to get another DI is if you want the color of the tranformer like from a Jensen or a Sansamp which btw is a fantastic tool to have in the tool box . However not needed at this time since you are getting the pre/DI , You almost always need a pre of some sort with a DI anyway to get the gain up . As for a compressor plugin check out Stillwell plugins these are most excellent and two excellent freebies are the Rough rider
http://www.audiodamage.com/downloads...php?pid=ADF002
and the Fishphones Blockfish
http://www.digitalfishphones.com/mai...em=2&subItem=5
If your are DI'n that pre you are getting is a 3 band EQ and any DAW will have EQ or use either hardware or a plugin to "toneshape"

[shakerattleroll]

What kind of music are you planning on playing?

[Gatsby]

shakerattleroll I'm not yet sure on what I'm going to be playing. I listen to a lot of music but my tastes lean towards Indie Rock, Alt Rock, etc with bands like Radiohead, Interpol, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and many more being inspirations. I'm picking up my first bass and probably don't even plan on playing it in the normal way, I'll probably create real simple bass lines using just my thumb. What I play is usually little parts of songs that I write which are created not based on me trying to create a certain sound but rather with me making music that my limited abilities allow. I have acoustic guitars and electric guitars, but at the same time I have synths and drum machines, so what music I will make isn't clear to me. As for just playing other peoples songs, I don't do all that much of that and I don't play shows or anything, it's more of a serious hobby for me and my interest is as much in learning how to record and work in a studio as it is being a songwriter and making music.

That all said, I'm shopping around for my first bass guitar with a budget of 2 grand. Unfortunately where I live I only have access to Guitar Centers and can't get my hands on certain bass guitars that they don't stock like Fender's vintage series. Also, people have recommended smaller bass makers like Lakland, Mike Lull, Nash Guitars, and Sadowsky but there aren't stores around that have those brands. I do head to Los Angeles several times a year so any bass purchase is probably on hold until I can hit LA and check out stores there.

Everybody, thanks for the info. So Fretno (and everybody) is any mic pre with instrument inputs a DI box as well as a preamp? And I've looked at some DI boxes and some of them are just that, DI Boxes, but others are also instrument amplifiers, do I need both? And if I use a DI box or my new mic pre is using guitar pedals out of the question? If I do DI, is their somewhere in the signal chain to add analog gear like pedals? And what hardware besides pedals are people using to sculpt their tone? Warm hardware EQ's and warm and colorful mic preamps? But anything else? (sorry for the amount of questions)

One last question everyone, while I can get away with using the instrument inputs of the GTQ2 mic preamp I'm about to get and other future mic preamps with such inputs, is there reason to get the DI Boxes that are marketed as just that? I have been researching these following DI Boxes, some that you guys have mentioned.

Buzz Audio – MIA-1.0
Radial Engineering – JDV MK3 Direct Box
Groove Tubes – The Brick
Summit Audio – TD-100
Manley Labs – Manley Mono Tube DI
Little Labs – Multi Z PIP 3.0
Avalon – U5
Martinsound – Martech MSS-01
Demeter Amplification – VTDB-2B
Valvotronics – D-19
A Designs – REDDI Tube DI
Manley Labs – Manley Stereo Tube DI
Universal Audio – SOLO/610
Universal Audio – 710 Twin-Finity
Demeter Amplification – HDI-1 H
Éclair Engineering – Evil Twin
TAB-Funkenwerk – V71
Demeter Amplification – STDB-1
Millennia – TD-1
D.W. Fearn – VT-3 Vacuum Tube DI