BEST BASS CABS FOR RECORDING

[Scot]

So how do people go about getting their own sound these days?
I'm aware that your sound essentially comes from your hands / fingers / personality, but to me part of developing your own sound is your amp set up, pedal board set up, etc.

I think the "to me" part is the most important aspect of your question. To you a particular amp might be a big part of your sound while many others can easily get "there own sound" sitting in with any rig. Some touring bassists have to be able to get "their sound" on whatever amp the venue provides.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

My favorite cab for recording is the Phil Jones Bass C4. Since the drivers are full-range (up to 15kHz), the sound is very even and balanced. No need to mic up the tweeter, or compromise between getting the sound of the cone vs. tweeter. Admittedly, I always use a good DI (Manley, Aguilar, PJB, Avalon, etc), but some of my favorite mic'd tones are an Ashdown Little Bastard through the C4, with the DI to supplement.

 

[Interceptor]

How do you find your tone, particularly your recorded tone?

Through experience. That experience is a stew made up of concepts handed down from others, personal trial and error of those concepts and things you scheme up, persistence to achieve a goal and dumb luck. Knowledge can get you pretty far, but all too often the real ah ha moments occur as a byproduct of trying to do something unrelated. That's where the dumb luck kicks in.

The deeper you get into the art side of recording, the more dependent it is on skill. The kind of skill that take thousands of hours to approach.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

With all the software available you can make a bass sound like anything you want. What you put in is what comes out.
I'm old school and leave it up to the producer, engineer, or artist I'm working with.
I do have a say in the end product though. Bottom line... they pick up the tab... if they are happy I'm happy.

 

[NKBassman]

So how do people go about getting their own sound these days?
I'm aware that your sound essentially comes from your hands / fingers / personality, but to me part of developing your own sound is your amp set up, pedal board set up, etc.

Should "your sound" not be dictated by whatever the project calls for?

 

[Hoodywah]

Should "your sound" not be dictated by whatever the project calls for?

I don't think "your sound" has to fit the project at all. I think if you are a specific sounding bassist then either the projects you are asked to play on will complement and/or be complimented by your sound...otherwise, you won't get that particular call and if you do, do your thing and let it be that. I think that pidgeon holing tones and styles leads to more of the same. I mean, I'm not a fan of half the things Flea plays on more recent Chili Pepper albums cause he's really not right for the sound they are making but are they doing it anyway? Yup. And selling a ton or records or selling a ton of show tickets? Yup. Would a ton of innovative bassist's fit or even really work for many stereotyped styles (even if they tried)? Nope. So, really, there are two schools of thought here. Play to the song and try to be as versatile in any given situation as you can be or go for something different that only you do and hopefully it will fit with whatever you are doing and the other players can do something with it. It IS easier to get gigs and sessions of you can fit anywhere but it's also very cool to do your own thing. Get your own sound by trying to get your own sound. I think most people's personal sound comes from a combo of what they listen to, who they are influenced by and the gear at their disposal.

 

[chrissquire]

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.

​

I love this forum and I love this thread. I'm learning a lot from you guys reading this. I am also a fan of recording one basstrack with a mic/amp/cab and another using my sansamp. Do you guys pan the two channels when you record or do you leave everything straight up the middle?

 

[Dave W]

Do you guys pan the two channels when you record or do you leave everything straight up the middle?

It depends.

I usually do whatever the engineer or producer prefer, but sometimes I get some leeway and they want my input. When that happens I'll run two or three channels and tell them to use whatever they like best, however they like it.

The last session I did we ran a REDDI into one track, a Meatsmoke Pre going into a Torpedo CAB into a second track, and a B15 miced with a PR40 into a 3rd track. I haven't had a chance to hear the tracks yet and I have no idea what they ended up using, but I do know the producer was in love with the REDDI and Meatsmoke channels...so much so that he had me rerecord a few tracks for him with that setup.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Unless you are mixing as you record, record as many bass tracks as you can and mix later. DI and mic offer different advantages. In the end you want to balance the bass in the mix based on what else, frequency wise, is present. All too often bass can be buried and over compressed. If the tracks are premixed it is difficult to fine tune them in the landscape.

 

[Analogman]

Something to bear in mind is this... If the song is written with the bass line / riff being one of the main things / sounds of the track, then you work around that sound generally. If the bass isn't the main feature and is more of a support, which I guess is generally the case, then it's different.

Each instrument needs its own frequency space so they can all be heard in a balanced sense throughout the track. What could sound like a nasty bass sound on its own, could actually support a track very well when blended with the other instruments.

I do believe that getting a D.I. recording is important for two reasons. Firstly, you have a clean signal path which you can manipulate however you please. You can re amp, add effetcs and eq using plug ins or whatever else. Also when combined with say, a mic'd recording, you can create more cut for example and get a better balance of clean and mic'd signal...

I also think that micing a cab, particularly with 2 different mics is also important. Especially if it's a heavy / slightly overdrive / fuzz or whatever. If you listen to a pedal thats plugged straight into an interface without the warmth of a nice bass pre amp and cab, it sounds a bit plastic and cheap. As soon as the pedal goes through a nice amp, it's infinitely better and more pleasing to the ear.

If you just mic up a sound, you are limiting your options to that recording sound as a basis (pardon the pun), which you can manipulate. But, if for example, the sound you recorded was an overdrive, no matter what, it will remain an overdrive sound.

It seems like a lot of bassists don't really consider their sound. You just plug into anything and away you go. And to some degree I understand why. But for me, I think it's important to create my own sound, particularly when writing my own music.

I can't believe Hysteria by Muse for example, was created exclusively from a D.I.

Any "proper" studio I've ever been to has always had either an ampeg SVT Class with an 8x10 or something equally up there. What would be the point in shelling out thousands if it could be so easily created at the same quality by just using a D.I.
Thats my take on it

Peace and love

 

[Jeff Scott]

What would be the point in shelling out thousands if it could be so easily created at the same quality by just using a D.I.
Thats my take on it

Peace and love

Being set in one's ways (or a sheep, perhaps?).

Peace and love.

 

[Dave W]

It seems like a lot of bassists don't really consider their sound. You just plug into anything and away you go. And to some degree I understand why. But for me, I think it's important to create my own sound, particularly when writing my own music.

You hit the nail on the head in saying it's important to create your own sound when writing your own music.

As a session bassist you don't typically have that luxury. You plug into whatever the engineer wants you to unless you've got something like a REDDI with you and they either trust you that it's good or they want to try it. Then you get a sound very quickly and lay down the track as fast as you can. Then you get called back to do more sessions. Or, you can waste everyone's very expensive time with some overly complicated setup and complain about how you don't like the tone and try to dial it in for an hour. Then you don't get called back to do more sessions.

I can't believe Hysteria by Muse for example, was created exclusively from a D.I.

No, definitely not.

 

[Platinum]

I'm thinking about getting a Bergantino NV115 and an Ampeg 210AV to cover my studio bass recording (got DIs covered) and serve double duty for practice alone, rehearsals or little gigs. Thoughts?

 

[Mystic Michael]

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

I refuse to read though all six pages (thus far) to see if the following issue has been addressed already. So...

How in the world does anybody ever need an 8x10 in a recording studio? Much less a 1,300 watt power amp? It's like competing in a go-cart race with a $200,000 Maserati!

Does the OP understand that recording is not about power, but about tone? In addition to using a quality DI, which requires no cab(s) of any kind, one could close-mike a 20-watt amp with an 8-inch speaker, and if the signal is recorded, engineered, and mixed properly, for the purposes of the recording it'll sound just as massive and powerful as a whole stage full of stacks?

There is no "best" bass cab - for recording or for any other purpose. To find what works for you, you have to use your own ears and your own common sense - just like everybody else. No rules, no limits.

MM

 

[gadgetgirl]

Check out the Neve RNDI.Wonderful tone. I'm using it with my Eden WT550 and 210 cabinet (with Apogee Duet) and couldn't be happier. I have mics too, but with the RNDI's speaker setting I am covered for most recording needs.

 

[10cc]

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

Very nice.

 

[10cc]

My direct rig for the current project.

Channel 1: Countryman Type 85 DI
>
Splitter Box
-> Channel 2: UA M610 > dbx 160A (Tubey/Clean "Amp" sound)
-> Channel 3: Fuzzrocious Demon > SWR Interstellar Overdrive preamp > Radial JDI w/ "Speaker" mode > GAP Pre73 > GAP Comp54 (Xformer Only)

By blending the 3 channels I can get the overdrive I want without compromising anything else.
We tried all kinds of mics and mic placements, but in the end this ended up sounding way better than everything we tried. The speaker mode on the JDI actually sounds pretty great.

I was hoping you'd post up a pic of that rack! Ahhhhh, so sweet. For a gear head that just looks so fun. I think I can hear it. Hell, I'd gig that set up!

 

[10cc]

Usually when I record I go direct. As for micing the cab, I don't think the size matters. You can get excellent mic'd sound with a tiny cab and cheap recording gear. Here's an example, a mic'd recording of one of my band's original surf-rock songs called "Deprivation." My guitarist buddy used a USB mic placed two feet in front of his drum kit and recorded the drum track. I then laid down the bass track by placing his mic in front of my Greenboy Audio Crazy8, which has a Faital Pro eight-inch driver and tweeter. (I used a P-bass and pick.) Then he laid down the guitar track by putting the same mic in front of his guitar cab. All this was recorded into his iPhone using the MultiTrack DAW. The "recording environment" was an unfinished basement jammed with old toys and instruments scattered about.

Here's the recorded result; does the bass sound huge or what?
Link Removed

Here's the cab and amp I used. I can use this identical configuration to send sound into a FOH system that fills a stadium. Sometimes we overemphasize the importance of gear size!

Link Removed

If Dave is talking recording I'm listening. He's got some of the best live recordings around. Nice website too I might add.
From my experience I've always sent a DI signal and a miked signal for recordings. Usually either an old late sixties Ampeg flip top or a early seventies SVT with 810. This next album I'm gonna drag out the 69 360/361. I'm dying to hear this thing on tape!

Also for those of you that like studio stuff you can get a subscription to Tape Op for free. I love that mag.

 

[NKBassman]

I was hoping you'd post up a pic of that rack! Ahhhhh, so sweet. For a gear head that just looks so fun. I think I can hear it. Hell, I'd gig that set up!

Ask and ye shall receive.

 

[mantaraya]

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

+1. Unless you liked the tone of those SVT410 (HE & HLF) i would consider another cab. HE is too middy not really good handling the lows and the HLF is heavy as hell. A lot of lows, but both sound if they had a blanket on it ( i think i've heard this expression a lot) But, why do you keep stock about 4x10. It could be a 2x10 for studio purposes, and theres a lot of options over there with some nice boutique cabs. Just my 2 cents