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Which mic for bass cab?

J

Jon R

Oct 16, 2001
540
8
74
Frostbite Falls, USA
#1
I'm involved in my first recording project and I don't want to have to start out sounding crappy. My intent is to record both from the DI and with a mic in front of my cab... my question is; which mic should I be using? Is there a favorite that won't have me selling off my first-born child just to pay for it?

Thanx!
 
#3
Your price range will dictate this answer.

A dirt cheap solution: Buy an sm-57 for $80. These are "swiss army knife" mics. They aren't optimized for bass response but they will work and also be useful for mic'd guitar cabs, vox, house mix, anything..
They also take serious abuse.
 
#5
I second the SM57. Since you are going to use both DI and miked signals, you don´t necessarily need a mic with extended bass response. In fact it might be better to use low cut on mic channel to avoid phase problems.

That said, for a mic with better low end response, I would choose a large dynamic over a cheap condenser. Sennheiser MD421 and Electro-Voice RE20 are classics and overall very versatile mics.
 
#9
I have used the SM57, and the AKG D112. I prefer the AKG, then again it is also way more. The SM57 served me well for our recordings.

I say try the cheaper mic first on a test run before the big recording day(s). You may find the AKG is worth the extra expense. Most do.

-Mike
 
#10
I've been thinking of getting a mic lately...I was looking at the AKG D550, but I'm not sure. I was considering the SM-57 or the AKG D112 too... I noticed that the SM-57 has quite flat response, until you get into the bass regions. :bawl: Oh well, I usually go direct too...but I'm not sure, I want to warm up my sound, but still have the DI there too...am I crazy? Am I afflicted with some serious G.A.S.? :help:
 
#12
I've never really liked the results I've gotten with the RE-20 for some reason, in theory it should work... I'm planning on trying the D112 in the next couple days as the studio just got one.

I find AKG 414s sound really nice on 10" speakers or from a bit of a distance. Very warm, one of my favourite tones.

On the last album I did, I used a Shure Beta 52 on a 1x15 with the grill off the cab and the mic nearly touching the speaker. Blended that with a SM57 on the 4x10 and the results are pretty nice.

I take miccing over DI any day of the week, I don't even like to blend a DI in unless I really have to.
 
#15
I like the AKG C414-EB, about 2-3 feet from the speaker. I usually use a BagEnd S-12 for this purpose, with the amp cranked just below the point where the speaker starts complaining. Also I'll sometimes put a 15 or even an 18 below the 12, so the mic picks up the residuals, but the mic's always pointed more or less at the middle of the 12. It doesn't work as well with the mic pointed at the bigger speakers.
 

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