The best Mic for Bass amp ?

[f64]

My favorite mics:

EV RE20
Heil PR40
Sennheiser MD421
Beyer M88

Having said that, I switched to a REDDI earlier this year and I really don't miss the mic at all. But that's a serious $700 tube DI that sounds like a B-15 and not some $100 SS box that sounds like a SS amp. Had I not gotten the REDDI, no doubt I'd still be micing.

+1

 

[Tuned]

The Reddi is colored as hell, which IMO is the job of the amp. I use my SVP-CL preamp for that. I don't recommend people spend $700 on a tube DI when they can spend the same or less on improving their amp to serve both live and recording purposes.

I know a local tech that brings a Reddi box to his house sound gig, I've heard it plenty, very nice, but it's a one-trick pony that does not out-class my SVC-PL significantly. There are many great bass preamps out there that compete with the Reddi box, best look there unless you're a well funded studio that would never consult a bass forum for such advice.

 

[mowmwbass]

RE20, 421, 57, D112 all worked fine close miced.
However, I like using DI more so than mic because many amps have too much character.

 

[JimmyM]

The Reddi is colored as hell, which IMO is the job of the amp. I use my SVP-CL preamp for that. I don't recommend people spend $700 on a tube DI when they can spend the same or less on improving their amp to serve both live and recording purposes.

I know a local tech that brings a Reddi box to his house sound gig, I've heard it plenty, very nice, but it's a one-trick pony that does not out-class my SVC-PL significantly. There are many great bass preamps out there that compete with the Reddi box, best look there unless you're a well funded studio that would never consult a bass forum for such advice.

LOL! Good one!

 

[lokikallas]

Re20, b52, 88, 421
Are my go-to, but a 57 will do in a pinch.

 

[DigitalMan]

I love me some one trick ponies. Lets face it, when you need a good pair of scissors the Swiss Army Knife is the last thing you would reach for.

 

[bigboote]

Nothing wrong with a 57 on bass, and removing the transformer will extend the low end quite a bit. Also, take the the 57 AND a DI and blend the two for the best possible sound. The 57 gives you the bite and definition, while the DI gives you the clean low end.

 

[mickeyj4j]

This is a great post loving it.
I just want to share what I use as my DI option for bass.

Before I chose something I looked around did some research and looked into what was available. I listened to reviews and demos on youtube of some options. For bass, from memory, I saw sansamp, Dark glass, various brands of DI boxes active, passive the list goes on.... I then came across this video on youtube

It you can see from this video the Behringer V-Tone Bass BDI21 closely resembles the Sansamp Bass Driver. Actually the Bdi21 is a copy of the sansamp. They call it reversed engineered. They have managed to capture the tone well. I decided that for the price around $59us I would give it a go.
The main differences it has with the sansamp is instead of a metal body it has a plastic one. And it does not have an option for phantom power. So you either need to power it via a 9v battery or 9v mains adaptor. I ended up getting a pedaltrain volto. This is an external battery that can power several 9v pedals at the same time. Hope people find this info helpful.

 

[filmtex]

Nothing wrong with a 57 on bass, and removing the transformer will extend the low end quite a bit. Also, take the the 57 AND a DI and blend the two for the best possible sound. The 57 gives you the bite and definition, while the DI gives you the clean low end.

That's my solution too. Often I just use the 57 if the rooms small and therefore the pa isn't very loud.

 

[ofajen]

I also like using a Beyer M130 and not too close. Very natural response and setting the distance lets you control the balance of direct and room tone.

Otto