BEST BASS CABS FOR RECORDING

[Analogman]

Hi everyone. I'm currently building a bass rig for my studio.
So far I have:
- Alembic F-2B preamp
- Peavy 1.3k power amp

I'm looking for a bass cabinet that is great for recording.
I've been offered and Ampeg SVT 410 HE and was wondering if this would work well? I can have it for £150 which I think is a fair price?

I've read that the HLF has considerably more low end.

I would be using the cab as a stand along cab and I'm trying to achieve a very heavy / weighty rock bass sound using a sub octave on a 4 string and a fuzz.

I want it to also be punchy.

Problem is, I am limited by room in the studio. I would love to get an 8 x 10 or a 4x10 and a 15 or 18inch alongside, but I don't have enough space.

What cabs would you suggest for recording with all this in mind?
Also, what mics have you had the most success with?

Appreciate all your comments
Best,
Analogman

 

[The Chuck]

What I can say is that if you are looking for great low frequency response, the 410HE IMO is not the right cab.

The HLF does go a lot lower, but in my experience, it can sound a little muddy for sure.

Last year I actually bought and took home the 410HE. It didn't have the low end I was used to so I returned in and took home a 410HLF in it's place. I didn't like it either. That sounded like there was a blanket over it. Not matter what I did, I couldn't get rid of that slightly muffled sound so I returned that.

I plugged back into my Hartke 4.5XL and was loving how good it sounded to me compared to both Ampeg cabs. So, I kept the Hartke and bought another 4.5XL for half the price of the Ampegs.

As far as mics go, I've used a 409 and a 421 (just what I have available) with pretty good results on my bass cab.

 

[CL400Peavey]

Just run a DI, and tweak it all in processing.



For me, anything loaded with a faital pro 15PR400 is pretty amazing for recording.

 

[Lowbrow]

If you are close miking any cab without blown speakers should do

 

[Gaolee]

I play through solid state Acoustic Control amps almost exclusively, but given a choice of anything at all for recording, I would probably channel my inner JimmyM and hunt down a B15. With that in mind, if you don't want to go to that trouble, a single 15 cabinet, preferably a fairly simple one, might work well. I'm just extrapolating backwards.

 

[NKBassman]

Why require the cab to be "stand alone" for bass tone? Channels are cheap these days, so you might as well take a DI line as well.
If space is an issue, just us a single 15 or something like an Ampeg Micro 2x10 cab. Mic it up to capture the "character" of the sound, and use the DI channel to dial in your low end.

 

[esa372]

What cabs would you suggest for recording with all this in mind?

fEARful 12/6, without a doubt.

 

[beans-on-toast]

You can get a lot of tone out of a small tube amp and cab. A parallel DI allows you to get the best out of both.

​

 

[NKBassman]

fEARful 12/6, without a doubt.

Where/how would you position the mic on a 2-way cabinet?
I don't meant that to sound snotty, either, I really want to know. I have enough trouble getting mic placement to sound good on a full-range cabinet...

On that note, I've had a lot of luck lately using the "Speaker" mode on my Radial JDI. I have tried it with the speaker output from a 50W tube head and the line out from my SWR Interstellar Overdrive tube pre and it sounds great on both. Very "usable" tone when micing isn't an easy option. I still blend it in parallel with a clean DI signal as well, though.

 

[Jim Carr]

 

[friendlybass]

Depends on what tone you're looking for. I'd personally go Hifi cause you can tweak the frequencies it gives you to make it sound vintage but you can't make a vintage voiced cab hifi

 

[smeet]

I wouldn't really use a fEARful for recording, even though they have been my primary cabinets for the past few years. It's flat enough that it's basically like taking a good DI anyway. These days I would instead use a strongly voiced midrange-centered cabinet (currently really liking my Bag End S15's, waiting for an Ampeg 212av to arrive), without too much low bass. I would rely on the DI for the true lows, and get the mid emphasis, clank, speaker distortion, etc. by blending in the mic'd cabinet. In fact, it might be cool to have the bass DI, the amp DI, and the speaker mic channels all available, although good luck getting that to happen in most bands.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

These work for me...

 

[Jim Carr]

I wouldn't really use a fEARful for recording, even though they have been my primary cabinets for the past few years. It's flat enough that it's basically like taking a good DI anyway... ...I would rely on the DI for the true lows, and get the mid emphasis, clank, speaker distortion, etc. by blending in the mic'd cabinet...

A pristine bass track from a great DI is the place to start. Re-amping, plug-ins, or tube pres can all work, if needed. DAW plug-ins are the main deal these days.

 

[Dave W]

Ampeg B15

Simple, very effective, essentially a gold standard for studios.

 

[The Chuck]

Where/how would you position the mic on a 2-way cabinet?
I don't meant that to sound snotty, either, I really want to know. I have enough trouble getting mic placement to sound good on a full-range cabinet...

On that note, I've had a lot of luck lately using the "Speaker" mode on my Radial JDI. I have tried it with the speaker output from a 50W tube head and the line out from my SWR Interstellar Overdrive tube pre and it sounds great on both. Very "usable" tone when micing isn't an easy option. I still blend it in parallel with a clean DI signal as well, though.

If it were me, using a condenser with a large diaphragm, I'd have the mic 3 or so feet away (to start) in front of a 2 way cab. Then move it around to find the best sound.

 

[NKBassman]

I wouldn't really use a fEARful for recording, even though they have been my primary cabinets for the past few years. It's flat enough that it's basically like taking a good DI anyway. These days I would instead use a strongly voiced midrange-centered cabinet (currently really liking my Bag End S15's, waiting for an Ampeg 121av to arrive), without too much low bass. I would rely on the DI for the true lows, and get the mid emphasis, clank, speaker distortion, etc. by blending in the mic'd cabinet. In fact, it might be cool to have the bass DI, the amp DI, and the speaker mic channels all available, although good luck getting that to happen in most bands.

Yes to all of this.
I'm running 3 channels on my current project.
["Clean" clean] Countryman DI
["Tubey/Ampey" clean] UA M610 tube mic pre > dbx 160a
["Dirty"] Overdrive pedal > SWR Interstellar Overdrive > JDI "Speaker" mode

 

[NKBassman]

If it were me, using a condenser with a large diaphragm, I'd have the mic 3 or so feet away (to start) in front of a 2 way cab. Then move it around to find the best sound.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, too.

 

[johnpbass]

If you like the Ampeg cab tone, another vote for the 210AV. I'm a big fan of mixing a combination of straight DI, and amp/cab for a little extra "flavor".
Lately I've been recording using a Kemper profiling amp running a very nice B15 profile.

 

[chaosMK]

I always do my real recordings with a blend of DI from my head and a mic on my cab. For many the mic is not necessary. I like it to create a little bit more of an organic dimension to my tone and my cab and the coloration it offers is part of my sound. A lot of people just use a DI or plug their bass right into the board. My amp head and all the fine tuning I've done on it is part of my sound too, so it's always in the studio chain for me.

I love Mesa PH cabs, so I have used those in the past.

I had great success using a Buster! Bass wedge 2x10 cab loaded with Eminence Delta 10B's (a kind of small tight cab). Phenomenal midrange detail, controlled low end.

I am not a fan of "bass" mics. For what I do I need to shoot for clarity and dont need a pillow of dark low end. I prefer to use SM57 or Audix i5. They pick up the midrange nicely without building up the sub frequencies that the mix dont need. I am a metal guy and tend to shoot for enhancement to an already aggressive tone.