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Mic'ing bass amp for live shows?

#42
ogrossman said:
A lot of guys here are saying you need to mic the cab to get a good "live" sound. But on other threads I've seen you hear a lot of guys saying you can't hear what your rig really sounds like unless your 20 feet away! So how can a mic get a good sound from 2 inches away??
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They are the same guys searching the internet for 55-foot wide headphones so they can hear low E more clearly - or genetic modification to grow ears on the back of their calfs.
 
#43
I bring along an RE20 if the engineer wants to use a mic, but I usually go DI and the soundperson just brings up the fader and we move on. I try to make my bass rig as much like a PA in response so I'm not second guessing the tones. Plus, these days I use in ears, so what I hear is pretty damn close to what the house gets.

Edwin
 
#44
for bass cab i like the re20 and the 421 best. re20 dead center an inch away, 421 from 12 to 18" away to lessen the proximity effect. i've used a 57/58 in a pinch too for bass cab and kick duties, there is nothing "wrong" with those mics at all. for di a radial jdi; simple, elegant tone, indestructible, passive
 
#45
RE 20 rocks for bass. I'm using a similar mic...a Heil PR 40, but it's got a lot more low end extension than an RE 20. Probably too much low end, to be honest. But it sounds great and is $50 less than the RE 20 ;)
 
#50
ryco said:
I like the mike about 1"+ off the grill, aimed where the paper meets the cone. :bassist:

To Greenboy: Just how Jim Anderson does it! He just did sound for the reunion show at Slim's in Seattle last weekend!! Was a HOOT!!
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Wish I could have been there too, but glad to hear you could make it! I'm almost afraid to hear the details in the PM you are going to send me ; }

I can't believe how many people will debate the DI/mic thing. My position has always been, and as a soundman near the start of the thread said: show up with either and know how you use it, and I will plug it into the board. If you don't show pro, you get what's available ; }
 
#52
Does anyone think the choice of mike would/should be different for different amps/cabs? For example - would it make sense to use a different mic on a Bergantino cab or stack as opposed to a B15N?

Also, are different mics more useful or appropriate for either gigging or recording?
 
#53
esoxhntr said:
Does anyone think the choice of mike would/should be different for different amps/cabs? For example - would it make sense to use a different mic on a Bergantino cab or stack as opposed to a B15N?
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It's another variable. Myself, I like to mic with relaticely flat mic with no big presence peak so that any cab that it gets put in front of will not get excessively filtered. But if someone wants a 57 sound impinged on top of that I'm cool with that too.

Run what ya brung. And bring something else if that's not getting the trophy.
 
#54
alfredpunkjazz said:
Someone needs to do a rackmountable DI that also alows to feed a mic signal, and then, mix that up... that way you send just one line to the PA.... That would be cool, but I'm dreaming...
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that has got to be the solution! now you brought it up, and its such a simple idea, I got to wonder why its not in use. What do you think? cost? complexity? or am I the only one that's seem to be all psych up about this concept?


GreyBeard said:
Well, it might work OK but, the purpose of using both is having the ability to taylor the mix. With both sent to the DI (bass and mic) the sound tech wouldn't have that control, you would.
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precisely, the bassist SHOULD have control to the over balance of the bass tone, the sound tech can then adjust that signal to fit the venue. IMHO.
 
#55
esoxhntr said:
Does anyone think the choice of mike would/should be different for different amps/cabs? For example - would it make sense to use a different mic on a Bergantino cab or stack as opposed to a B15N?

Also, are different mics more useful or appropriate for either gigging or recording?
Click to expand...
I would use the same mic on either cab, but as Greenie said, it's another variable and picking out a mic is very subjective. People say the 58 sucks for bass cabs, but my experience is that they rock for what I like. Still, the PR 40 rocks more, so that's what I use now.

As for the second question, definitely some mics are more appropriate for recording than the studio, especially mics that cost thousands. And some mics you'd use in the studio might not be as good at rejecting sounds from other sources, but it doesn't matter as much.
 
#58
babebambi said:
that has got to be the solution! now you brought it up, and its such a simple idea, I got to wonder why its not in use. What do you think? cost? complexity? or am I the only one that's seem to be all psych up about this concept?
Click to expand...

Bad idea. Often there are phase problems between DI and mic that can be minimized by having control of that DI/mic mix. But you can't hear them up on stage. In fact the whole premise of "taking control" is flawed BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR WHEN YOU ARE UP ONSTAGE.
 
#59
Maybe I missed it, but I have a question about mic'ing the cab. In other discussions, people talk about how your sound doesn't develop until it's many feet away from your cab because of the length of the soundwave, etc.

If this is the case - and it seems from a physics standpoint that it is - if you want the true sound of your cab, the mic would have to be many feet away, correct? So putting a mic an inch from your cab, and basically one driver, isn't really capturing the sound of your cab, right?

Not trying to start a mic vs. DI thing, just wondering about what seems to be very contradictory logic.

I always DI. My "sound" comes from my bass, pups and preamp. I tend to sound loike me no mater what bass Iplay or what amp I play through.
 

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