Amp necessary to record to Mac?

[amitchel]

Hi,... i'm new to bass guitars.... I use an M-Audio Firewire 410 as a pre-amp interface, and use Logic Pro,.... Been a great amateur setup, Now i want to record a bass guitar, but i believe i'm missing a device to allow for this to happen.

I'm wanting a clean sound, but like most,... i'm also needing to find an economically way to make this happen.

The two options i'm researching are:

1) Purcahse a small amp (sound-producing) that has no "output" jack but has a "headphone" jack... and use that to carry the signal to the pre-amp. Is this a terrible idea?

2) Purchase some sort of amp-device that only amplifies the signal (doesn't actually "play" of produce sound) so my 410 can pick it up. Any recommendations?

Any advice would be a huge help!

-Aaron

[singlemalt]

Looks like you should be able to plug the 1/4" guitar cable right in, and select the input level for the low output of a passive bass.

Next step would be a DI box.

I can plug my bass right into my firepod interface, but it sounds better if I use my usual MXR M-80 bass di + ( a great little pre/ distortion/ di box)

But short answer: just plug your bass right in the the interface.

[Got2SadowskyNYC]

No. You can plug into theeither input of the interface and select "line". You can do compression, eq etc. in the software.

It's you want to mic an amp you can do that also. Plug in to it and select "mic".

You can also do both.

Most professional CD are recorded with a DI and a mic, but you don't have to to get a nice sound.

[Floyd Eye]

I have gotten great recorded bass using a PreSonus Firebox straight into GarageBand.