Will I do ok without a bass amp (DI)?

[Jim C]

But only if the client can afford it
The big studios in my neighborhood still charge between $1.50 and $2 per minute so mnay clients doing demos can only afford a short amount of time for set up and initial EQ

Given the choice, spend your money on capturing a great performance with a decent clean EQ; if it's a hit, it can always be re-mixed at a later date with a real budget

 

[JimmyM]

But only if the client can afford it
The big studios in my neighborhood still charge between $1.50 and $2 per minute so mnay clients doing demos can only afford a short amount of time for set up and initial EQ

Given the choice, spend your money on capturing a great performance with a decent clean EQ; if it's a hit, it can always be re-mixed at a later date with a real budget

of course, it never is. i'm a big believer in putting it down as you want it to sound from the get-go. the ability to put off decisions like that has made for some very weak recordings, imho. commit!

and you understand that i was speaking metaphorically, i hope. of course at $90 an hour you don't want an engineer going through his mic locker and trying every mic. but a good engineer will welcome the opportunity to work with non-standard gear and at least try it, whereas a crappy engineer will always play it safe. booooooooring!

 

[Charling]

of course, it never is. i'm a big believer in putting it down as you want it to sound from the get-go. the ability to put off decisions like that has made for some very weak recordings, imho. commit!

and you understand that i was speaking metaphorically, i hope. of course at $90 an hour you don't want an engineer going through his mic locker and trying every mic. but a good engineer will welcome the opportunity to work with non-standard gear and at least try it, whereas a crappy engineer will always play it safe. booooooooring!

Exactly, and you would hope a great engineer is experienced enough to know how to get the best out of new or different bits of gear in no time at all!

And yeah you have to commit, thats one of the major things it comes down to at every stage of the process.

In the scheme of things the TIME it takes to mic an amp is not going to affect a seasoned engineer too much, but there may be considerations with space and isolation, inputs/mics etc. That said, I mic a cab every session just to be sure

 

[MNAirHead]

zillions of recordings are direct to the board..wiht the right setup no DI box is required.

Tim

 

[m_bisson]

what does DI mean

 

[bluesfordan]

what does DI mean

Direct In or Direct Input. Pretty much what a lot of people are saying that it has been historically a common practice to plug a bass directly into the recording console of yore. Guitars usually need a little something to match the impedance better, which a good quality DI box can do.

 

[anonymous101511]

In my experience, when someone refers to a 'DI' they are talking about a direct box. ( I understand that is not the literal definition) If you don't have to run a long cable ( more than 25') length, I would plug right into the 1/4" input on the console. I do it all the time, myself.

 

[slipkyes]

In my experience, when someone refers to a 'DI' they are talking about a direct box. ( I understand that is not the literal definition) If you don't have to run a long cable ( more than 25') length, I would plug right into the 1/4" input on the console. I do it all the time, myself.

Well most consoles have their 1/4" inputs for line level, and in theory instrument level is normally much lower than that so you should encounter some undergaining issues if you skip the DI. That depends on the instrument of course cause they vary so much in output level, and if you´re using active pups that a whole different story, active pups (or passive pups with internal active preamp) have much hotter output so you should have no problem in plugging them straight into line level inputs cause the bass has it´s own preamp that gives the necesary output level for it

 

[Corey Y]

I almost always mic and DI bass when I record, if for no other reason than to have a safety for re-amping the bass if necessary. However, I've ended up using just the DI track a lot, with good result. There's a lot of room to manipulate that sound in the mix, but often times it doesn't take much more than a little dynamics and eq (particularly in the mid range, ime) to craft that DI into a nice sounding bass track. It all depends on the bassist, the sound they're going for and of course the overall mix. The last time I recorded myself I didn't use any DI, but my entire tone was pretty much an OD pedal, clean power and the cab and I knew exactly the sound I wanted and how to get it with almost no mixing.

Any of the SansAmp bass DI pedals do a pretty good job and give you a lot of flexibility with tone for recording DI. I've had the BDDI since it came out and use it often for recording (other people more than myself). Lots of people are fond of the new VT pedal, as already previously mentioned.

 

[Eublet]

Always, always, always send a clean DI when you record. Radial, Countryman, U5, etc. After that, do whatever else you want. Mic a cab, use a pedal/preamp, take a DI off a bass head, whatever. Definitely take the time to try and get your tone down on one track, but always have a clean DI track as well. I'm an amateur, and even I've learned this the hard way.

 

[muddycreek]

why not mic up a guitar amp and play bass through it? if you keep the volume down below what would blow your guitar amp, it can sound fantastic and every bit as good as a bass amp. might want to blend a di with it if you're not getting enough lows, but guitar amps work great in the studio on bass.

+ a lot. My favorite bass recording amp is a 60's Ampeg Gemini guitar (and accordion) amp. Low volume with a good tube guitar amp... yum...

You can combine with a DI, too, but honestly I don't usually end up using it.

 

[The Owl]

I've had very good results recording bass with a Radial Bassbone pre-amp/DI

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BBE BMAX Bass Pre-Amp is really good as well

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Both boxes are pretty reasonably priced too

 

[TaylorO']

I was gonna start a thread about this, but i think ill just add here....

I am constantly arguing with my guitar player about this. Whenever we record, he, along with his friend who does the recording, always insist on me plugging right into the board, or some "DI" box. I refuse to do this. WHAT IS THE POINT OF SEARCHING FOR AN AMP SOUND IF WHEN YOU RECORD YOU DONT EVEN USE IT? I pickd up a mesa boogie 400. i love it. it sounds great. I dont care what little piece of technology can imitate its sound, its not the same. Amps, and the cabs you use, give it its sound. why plug into something that only trys to give you an imitation, or as i read here, a "useable" sound? hahaha "useable".. thats basically saying, its not great but it will work.

I dont wanna be simply "heard" when the mixing is being done. I want my sound to sound like what i sound like.

Showing up "without an amp" is pretty lame to me, however it, im sure works for someone else.

This is all just my opinion though.

 

[JimmyM]

I was gonna start a thread about this, but i think ill just add here....

I am constantly arguing with my guitar player about this. Whenever we record, he, along with his friend who does the recording, always insist on me plugging right into the board, or some "DI" box. I refuse to do this. WHAT IS THE POINT OF SEARCHING FOR AN AMP SOUND IF WHEN YOU RECORD YOU DONT EVEN USE IT? I pickd up a mesa boogie 400. i love it. it sounds great. I dont care what little piece of technology can imitate its sound, its not the same. Amps, and the cabs you use, give it its sound. why plug into something that only trys to give you an imitation, or as i read here, a "useable" sound? hahaha "useable".. thats basically saying, its not great but it will work.

I dont wanna be simply "heard" when the mixing is being done. I want my sound to sound like what i sound like.

Showing up "without an amp" is pretty lame to me, however it, im sure works for someone else.

This is all just my opinion though.

in your case, i would absolutely 100% agree. however, there is a lot of proof that you don't NEED to mic an amp. there are tons of bass tracks in all genres that have been recorded direct and sound just great. but if you want to mic your amp, there is no reason on earth an engineer should deny you. that's just laziness. not that it takes much effort to mic a cab beyond doing a di. a lot of folks who have never done it grossly overestimate the difficulty level of micing a bass cab.

 

[TaylorO']

in your case, i would absolutely 100% agree. however, there is a lot of proof that you don't NEED to mic an amp. there are tons of bass tracks in all genres that have been recorded direct and sound just great. but if you want to mic your amp, there is no reason on earth an engineer should deny you. that's just laziness. not that it takes much effort to mic a cab beyond doing a di. a lot of folks who have never done it grossly overestimate the difficulty level of micing a bass cab.

yeah, hell, IM the one that has to drag my amp to the recording studio, not him, haha..

im not a recording genious or anything, but i def DID NOT like the sound he got, and i also hated the "lag" there was while i was recording. It was weird. while i was playing along to the drum tracks, i kept hearing my "signal" and it was half a second behind. it was killing me.

NEVER do that again. Ever.

 

[Charling]

yeah, hell, IM the one that has to drag my amp to the recording studio, not him, haha..

im not a recording genious or anything, but i def DID NOT like the sound he got, and i also hated the "lag" there was while i was recording. It was weird. while i was playing along to the drum tracks, i kept hearing my "signal" and it was half a second behind. it was killing me.

NEVER do that again. Ever.

Well, if he won't mic a cab and cannot even deal with the setup of his studio to remove latency before the clients arrive then he doesn't sound like much of an engineer... Add to that not listening to the musicians wishes.

Was this guy supposedly a 'pro'?

Anyway, if you have the inputs micing a cab is not hard of time consuming and should be given a go.

However, sometimes in a studio with no iso booths (so the amp has to be in the room with the drummer etc) it can help the whole band a LOT to go without as many amps as possible. (fine if you are overdubbing the bass later of course, then you just plug into a DI for the guides and get the amp out after the drums are finished), maybe it was that?

 

[TaylorO']

Well, if he won't mic a cab and cannot even deal with the setup of his studio to remove latency before the clients arrive then he doesn't sound like much of an engineer... Add to that not listening to the musicians wishes.

Was this guy supposedly a 'pro'?

Anyway, if you have the inputs micing a cab is not hard of time consuming and should be given a go.

However, sometimes in a studio with no iso booths (so the amp has to be in the room with the drummer etc) it can help the whole band a LOT to go without as many amps as possible. (fine if you are overdubbing the bass later of course, then you just plug into a DI for the guides and get the amp out after the drums are finished), maybe it was that?

Nope. he had me play along to the drums in my earphones, and i went and did the bass tracks to that, plugged directly into his mostrosity board.... the bass sound sounded like sterile dogpoopie to me. So much, that im dead set against ever recording without my amp again. Recently i recorded with another band, and we mic'd the cab and it sounded great.

 

[groovking]

I try to never use a bass amp in the studio. I dont even use too many guitar amps,.....but I do use pedals for guitarist and a sansamp bassdriver di in most cases for my studio recordings.

 

[Evil Undead]

What is a bass DI?

 

[noah.culver]

i use a groove tube brick. AND I LOVE IT! i use it live AND in the studio. it has 2 12ax7's and 2 12au7's so its very warm. throw an overdrive in front of it and it sounds like a cab! its perfect. oh and it makes a great mic pre too!!


peace be the journey
-noah