As fortune would have it, I used Bass Setup 2 and my singer songwriter buddy John loves the tone......and the bass line I put down to his first tune we're recording. It's a ballady thing, but he's mostly a rocker, so I am still looking for that Ampeg tone for uptempo stuff(SVT & 8x10 or 2x15). I didn't think of using hardware. I do have a MS-60B laying around... I would rather re-amp than have to drag it out every time I want to do a take. Thought about it some more, and I have a Sonic Port and a THR-10C. Not hurting for hardware bass tones at all.
 
I am a noob at engineering/recording, so I rely on tutorial videos... A TON of holes in my knowledge base! Groove 3 is my tutor.

I would run direct into the board and then apply EQ, transient management and maybe a multi band comp. SO many great records were done direct that it seems a good place to start. If it's good enough for Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney, why fight it. Once you get the sound right add a little ambience and you should be there.

ampfixer
I would run direct into the board and then apply EQ, transient management and maybe a multi band comp. SO many great records were done direct that it seems a good place to start. If it's good enough for Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney, why fight it. Once you get the sound right add a little ambience and you should be there.

 
But Geddy's "direct" recording path often includes a Sansamp as the DI.

I am going straight in atm, just adding an amp in the FX chain.

I have three of the four Native Instruments Scarbee basses: Jay Bass (Fender Jazz Bass), P Bass (Fender Precision Bass), and Rick Bass (Rickenbacker 4003).  I love all three.
 
For my style, I use J bass about most of the time, and the Rick when the bass really needs to cut through.  I am using the Precision Bass on my current track because I wanted something that laid in the track better than the Rick but was still more aggressive than a Jazz Bass.
 
If all I had were the J or P, I could cut almost anything in the rock or country field.  The Rick's stereo feature is awesome and there are presets that cover a lot of territory in the rock world. I will be using it on a number of tracks on my new album (which is more neo-Hippie-rock oriented).
 
The P bass is one Kontakt instrument.  Jay Bass comes with a normal and a slap instrument.  The Rick comes with a normal and a palm mute instrument.
 
Note that Craig's Gibson EB5 Bass for Dimension Pro will also handle almost any bass task.  It is extremely well-done and available from the Cakewalk store.  The only reason I don't use it more is just because I got in the habit (rut) of using the Scarbees and I am very comfortable with Kontakt.
 
All of these are very reasonably priced.