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My experience running sound is that micing the bass cabinet is not the huge headache that some sound guys would have you think. Honestly, if done right, it's only slightly little more work than getting a quality DI signal. In a really bad room or impossibly small stage, I'd most likely opt for a DI, but in most rooms, micing is not the esoteric art that it's made out to be. Often, it does require a little bit more thought than micing a guitar cab, particularly with a two-way bass cab. Some people will just mic a woofer, but honestly, so many two-way bass amps don't have full-range woofers and actually cross-over the high-mids into their horns. You need to catch a little bit of those frequencies from the horn. It's not too hard if you have a supercardoid or hypercardoid mic, which most mics used for bass applications are. You just have to think a little more about how you're going to angle the mic.
I have a really good relationship with most of the sound engineers I work with, and none of them have ever blinked when I wanted to use a mic. Then again, they know that I'm not some wanker who's going to try and push a bunch of sub bass and scooped mids that they're going to somehow try and turn into magic at the desk.
Most ideal situation would be a mic + DI, but you do have to watch for phasing issues with that.
You tell many truths here, and it's obvious you know your stuff. We are now, however, getting into the realm of the old saw: "Talking about Music is like Dancing about Architecture"... It's like trying to "talk" someone through mountain climbing. What gear do you know and trust? Then, with it, decisions are made to get the task done, and then, during execution, 2/3 of the decisions about how to make it work end up likely made without you even realizing anymore that you are making decisions... it boils down to instinct borne from experience.
Phasing? ...Yeah, your brains says: "Type 85's are pin-3 hot", but that's not an automatic solution... what's working? I think you know what I mean...
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You tell many truths here, and it's obvious you know your stuff. We are now, however, getting into the realm of the old saw: "Talking about Music is like Dancing about Architecture"... It's like trying to "talk" someone through mountain climbing. What gear do you know and trust? Then, with it, decisions are made to get the task done, and then, during execution, 2/3 of the decisions about how to make it work end up likely made without you even realizing anymore that you making decisions... it boils down to instinct borne from experience.
Phasing? Yeah, brains says: Type 85's are pin-3 hot, but that's not an automatic solution... what's working? I think you know what I mean...
Speaking of those pin 3 hot Type 85s, I went through ours (24 of them) and re-wired them pin 2 hot. I also labeled them as such.
Not one road guy ever noticed or cared.
(I know, in the big picture, it shouldn't matter, I did it because I could...)
Nobody has any reason to ever use effects, they are immoral and obscene abominations which must be struck from the surface of the planet!!
You tell many truths here, and it's obvious you know your stuff. We are now, however, getting into the realm of the old saw: "Talking about Music is like Dancing about Architecture"... It's like trying to "talk" someone through mountain climbing. What gear do you know and trust? Then, with it, decisions are made to get the task done, and then, during execution, 2/3 of the decisions about how to make it work end up likely made without you even realizing anymore that you are making decisions... it boils down to instinct borne from experience.
Phasing? ...Yeah, your brains says: "Type 85's are pin-3 hot", but that's not an automatic solution... what's working? I think you know what I mean...
Yes, sometimes being a musician just means being prepared and being flexible. That why I decided to buy a JDI when I bought a personal DI box. While it's not as expensive as say a REDDI, it's not on the cheap end of the spectrum either. However, it's pretty much the Swiss army knife of DI boxes and I've used it in all kinds of situations to great effect, and it's never let me down.
The SVP BSP has 2 balanced outputs on it - one "dry" and one combined channels. I had a sound guy tell me why he needed to use the output he did at a gig once, even after I explained why that was the incorrect choice to him. (I took a guitar lead on one song on my bass and used the overdriven channel to get the correct sound) It went something like - "I'm a pro, blah blah, trust me it will sound awesome, blah blah."
After we were done he was freaking out because he had lost me from the mix when I was doing the guitar lead (only thing happening at the time too).
Lucky I had a 410 plugged in or it would have been mighty quiet for a while... jerk.
After we were done he was freaking out because he had lost me from the mix when I was doing the guitar lead (only thing happening at the time too).
Lucky I had a 410 plugged in or it would have been mighty quiet for a while... jerk.
I went Greenboy, so what they get DI is what I get from the cab.
Life is good.
Life is good.
Excellent!
I played bass (and KB, guitars, and PS at various times) for 20 years before I ever got recruited to run a soundboard professionally, (because the owner of a major sound-company that I've known since we were teenagers had a hunch that I may be able to help on a staffing-problem with a thirteen-stage festival). I stuck with him after that for 17 years, and it was a good run.
I'm glad you like the sound of your cabs. What's your top mic pick for bringing it to the people, for this "mic only" solution ?
Just curious.
AKG 112.
My starting point is to point the mic at the speaker cone, about 1/3 away from the edge of the cone. 6" away from the grill.
From there, I can tweak it by subtley adjusting where it's pointed.
I keep away from the cone, because of proximity effect. I don't want it too boomy.
My starting point is to point the mic at the speaker cone, about 1/3 away from the edge of the cone. 6" away from the grill.
From there, I can tweak it by subtley adjusting where it's pointed.
I keep away from the cone, because of proximity effect. I don't want it too boomy.
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What the hell does that mean?
At what point did we start thinking we were clever even though it's been done for decades?
I worked with a soundman who said doing this was his "signature bass sound," and flashed a big smile. Clear enough?
I actually LIKE when they use DI and mic. Where did I offer a "mic only" solution? You guys get so sensitive.
The DI in my older SS amp stopped working due to the amp head taking a fall during a load out. I didn't know it wasn't working until our next gig when the sound guy told me he wasn't getting a signal from my amp DI. So we mic'd the cab. It sounded great and I continued having to mic that rig until I got around to getting another amp. I don't see any downside to micing a bass cab. And vs DI it's really just a matter of preference and/or convenience.
Yes, it is. And that's the point we're trying to make to the OP.
