After much experimenting, I have found that recording a direct bass in the following manner gives me the best resolution. Do you have any suggestions to improve upon this workflow?  

1. Bass guitar to direct box with 0 db pad.  

2. Direct box to Alesis MICTube Duo Stereo Preamp (sorry, it's all I own in a tube micpre).  

3. The Alesis MICTube is set to about 20% tube overdrive on it which seems to add a little warmth. 
I drive the output close to zero DB on the peaks.  

4. Alesis MICTube to Zoom R24 xlr in. The R24 is my DAW interface.  

5. R24 to an audio track. I drive the R24 at about 0 db on the peaks.  

6. I have setup an input EFX (so that they are recorded onto the t track) for:  
a. Gate  
b. Tuner  
c. Limiter (Limiter is set to -1 db threshold. 
I drive the limiter at about 8.4 db input level which slightly levels the peaks by about 4 db. 
I record the input level at -1 db which gives me a nice full waveform.  
d. On the mixer channel, I add an EQ and Low Cut at 60 hz and High Cut at 10K.  

I use an Ibanez Micro bass and play with my fingers.  

All in all, this setup works. 

How do you like to record direct bass?  

 Thanks. 

Rimshot

.

I have a very simple technique for recording bass, using "old-school" gear. I plug my P-Bass directly into my Ramsa mixer board and use my Symetrix Compressor (CL-150)as an insert. It's nothing fancy - but I like the sound I get.

Hi Mike, 

Thanks for your input.  That LA-610 look amazing as a tube preamp, compression and EQ.  In perspective, my humble system of going through a preamp and using a limiter on the input stage does not seem far off at all.  On another forum, a couple of replys to this question was that my process was way too complicated.  Instead, just plug in the bass (one of them was active) and that's it.  In my world, it has never been that easy if I really want to achieve a great bass sound.  

That Micro is really fun.  I am starting to learn how to attack the strings with different angles of my right hand fingers.  That makes a whole lot of difference in the tone as well.

Take care Mike.  

Rimshot

That is a rather long process but if it works for you why not.  Taste is not a matter of science - see New Coke.

I usually DI through a RND Portico channel strip, except if we are doing guitar etc. at the same time.  Then I've been using the Warm Audio preamp, which sounds good, too, w/o any effects.

Have you tried mic recording, or does the loudness factor preclude it?

@

i use an active bass (carvin LB70) directly into a SANSAMP bass di, and straight to sound card, for my simplest setup.


works great.


for my more complicated setups, i have two basic scenarios:

1. (more complicated)
i run the bass into the sansamp, which has an unaffected direct parallel out, and run that output into my guitar rig (mesa boogie Mark2b) and capture a direct line off of my PALMER PDI-09, and run that to a convertor, and into the daw..

then blend that track with the direct output from the sansamp can go directly to the A Design Audio MP-1 mic pre, and into a DBX MC-6 compressor, and run that to a convertor, and into the daw..

2. 
i run the bass into the sansamp, which has an unaffected direct parallel out, and run that output into a A Design Audio MP-1 mic pre, and into a DBX MC-6 compressor, and run that to a convertor, and into the daw..

and the direct output from the sansamp can go directly to the convertor...

Instrument in on my StealthPedal and Ampeg SVX for tone. Sometimes I'll use the Great River at the studio.

I plug my bass in to my Universal Audio LA-610 "tube pre-amp..." It's not a channel strip, but I'm sure it's almost as good?

I commonly use an ElectroHarmonix BlackFinger tube based compressor pedal. It's actually a nice little widget for recording bass. It has a nice compressor in it for bass, and it has a pre-amp stage, so you can push it into a little breakup. It's about as low end as you can get, just out of there into a DI to get it into the DAW, but it works pretty nicely. It'll need some EQ probably as I think any direct in type bass recording probably does, either on the way in or after the fact or on the bass itself if it provides sufficient control.

I will also put a little reverb on it as well on the way in, which keeps it from sounding so much like a DI'd bass and gives it a little space. I just use an EH Cathedral Reverb pedal for that.

Thanks to all of you for your feedback.  

So it seems that many of us are running our bass into some kind of preamp (cheap or expensive, eq or not) and then into our DAW.  Some of you are also parallel processing with an amp and combining with the direct signal.  One of you with his active bass can just plug in directly to his DAW and season to taste.


I have learned that a little bit of tube mic preamp really warms up the tone before it hits the DAW.  It seems in most cases you want a bit of a processed signal before it hits the DAW and that was my main question.  


Life is good and a good sounding bass makes any song sound better.  I have been struggling with bass for years until I bought my Micro and now what I am learning is really helping me as well as your comments.


Rimshot