Now  I’ve been a bass player for 40 years or so and I think I get a pretty good sound on stage and in live situations with my band, but when it comes to recording I just can’t seem to make it. I just can’t seem to get that nice round present tonality that stands on its own in the mix.
 
It is only some five years or so that I’ve been into serious recording and while I can get a reasonable mix, that bass is always there, but not so you’d say, “that’s a nice bass sound”.
 
I have been recording my band which is basically country music, so you know the sound that I’m trying to achieve.  I have tried  recording direct into the interface, I’ve tried direct output from my amp, with a microphone amp mix, interface and direct guitar, interface and allsorts of other mic, amp and direct combinations. All to no pleasing effect.
 
I can track great vocals, drums and guitars, I know about carving out space for the instruments, but that bass remains just another sound that I have to massively massage to get it to sound presentable in the mix.
 
What  do you guys do to get a good bass track happening? I realize that the initial tracking is most important and the rest is just adding gloss, so how do you guys go about getting that initial great track tonality?

It sort of depends on the style.
 
If the player plays a straight bass guitar style and sticks to the traditional role of holding down the bottom I run them through a Universal Audio LA 610 channel strip. It's a direct input that more or less sounds as good as or better than the sound they've heard coming through the speaker of their favorite tube amp for years and years.
 
If the player plays a slapping or touch style and/or maybe has a lot of effects on a pedal board I run them direct in to a Chandler TG2 solid sate preamp.
 
On rare occasions a player has to have the sound of their favorite amp's speakers in the chain. I find that this is more often true of slapping style players who are accustomed to using speaker distortion as the final effect in their tone. Then I use a mic and nice preamp in a room that is large enough so that the mic can be placed a couple feet from the speaker but still capture more speaker than room.
 
 
What ever works!

I just DI here at home. Of course, a nice DI.  Radial makes good DIs which aren't too expensive if it is your instrument you are recording.  I usually use either a warm audio preamp for DI or the Portico strip.  The WA gives a nice vintage tone, while the RND Portico just sounds good - on everything.
 
Many if not most studios use the UA 6176.  You don't have to spend 1000s of dollars, but it does make it easier.  For bass, I always want a transformer in line.
 
Being a bassist, you might prefer to mic your amp.  Lots of different methods for that, too.
 
@

 
"If the player plays a straight bass guitar style and sticks to the traditional role of holding down the bottom I run them through a Universal Audio LA 610 channel strip. It's a direct input that more or less sounds as good as or better than the sound they've heard coming through the speaker of their favorite tube amp for years and years.
 
If the player plays a slapping or touch style and/or maybe has a lot of effects on a pedal board I run them direct in to a Chandler TG2 solid sate preamp."
 
The  only outboard gear I have are a couple of bass amps and cabinets and some DI's and have never used a pedalboard, so my style is pretty much traditional old school. I do everything in the box. For a brief time in the 80's I did used some very light chorus when playing one stage, but nothing since.
 
I have always mic'd up close but I think I'll try micing further out and see how that affects the tone.

I use a good DI (Steinberg UR44) and then compress and EQ to taste.  I have found that the less signal chain you use - the better.  
 
A good bass sound starts with the player and bass instrument itself.  
Do a search in YouTube for bass sounds and you will find some really good tips on how to play the instrument in different ways to achieve different results.  

I'm not a bass player but I play bass on my songs. I found this to be helpful to me. Maybe it can help with recording bass.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vUNUo3TbyI
 
 

I run one track through my UA LA 610 MkII pre-amp.  This pre has a fantastic sound and compressor for Bass.  I'll then simultaneously record the Bass amp mic'ed up with a Shure KSM 44, which I find has an excellent low end response.  During mixing you can blend them together.
 
If I am in a hurry, I just go the direct route through the LA 610.  
 
On an added note, GuitarRig has some cool sounds for Bass and worth experimenting with, if you are not capturing the sound you want.
 
 

I go in to my pre-amp, then soundcard. I squeeze it a bit in the pre (LA-610) and then treat it once it's ITB, typically Voxengo LF Max Punch, and or Alloy (Izotope) Then in the master, Ozone. I am a bass player, but also guitar and keys and a few others. I do love the bass though...
 
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Edit, HA! MIKE! LA610 :-) yeah buddy...

Thanks guys, I think I'm getting somewhere.
 
I changed the strings on my bass from the flats I've been using for years to round wounds and set a mic a couple of feet away from my bass cab to get some room, and used a DI to split my bass guitar to bass amp and interface. I don't have any outboard pre-amps or compressors but already I'm hearing a difference.
 
I've sent the two bass tracks to a bus and inserted Guitar Rigs Ampeg emulator and made some slight adjustments and I think things are looking up.
 
Perhaps the round wound strings have made a difference. I've used flats for years because I like the old fashion thump they gave a precision bass which suited the music I was playing. Old habits die hard. Also previously I put the mic right up against the cab. With a bit of air between now, perhaps allows the sound to bloom, just like playing live, I always liked my amp as far back from me as possible in order to hear the sound develop.
 

I was going to add that doesn't matter so much how it GET"S there as how it starts out. 
 
#1 - The bass must sound good unplugged. 
#2-  The bass must have good Pick ups. 
 
The rest is just going to capture what you have going, If it ain't happening before it hits that first pre amp, it becomes an uphill battle. 
Looks like you solved your issue with the strings as that's what makes #1 work.