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Using a mic pre for bass?

I

Ignite

Nov 29, 2023
12
34
#1
I’ve recorded in the past with just an interface (apogee duet) and the sound was ok but it seems a little soft and not distinct. Toying with EQ improved it a bit, got rid of the flab, of course a compressor can help, but sometime I hear bass that is very punchy and sounds “hot”, like a high gain signal or something. I’m a noob to this.

The options I’ve consider are either using a mic on my cabinet as the sound is punchier than direct into the interface, but would a dbx 286 mic pre/channel strip give me a more present, punchy tone?

Another option is my old Eden bass head has a “recording out” on the back via an xlr jack. Oh, and I realize I can’t plug bass direct into the mic pre. Is the recording out on my head the same as a Di?

Thanks!
 
#2
Aloha and welcome to TB. Not sure which Eden you have, but I used to use the DI/recording out on my old WT-500 straight into my DAW with good results.
Any time I have ever mic'd a bass cab, I almost always end up just using the direct signal instead.
Not sure about the DBX 286, but my current favorite for bass is a DBX 676 channel strip. Clean to dirty, it just sounds good.
 
#3
Thanks! That 676 looks sweet. So the recording out of the amp is indeed a DI? I have an Eden combo amp, cxc300 2x10 from the late 90’s. I’m not sure which model but it’s essentially one of their half-width heads mounted in a cabinet.

Scratch the dbx I was talking about, I think I’ve found the winner in the Golden Age Project Pre73. A guy on talkbass from 2010 was raving about it, it was $300 13 years ago and it’s $300 today so that’s pretty sweet.
 
#7
I wouldn’t recommend the dbx286. Unlike other mic preamps, it doesn’t even has an instrument input! You would need a DI to connect your bass. Not worth it. The Gap is a good cheap Neve clone. Make sure that the hz-input that you use for your bass is going through the transformer! I own the GAP 73DLX and it has an internal jumper to let the hz input go through the transformer.
But you have to like what the preamp is doing when been driven harder. For a clean sound, external preamps make no sense anymore. Even the budget interfaces have very good clean preamps today.
When I started to try external preamps, compressors and EQs, I came to the conclusion that the most significant difference is the use of a good outboard compressor. Preamps don’t make a huge difference. In my case!
 

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