Recording effects heavy bass

[Stretchhh]

Hey Justin

I was wondering what the best way to achieve amazing raw bass tones without sounding rough or too produced and compressed as I am using a large range of effects with my band that is about to start recording a 7 track in the coming months where my bass tone will be changing several times in each track.

It is completely DIY as the guitarist has done 3 years of music production at a school but hasn't done much along the lines of bass recording with chorus/delay/dirt/envelope filters. Will it be best to do a 50:50 DI/Mic or all mic or all DI as I currently have an Ampeg SVT-2Pro which is going to be retubed shortly as well.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Off the top, without hearing much, I think you're going to want something more like 75/25 or 60/40 amp to DI. But that ratio should be left open-ended until mixing.

Try a nice fat dynamic on one of your speakers, just a simple thing like an RE-20, SM7, even a 57. Or, if you have access, a FET 47.

You just need to make sure your pedal levels get sorted out as soon as possible during the tracking, then commit when things sound right during the first playback you hear.

J

 

[Stretchhh]

Yeah nice, I say we will reamp everything so there will be the chance to adjust pedal levels to suit recordings but it will all be down to how good the ratio is between the amp to DI.

Cheers for the advice.

 

[JimmyM]

A little advice about your SVT 2 Pro...if it sounds good, it doesn't need retubing. And if it sounds bad, it's usually only one tube that's gone out. If it's a pre tube, just replace the bad one(s), but if it's a power tube that's out, then you might need to replace three of them to keep them matching, but you don't need to replace all of them unless you like spending money for no reason. Full retubing is a big scam if you ask me. Tubes don't all go bad at the same time, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it

 

[Stretchhh]

A little advice about your SVT 2 Pro...if it sounds good, it doesn't need retubing. And if it sounds bad, it's usually only one tube that's gone out. If it's a pre tube, just replace the bad one(s), but if it's a power tube that's out, then you might need to replace three of them to keep them matching, but you don't need to replace all of them unless you like spending money for no reason. Full retubing is a big scam if you ask me. Tubes don't all go bad at the same time, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it

Yeah I know, I am going to replace the whole Power Amp as I know one section required. They get driven pretty hard so I am going to change them from 6550 to KT88. The preamp I might get a tech to look at as I prefer a really clean signal from my amp as I use a lot of effects on my board for my tones.

 

[Dan Bozek]

Yeah nice, I say we will reamp everything so there will be the chance to adjust pedal levels to suit recordings but it will all be down to how good the ratio is between the amp to DI.

Cheers for the advice.

Thoughts from my personal experience: Don't use the thought of reamping later as a "fix it in the mix" kind of mentality. I've found that the whole recording process goes way better and is all around more exciting if you commit to things as you're going. (Albeit not recklessly.) Sure, with various technologies one is often afforded the ability to take a step back and address something that was recorded previously and tweak it better, but the right head space to get into is using your ears to get it right the first time!!

Good luck!!

 

[Stretchhh]

Thoughts from my personal experience: Don't use the thought of reamping later as a "fix it in the mix" kind of mentality. I've found that the whole recording process goes way better and is all around more exciting if you commit to things as you're going. (Albeit not recklessly.) Sure, with various technologies one is often afforded the ability to take a step back and address something that was recorded previously and tweak it better, but the right head space to get into is using your ears to get it right the first time!!

Good luck!!

Live recording isn't a luxury I can afford and neither can the other members of the band. Plus my mate is awesome at recording and now knows a few more secrets he can try out to get everything right even though we are going to be spot on with our tracking anyways.

Cheers for the support, I'll make sure I post some tracks up once they are done.

 

[stoneboy26]

Off the top, without hearing much, I think you're going to want something more like 75/25 or 60/40 amp to DI. But that ratio should be left open-ended until mixing.

Try a nice fat dynamic on one of your speakers, just a simple thing like an RE-20, SM7, even a 57. Or, if you have access, a FET 47.

You just need to make sure your pedal levels get sorted out as soon as possible during the tracking, then commit when things sound right during the first playback you hear.

J

Just did some recording on the weekend and we weren't getting a "great" bass sound until the engineer pulled out the SM7 - it was FANTASTIC!!! Noticed the difference as soon as he plugged it in.

 

[Dan Bozek]

Just did some recording on the weekend and we weren't getting a "great" bass sound until the engineer pulled out the SM7 - it was FANTASTIC!!! Noticed the difference as soon as he plugged it in.

That mic is really a new secret weapon. Bass cabs are only the start!! It's great for vocals and really anything that desires a full, fat, dry mic. I wish I had two around in the studio!!

Best.

 

[plasson]

if I may chime in, not to open a new topic, to all you SVT-2 Pro users: how do you find your direct out level to be?
I always thought mine was incredibly low, at the point that I find it almost unusable.
I had a tech giving it a look, but he told me it was alright, although I find it hard to believe.

 

[Stretchhh]

if I may chime in, not to open a new topic, to all you SVT-2 Pro users: how do you find your direct out level to be?
I always thought mine was incredibly low, at the point that I find it almost unusable.
I had a tech giving it a look, but he told me it was alright, although I find it hard to believe.

To be honest I haven't really used it a lot and when on stage I tend to go more by what comes out of my can as I never get any coming through monitors as they can't handle the low frequencies of my bass with all the effects changes I do. Recording wise it doesn't do to bad but again haven't had much use in that area yet.