weird rigs that ended up sounding really good on a record

[runmikeyrun]

I have some bass tracks to record in the next couple of weeks. I've done some demo tracking at home since my main rig is at the practice spot. I'd really rather record at home, so I plugged my pedal board into one of my bench test/practice rigs. A basic Ibanez guitar 10w combo run into a 2x12 GK/celestion guitar cab. With a nice A/T condenser mic I get a REALLY and I mean REALLY great tone with it. I can't believe it myself. I have all the eq knobs set at noon, and an old cooler lined with foam over the whole cab as a DIY isolation cab.

Just wondering what some of you guys/gals have used that you figured would suck but ended up being great.

 

[F-Clef-Jef]

I once tracked my bass through an old 12 watt Fender Champ(?) guitar amp along with recording direct to the board. It provided just the right amount of crunch, while the direct line held it all together. Turned out great!

 

[KrisHayes]

Tracked an upright with an MXL V69 through an old original MBox with the onboard preamp. Sounded strangely detailed and not muddy!

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

Tracked an upright with an MXL V69 through an old original MBox with the onboard preamp. Sounded strangely detailed and not muddy!

Same thing here! I upgraded the tube in the V69 though, and that made a BIG difference in that mic. But yeah, it sounded pretty good!

 

[MCS4]

Back in college I recorded an EP with a radio rock band at a pretty decent studio. For whatever reason, all we did was run my active Carvin LB70 through my cheap Zoom multi-effects unit (bypassed and used as a tuner only) and straight into the board. No DI or anything. However, the tone came out great. Several months ago I sent one of the tracks as a sample to a potential new band whose bandleader was a bassist (but not in that band), and he said it was exactly the bass tone he wanted for himself and asked how I got it.