I would do thorough study of your recording process before buying another bass. My experience is you can fix a lot of things using current technology when recording, and it’s not real expensive either. Best wishes.
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Help for finding best bass for recording
- Thread starter oysterphish
- Start date
I would do thorough study of your recording process before buying another bass. My experience is you can fix a lot of things using current technology when recording, and it’s not real expensive either. Best wishes.
You can make almost any bass work but the bass that's probably the easiest to record is the simple yet venerable Fender-style Precision. Whether you use flats or round wounds could be the only real question. It might not be the bass with the most finesse but it's the workhorse and easiest to get the sound you want in the shortest period of time, like the Shure SM57 or 58, it works outta the box.
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The bass you're hearing may actually be ok if/when you start layering other instruments into the mix. Some of the greatest songs of all times possess many odd tones and characteristics when isolated.
'It's the sum total of the parts.
A real lively crispy bass tone may actually crowd out other instruments' character when you start adding them. Sometimes near dead but well played bass and drums seems to really work for many recordings.
It's so subjective but I've always just used the take that feels good as I'm playing it. Even if it has a few flaws. Sometimes one can bury those as long as the note isn't ill-timed, or just badly off.
Many times, it's about sticking the landing even as a recording seems as though it teeters on collapse. Tension and chance are big parts of a good take and song.
Yeah, I could go on.
'It's the sum total of the parts.
A real lively crispy bass tone may actually crowd out other instruments' character when you start adding them. Sometimes near dead but well played bass and drums seems to really work for many recordings.
It's so subjective but I've always just used the take that feels good as I'm playing it. Even if it has a few flaws. Sometimes one can bury those as long as the note isn't ill-timed, or just badly off.
Many times, it's about sticking the landing even as a recording seems as though it teeters on collapse. Tension and chance are big parts of a good take and song.
Yeah, I could go on.
I read that Jack Bruce use his Danelectro Longhorn frequently on recordings.So I says to myself,"if it was good enough for Jack"...I got myself a Longhorn reissue last year and test recorded it plugged into only my audio interface, straight to daw on my laptop and the bass tone was wonderful.I then went with it straight to my Tascam DP-03SD.No preamp or compressor,no FX of any kind. Just a cable and again great bass tone.So I think Mr.Bruce was on to something.
much good input here already so I don't have a ton to add. But I will say that if your new to recording, it can often be kind of a shock to hear your bass tone raw thru headphones (with possibly limited capabilities) that are plugged into an audio interface with no processing (EQ, compression, speaker sims, etc) at all.
As others have already said, work on your signal chain, check your technique, and get familiar with recording techniques and the software tools available, and you'll likely end up with perfectly good recorded bass tone.
As others have already said, work on your signal chain, check your technique, and get familiar with recording techniques and the software tools available, and you'll likely end up with perfectly good recorded bass tone.
What sounds good/right in a recording is not always what you hear from your amp. Its a different thing and takes a little experience to sort out. Your Ibanez should record just fine. I would keep the EQ's flat and let the mixer tweak eq as needed but otherwise, you should be fine
The bright, snappy modern basses can be hard to fit into some mixes where there is a lot going on in the higher frequencies from other instruments. That's why a Precision is so common for recording. It does not have as much going on in that range and rides underneath while still being heard. Add flat wounds and that effect gets even more pronounced.
Yep. I was simply pointing out how seemingly incongruous tones many times work together. Professional Producers/engineers are picky about usage of tonal ranges and much of what we hear these days, like TV, is scripted-composed. Nothing wrong with that. It's just to expedite processes and based on experience.
It's also why some remakes are better/worse.
- Apr 22, 2016
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It depends on a lot of factors as described above, but personally, out of all my basses, I think my stock CiJ Fender JB75 jazz bass sounds the best for recording purposes. The American Js just really cut through the mix, regardless of what my rig setup is. Nice growl, even with nickels. But also, that works for me and what I'm trying to get out of my tone, so mileage will vary.
