What do you studio guys think of this idea?

[bassbenj]

The other day I had this brainstorm. It goes like this.

What if one made a bass ONLY for recording. The idea would be a bass with NO controls at all. It would have two very low noise hum-cancelling "single coil" pickups that were very low impedance. They would not use inductance or capacitance to change tone.

The bass would have two XLR connectors, one for each pickup. The pickups would be low impedance with differential outputs just like microphones so as to minimize losses and noise pickup. The only difference would be the outputs would be higher level to also minimize noise.

ALL tone shaping would be done at the board. The bridge and neck channels could be mixed or recorded separately. Each channel could have a parametric graphic equalizer (or maybe a modeling pod) to control tone. Bass would not even have a volume control.

An alternative might be a "preamp" box near the bass that the player could use as well or instead.

People here in TB have said that usually bass recording is direct anyway, so I thought, why not a "direct only" bass just for recording that has been optimized for low noise and clear tone?

Is this nuts?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

nuts, no.
way to complicated for nothing, you bet.

Get a jazz or P. These models have done pretty well for the past few year.....

 

[FaithNoMan]

I think it's cool if someone is going completely direct to DAW, but for some guys(me maybe), using effects pedals and outboard cabsims and preamps, it may not be such a great idea.

I like to hear exactly what is going in, and maybe add a small amount of compression or room ambience post-recording.

But still, I think you have a really neat idea

 

[Wallace320]

I don't really like recording, and I'm way better now than I was in the past, as FaithNoMan (great band BTW: I love Billy Gould) a guy who preferred to control everything, being it under my foot action (pedals) or by my side (pre, head and final).

Alright but this is not how studio work so a dedicated balanced pre (SansAmp programmable BassDriver D.I. is a very good startin' point) or an interfaced bass/panelboard, think about Line6 Variax basses and Fender "Roland ready" Stratocaster, is down to the very core of studio everyday life. That's why you're absolutely undisputable to me, Benj.

Cheers,
Wallace

 

[sratas]

I don't know if the idea behind this is valid. I mean, everyone wants flatter than flat. How knows the actual flat tone? but this is a philosophical debate, so I give up.
If you want, you can build that bass of course.
Only a minor gripe, by recording separately the two PUs, in my opinion you lose the sound of the two PUs together. I mean, I have the feeling (unproven yet) that the final result, using the two channels at one time, will not be the same as leaving the onboard electronics mix those Pu sounds and then pick up the sound from a conventional output jack...
I'm not sure and curious about this, maybe the result is the same...

The other day I had this brainstorm. It goes like this.

What if one made a bass ONLY for recording. The idea would be a bass with NO controls at all. It would have two very low noise hum-cancelling "single coil" pickups that were very low impedance. They would not use inductance or capacitance to change tone.

The bass would have two XLR connectors, one for each pickup. The pickups would be low impedance with differential outputs just like microphones so as to minimize losses and noise pickup. The only difference would be the outputs would be higher level to also minimize noise.

ALL tone shaping would be done at the board. The bridge and neck channels could be mixed or recorded separately. Each channel could have a parametric graphic equalizer (or maybe a modeling pod) to control tone. Bass would not even have a volume control.

An alternative might be a "preamp" box near the bass that the player could use as well or instead.

People here in TB have said that usually bass recording is direct anyway, so I thought, why not a "direct only" bass just for recording that has been optimized for low noise and clear tone?

Is this nuts?

 

[narud]

no engineer will want to f with that

 

[Tupac]

A great idea, but nobody would care but us bassist. Engineers just want a nice flat pancake of low frequency, they couldn't care less about shaping everything down to the pickups.

 

[Jim Carr]

Nuts? IMHO, yeah. Get a good Jazz and a good P, and play upright. Play very cleanly with killer time. NEVER make a mistake.

 

[chadds]

The bass is a musical instrument.

 

[Emanuel Apascaritei]

just take a P or a Jazz and bypass the tone control, it´s the same thing...

Actually you don´t even have to bypass the tone control, just have it all the way up

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

The other day I had this brainstorm. It goes like this.

Is this nuts?

A "while" back, a certain feller with the name Lester Wiliam Polfus had the same kind of an idea. Granted, it wasn't a bass instrument he tinkered with, and granted, he included some tone controls on-board, but the end result was pretty much what You're thinking about.

The idea is a good one, but the execution may be a bit tricky.

no engineer will want to f with that

Why?

Know many such engineers personally?

Regards
Sam

 

[Emanuel Apascaritei]

I think engineers do want to "f" with that, at least the oneas who are in continous learning...like me!

But the result would be the same as in case of a preciosion or jazz or a bass with humbuckers with passive circuitry...i think...

 

[JimmyM]

Any engineer who doesn't want to "f" with that isn't what I call much of an engineer. Bad engineers will naysay without trying it. Good ones never do.

 

[TraceOnBass]

Didn't Line 6 do something like this with the Variax (sp?) model bass and guitars?

If i recall they were/are completely software controlled...

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Any engineer who doesn't want to "f" with that isn't what I call much of an engineer. Bad engineers will naysay without trying it. Good ones never do.

I agree, but sometimes TIME is an issue.

 

[JimmyM]

I agree, but sometimes TIME is an issue.

That's a whole different ball of wax, though. The engineer's getting an hourly rate and most are happy to let you run the clock up. It's the producer's job to bring a project in on budget

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I've done a couple sessions of my own and let me tell you on some occasions if someone would have pulled that bass out on a session I would have said OH HECK NO!!!

Put the emphasis on SOME sessions......

 

[narud]

an instrument that by design that has a wide frequency response with tons of eq control, only to then be eq'd to a narrow frequency response to sit in the average mix is an extra step that fender type instruments already do.

 

[Jonathan1990]

It'd be cool to experiment with this idea. However, it has been done before (Ric-O-Sound). And the philosophy that you'd get the "true" tone of the string is false IMHO, as the pups would still capture string movement at two singular points. For a true sound of the string, you'd have to mic it, and that's not a viable option IMO.

 

[chadhargis]

Just simplify everything and run your bass into a MIDI device where you can get any tone you want. It's the direction music is taking these days. It's all so manufactured.

That's probably why I enjoy the old school stuff so much. Love the old Led Zep recordings with all the "flaws" left in. It made the music real.