Microphones for under $200 for my bass.

[Ezrah]

Hello, TB. I'd just like to ask what Microphones You'd Recommend For me to use to Record my playing. I'm Currently working on an EP and I need something to Record it with. I'm hoping it can also record Guitar. Because I make my own Guitar lines with a Jackson J-S227 King V. Mainly for metal, But a little bit of Jazz.

 

[erratick]

Never under estimate direct, especially for bass.

However, the all purpose mic for instrument recording is the Sure SM57. Cheap, rugged, reliable. If you don't have one or two and you record, you maybe should.

If you want to spend more money, or have an interface with phantom power, there are other great options for recording. But I'd probably SM57 if you don't have one. Knowing how one works will let you decide if you need something different for recording.

 

[FugaziBomb]

This is the best mic for recording.

For guitar, you can get away with a 57 and get by.

 

[FugaziBomb]

View attachment 6975975

This is the best mic for recording.

For guitar, you can get away with a 57 and get by.

Or hell, you can get this and a 57 for probably around $200 for the pair and that would really cover your bases.

The 57 is gonna have a lot of low end roll off - probably too much to handle bass on it's own - but mix it in with the DI track and you've got a pretty good starting point.

 

[flatwound251]

Never under estimate direct, especially for bass.

However, the all purpose mic for instrument recording is the Sure SM57. Cheap, rugged, reliable. If you don't have one or two and you record, you maybe should.

If you want to spend more money, or have an interface with phantom power, there are other great options for recording. But I'd probably SM57 if you don't have one. Knowing how one works will let you decide if you need something different for recording.

Ditto your recommendation for the Shure SM57, a great choice for an inexpensive instrument microphone at $100!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SM57--shure-sm57-cardioid-dynamic-instrument-microphone

 

[NKBassman]

This (Radial passive DI) is the best mic for recording.
For guitar, you can get away with a 57 and get by.

+1. For recording bass, if you can learn how to make a DI sound good you'll never regret it.

Beyond that, microphone selection is so dependent on tone and taste, it's hard to say with any certainty what's the best choice. I keep an AKG D112 around for micing kick drum or bass cab on a gig where we supply the PA, but tbh I've literally never used it for bass since I bought it, always DI. I've used mic'd up cabinets in the studio before and it's turned out well, but I always left that up to the engineer to figure out... never had much luck trying to mic bass cabs myself.

The Shure SM57 and/or Sennheiser e609 are great multi-purpose microphones to have on hand. Either would be great first choice for guitar cabinets. For bass these will capture some character off the speaker if that's what you're after, but you'd want to supplement that with a DI to solidify the low frequencies.

 

[letsgethandsome]

Heil PR40. Awesome bass cab mic. You can find them for less than $200 if you watch the 'verb or marketplace. I've seen them go as low as $150 on marketplace.

Direct is great too, especially if you have some good in-the-box processing. Kuassa makes a nice bass amp plug-in that works GREAT with a DI line.

 

[NKBassman]

Heil PR40. Awesome bass cab mic. You can find them for less than $200 if you watch the 'verb or marketplace. I've seen them go as low as $150 on marketplace.

Direct is great too, especially if you have some good in-the-box processing. Kuassa makes a nice bass amp plug-in that works GREAT with a DI line.

I think Kurt Ballou at God City Studio has recommended the Heil PR40 for bass cab on some Youtubes I've seen of his studio rundown for various bands. If it's good enough for Kurt Ballou, it ought to be good enough for anyone. Any issues beyond that would not be from the mic haha.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Personally, I'd get a SansAmp and go direct. If you're stuck on getting a mic, then a Shure Beta 57A. Sounds good on vocals too.

 

[Wasnex]

If you already have a mic, try it.

Consider:
Audix D4 $147
Hypercardioid

AKG P2 $120
Cardioid

 

[Sam Evans]

Maybe a Shure PGA52? I've used it for kick drum, haven't tried it on a bass amp, but might do the trick.

 

[godofthunder59]

I've tried all kinds of high end mics over the years, I've been back to the good Ole Shure SM57 for quite some time for both stage and studio.

 

[Jeff Scott]

You Want A Microphone; Do You Have A Mic Preamp That You Will Be Recording Through?

If Not, Do As Most Other Have Recommended, Go With A DI Box Of Some Sort.

 

[TrustRod]

I like to have both recorded. Amp & DI. I usually end up favoring the DI in the end.

 

[el murdoque]

Based on my personal experience with recording bass, I'd like to offer the following argument:

-Recording direct works very well and while you're putting in the work of tracking bass, you should always grab a raw DI signal, no matter what you decide to try.

-A cheap DI and a more expensive one (Like a Radial) don't have that much audible difference in sound.

-If you have a very good amp setup and want to incorporate that into the recording, a (very) good mic is mandatory. I've tracked bass through a SM57 and the band ended up using the raw DI signal. I've done the same with the same equipment, but a Neumann mic (one of the really expensive ones) and the band ended up using the mic signal.

-If you have an okay amp and an okay mic, the result will be okay at best, and most likely the DI signal would have been the better choice.

-when working on a budget, the (IMO) best options would be to either rent something really good (amp/cab and/or mic) or to record direct.

 

[brianrost]

I think Kurt Ballou at God City Studio has recommended the Heil PR40 for bass cab

I own a PR40 but use it for vocals, it's a cheaper take on the EV RE20 or Shure SM7 "radio announcer" sound.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I have recorded at least one album track in the in the past with an SM-58. With the ball off it is pretty much. 57.

El M is right re source. The amp doesn't have to be expensive, but it has to be DOING something you want (flooding, driving, harmonic enhancement ) to be better than a DI.

I used the 58 Ona song when I was given the chance to record all my tracks myself for the first time. Not what I had experienced at "pro" studios before: amp stuffed in a closet, turned down below any useful point then compressed to poop.

That track I wanted a kinda classic rock vibe so I set up my SB-12 aiming into a corner with the 58 in the apex. Got a very chunky kinda Neil Young and Crazy Horse vibe.

I now have an SM-7b that I use when micing bass, which I still do when I want certain tones.

You don't need an expensive mic to record good sounds, you need to make good sounds to record. Same for DIs!

 

[Real Soon]

My weapon of choice is an EV PL88L, which is a lot like a Shure SM58, maybe with a little some bit of extra something character-wise. Maybe it's just the tan paint job, or maybe it really does have something special in its circuitry. Same as the 58, pop the filter off and it's a 57. I'll do that, then mix the microphone recording with the DI signal I run in parallel. Or with my setup, I might run clean DI, a Line Out DI from the head, and the mic'd cab signal. That's overkill but I like overkill

Basically, the lows aren't what give your bass the key characteristic tones, the mids are. You can capture lows aplenty with DI, and mixing it with the mic signal blends that full-range response with the midrange character your amp imparts. A standard-response mic will capture those mids in detail, and as far as I'm concerned, their tendency to roll down the lows makes mixing the signals MUCH easier than blending a bunch of super-low frequencies & subharmonics. Supercardioid mics like the Telefunken M80, EV RE20, Shure SM7B, etc are certainly usable and come with heightened proximity bass effect, but also cost a lot more as they excel in their designed purpose (and just coincidentally work well for bass recording).

Even if you get a crazy cheap mic, like a Pyle PDMICR 42SL, you'll have a mic signal and something to mix with DI. Cheap mics are fun because they can have unexpected characteristics, and as long as it's not noisy or anything, unexpected is worth exploring.

I have recorded at least one album track in the in the past with an SM-58. With the ball off it is pretty much a 57-equivalent.

El M is right re source. The amp doesn't have to be expensive, but it has to be DOING something you want (flooding, driving, harmonic enhancement ) to be better than a DI.

Instead of selling kits with both screw-on filters, Shure decided to sell the mics with different labels in order to sell more of 'em. Makes sense for profit purposes. But yeah, literally exactly the same microphone with different attachments; if you own an SM58, you also own an SM57 and vice versa.

 

[edwinhurwitz]

I own a PR40 but use it for vocals, it's a cheaper take on the EV RE20 or Shure SM7 "radio announcer" sound.

I have an old beat up RE20 that I use and it's really nice. Also an RE11. They used to be well within the OP's budget.

 

[Ezrah]

I'm considering getting a DI and The 57. If it's in my budget. I do need the lows, and good mids.