Any advice on getting a better bass guitar recording?

Hey everybody,
 
  I have gotten everything else squared away, guitars are sounding great, drums big & clear, I have a new condensor for vocals that is miles better than what I had.....  but my bass tones ust suck.  They are so weak!!!   I have an active Ibanez ergodine series bass, playing through a huge peavy stack- one 15"/horn cab, & one w/ 4x10" with a horn.  This thing sounds huge live, I  can acheive any sound across the spectrum from thin & punchy to vibrate your drink off the damn table from across the club....  But recorded it's sounds like a crap.  I have tried micing the 15, the 10's, direct in from the amp (has a Di line from the back of the head, & from using a standard DI box.  I have used Beta mics, 57's, 58's, a condenser.....  I have recorded with the Di box going into guitar rig 3 using bass amp simulators combined with a 2nd track recording with an sm57 (on the 15") near the edge of the cone at the same time.  This has netted me the bes sound thus far & I finally have a little tone to mix with & some sustain but it still lacks the clarity....   it seems to me my entire viable frequency (the meat of the sound) is landing right in the 250-500 hz range, I have some clicking from my fingers near the pick ups above that, & low range mud below it.   HELP Me out here?   One guy told me that he's never gotten a decent recorded sound from any active bass.....  Wouldn't suprise me as the only common entity in every set up & every sh!tty result has been my bass guitar itself.... I have changed nearly everything else...?
How can it sound so good in the room, yet sound so lousy recorded?

the quality of your playing, has the largest effect on the end result.

it all starts at the fingers.

try using a nice quality direct box, with a split signal, and record two tracks at once, using the direct feed as well as a miced cab, and blend them.


but, concentrate on getting the playing dialed in first, that is key.

"the quality of your playing, has the largest effect on the end result.

it all starts at the fingers."

I think it is way more complicated than that with modern bass styles. Many bass players get an utterly fantastic sound coming out of their stack but if you intercept the signal somewhere along the chain you notice that ALL THE RULES are being broken... you have big nasty pops, growls, square waves... just plain crazy stuff going on... and yet the sound in the room is tight and right.

I'm glad I play a simple style where it IS all about the fingers... while the amp is just reproducing it the sound of the strings.

I've seen bass players crumble when they did not have their secret recipe back line available for stage use... they become lost searching for their signature tone. I think it gets even more particular when that type of bassist goes into the studio.

That's when I start thinking about using a nice mic and pre.

best,
mike

too many guys get hung up on gear

I agree with you batsbrew.

jwh

Here's what I would try.  You mentioned that it has a DI line on the back?  Then why are you using a DI box with it?  You don't need it!  What I do is, I go out of my line out from the amp into whatever soundcard you are using.  Dial in your tone from the amp and in Sonar match those EQ settings.  Also make sure that you have a good level going into Sonar.  So ,you won't have to use any EQ on your Soundcard.  It's something new to try out.

                                                            Joshua Melton 

Multiband compressor on the bass bus is a must to get a real punchy resonant bass sound without it turning to mush.  I have been using POD Farm bass amps on my stuff recently and am absolutely loving the tone and the control it can add to the mix. Plus, I can edit my parts down real sweetly and then run it thru an "amp", so the playing is spot on without any noticeable cut'n'paste edits coloring it.

But that's just me...

Maybe post a sample? It could be possible that you are just getting too worked up about getting the sound right that you can't even tell what the right sound is any more. Maybe the sound is actually pretty darn good, but you are being too critical of it? What do your other musician friends think of it? Get some feedback from other people as to how it sounds - people with a music background. You also say it sounds 'so weak'. It's pretty common to feel that loss of power when the bass is being played just out of some studio monitors compared to a huge bass amp (which I'm sure you understand). It's impossible for the sound to come close to that power unless your monitors are as big as as that peavy stack. Listen to some similar music and try and see what's missing from yours - maybe it's really not as bad as you think.

So please, give us a sample so we can see if it sounds like crap or not!

Jamesyoyo, I will check out pod farms.... Thanks
Mike, Yes I did get the part about Comb Filtering & Will surely check to see if that is part of the problem.  I have not had time to get out to my studio since thursday, but I have a session scheduled tonight. 
 
  And yeah MAtt, I need to set up a soundclick account so I can post up some samples & ask for help on stuff like this.

mike_mccue

For anyone else wondering; You can time align direct and mic'd tracks by nudging your mic'd track a bit to the "left" to match the direct signals timing. Or you can use a digital plug in like the recently released Voxengo phase tool. Or you can use a analog tool like Little Labs IBP box.

Yeah I do that all the time. But only works with multitracked things where you have no substantial bleed of any kind. If you're trying to do it with drums, there may be some big problems.