Recording bass guitar direct. What are you guys using on your signal chain??

apologies in advance.. this should be probally be in the technique forum, but all the smart guys come here. so.. i am unable to mic my 73 Ampeg V4 head, i dont have the space for it. but even after 20 yrs i still find my stock Fender Jazz the hardest to record. sounds great in the room, but on the recordings its thin. i can bring it up, but it introduces more 60cyc hum. the stock pups are noisy but do sound great. im curious to know what are the other members using to record bass.. keep em coming..

I plug into my interface, click the input to line level. Then use a plugin for an amp! 

Pod X3 live via spdif.

The X3 has some decent bass amp models and cabs all played through my peavey cirrus BXP

Steve

i use the Hartke Bass DI to the UA 710 pre direct to the board. i get decent results, minus the single coil noise. very classic early 70s sound.

I run it through a Behringer Ultra g DI, then a DBX 266XL (over easy) into my UA 101. I've recorded guys with a Spectre, Fender P, even an old Guild from the 60s. The only bass that didn't really sound good though that was an Ibanez.

For recording direct I've been using two free VSTs. One is a Sansamp sim and the other is Bootsie's Thrillseeker LA compressor. Then I use MixIR2 (a IR loader from Redwirez) and an Ampeg SVT 8x10 cabinet IR.
 
[link=http://www.theserinaexperiment.net/plugins/TSE_BOD_1.0.zip]http://www.theserinaexper...lugins/TSE_BOD_1.0.zip[/link]
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/thrillseekerla-released-today/
www.redwirez.com
 

I have a '65 Jazz Bass I plug direct into my M-Audio 2626 Once I have the raw audio, I sweeten with EQ, compression, TH2 or Guitar Rig as necessary And sometimes I just use a VST (Scarbee, Dim Pro)

My input signal chain for recording my bass rig is:

1) AT4047 mic - HELIOS 69 pre amp/EQ (to taste)
2) Radial Direct Box into another HELIOS 60 pre amp/EQ (to taste)

The Radial box has an input and a thru (the thru goes to my AMPEG SVT/CL or a vintage ACOUSTIC 370 head) the output from the DI is an XLR into the HELIOS.

Tricky part is placing the MIC at a distance that does not create a PHASE relationship between the DI and the mic signals. (I know, they have plugs to adjust the phase or I could slide the audio track to eliminate the phase but I do find getting it right at the source is the best remedy in avoiding the issue all together.

Jim

P-Bass (or Line 6) into LA-610 (preamp only, no compression) into one channel of my dbx 266xs for compression (1.5:1 to 2:1) then into my RME Interface.

For my Alembic bass (which has separate outputs for for the bridge and neck pups); One side into True Systems P-Solo and the other side into Grace M-101 preamps; then both sides into separate dbx 266xs for compression and then each side sent to separate inputs into my RME interface (and record to separate tracks for more finite mixing control).

Sometimes a Line 6 X3, sometimes a Radial DI box.

Plugged into a peavey vmp2. Great sound!

I plug a Rick or P-Bass into one of the high-impedence instrument inputs on my Mackie 400F firewire interface and then run it through Amplitube's SVT-Classic model with the matching 8X10 cabinet model.

I've owned a real Ampeg SVT with 8 10's for years, and to my ears, this method of recording sounds exactly like what I get from my SVT, without blowing the neighbors away with loud bass and without messing with mic placement & eq. 

I plug into a Stewart di box. The XLR output goes to my OC and the direct out goes to my Podxt. I have a bass amp model that I've gotten as close as I could to an old Bassman 10 (from the early 70s). I mix that and the direct. If I need more, I clone the direct and add an amp model and shape the sound from there.

My latest favorite is to use the Eden WTDI - it's quite versatile with: compression, an enhancer and a nice eq.  I have also used  the Markbass Superbooster and the Bass Pod with good results .

Avalon 737 di to UA 1176 with soft compression...sounds like butter!