I asked the same thing on the TGP forum
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From what I understand, mics are pretty transparent... it's just a matter of what tone you want to get... I thought that if you recorded louder you'd get better results by not cranking the preamp too much...
Well, mics are transparent in they they won't change your tone, the way you have your bass sound set up will still come through, but in terms of making a great record mics are very much NOT transparent!
Compare 57 to a nice condensor on a bass cab, there is a world of difference there, but its learning a whole new way to hear sound.
I remember getting my very first instrument and not having any idea what a 'good' tone was, just cranking the highs and the lows to just experiment sonically with what was possible. Its very similar with mics, they make a big difference to how things sound but in a way that takes some getting used to and learning.
Recording with amps loud is good, but not in order to save cranking the preamp, if you have a nice pre you may even WANT to crank it to get a bit more character out of it etc! If you are having noise troubles then it can help to have a hot source, of course, but most modern pres are very quiet and clean.
One of the main reasons you want to record hot is so the amp is working at its peak, all guns blazing. Natural amp saturation is a wonderful sound, especially on bass, but doesn't happen till the amp is being driven pretty hard. a smaller amp is useful because you can drive it nice and hard without it being stupidly loud!
At my studio our main recording rig is an great old early SVT into an 8x10. it sounds great but is way, way too loud for recording really. Especially as it sounds so good cranked, our live room is briliantly insulated so its not a worry of it leaking in there, but you can hear it all over the grounds when doing bass takes! no complaints from the neighbors as yet, thankfully!
Of course, if you want a more controlled, clean sound you can run the amp a little quieter. Some mics that sound great on bass cabs can't take a huge signal either, things like neumann u67's are incredible on bass, but you have to turn the amp down a bit as it distorts the MIC's circuitry. Thats why for massive rock sounds with really driven bass its often good to go for a nice dynamic like an re20 or a d12, they can take the pressure! Some good condensors can take the pressure too, like a neumann FET 47, they are magical mics but have a price tag to match!
Its worth trying everything you have. don't worry its quite hard to damage a mic from sound alone, apart from ribbon mics, unless you are REALLY going over the top! Normally the mic will sound awful long before its being damaged. However long term use (over 10 years, say) on very loud sources can cause the capsule to fail a little quicker so for that reason we have a designated 'high volume 47' and a 'normal volume 47', just to make sure that we are only working one of them very hard, as a new capsule for a 47 is around £600!
