I'll get bashed on for this, but if you've ever heard my recordings, I use a charcoal colored kidney bean, Bass Pod. Best $299 I ever spent. Compressor works lightly, and the sounds in it allow for a nice pre-amp'd bass tone with quite a bit of customization.

Of course there are other methods that I use, but they are quite pricey and involve other bits of hardware. But you can't go wrong with a Bass POD, that's for sure. :)

-Danny

i dont use a pre amp on my bass or guitar tracks,i do run my bass through an alesis 3630 compressor just to smooth out some of the spectrum.but once a preamp sound is printed,its printed.no taking that away

@Danny, it was actually a video demo , and I think you were demoing the acme bar gig plug and you showed how a compressor helps with the sustain of guitar and bass when using the smp sims.  
 
@Chuck  - When I say preamp, I am mostly talking about a bit of gain to ge the level up. I love p basses however the pickups are NOTvery hot. And I need a decent all around preamp anyway. Figure if I get one reasonably priced unit, can use for multiple applications.

TraceyStudios


@Danny, it was actually a video demo , and I think you were demoing the acme bar gig plug and you showed how a compressor helps with the sustain of guitar and bass when using the smp sims.  
 
@Chuck  - When I say preamp, I am mostly talking about a bit of gain to ge the level up. I love p basses however the pickups are NOTvery hot. And I need a decent all around preamp anyway. Figure if I get one reasonably priced unit, can use for multiple applications.

yes i totaly understanmd what your saying,but like danny was saying about the pod,i totaly am for that.
it does give somewhat of a pre to it,and those units hes talking about are great,i have one bass,the gray one,and the red one,for guitar.
i love the pods.
 
in anycase i use a compressor on my p bass,the jazz master as well.but no pre.
my ibanez has active pick ups in it so i dont with that one.
 
its all preference man :)

Tech21 SansAmp is a good option for bass preamp and compression. It attempts to capture the analog feel of a bass amp and the natural compression of tubes. I really like how smooth and focused the sound is, and how little EQ is necessary if you start with a good instrument, new strings, spot-on intonation, and professional technique. That is the formula for a great bass track IMHO.
 
Paul

+1 on the Trakmaster Pro for DI.  It is an absolutely boring mic pre but really brings DI'd instruments to life.  I leave my P-Bass permanently plugged in to the TM Pro for recording.

joeb1cannoli


 Focusrite Trakmaster Pro. 
I bought it to use the mic pre and was unimpressed.
Plugged a bass into the instrument input and I was very impressed.
If you do any slapping the squash button on the compressor is awesome for keeping the signal from clipping.

TraceyStudios


@Danny, it was actually a video demo , and I think you were demoing the acme bar gig plug and you showed how a compressor helps with the sustain of guitar and bass when using the smp sims.   
  

Yeah you can use just about any hardware compressor for that. I wouldn't use a pedal though. But honestly, check out that bass POD. It will make a huge difference in the sound of your bass because it's geared for bass tones. Plus you get a wide array of sounds with it that are easy to tweak.
 
Put it this way...if you're not quite happy with your bass tones, a compressor won't do much good. It will condition your signal like you want it to but that's about it. The bass pod is a pre-amp made for bass loaded with bass tones. So you're going to get something that excels at bass tones with a compressor built in that you can use lightly while getting solid bass tones instead of using a guitar sim plug or a bass going into a direct box. The pod also can act as a direct box too which is a nice added feature.
 
-Danny

Danny Danzi

TraceyStudios


@Danny, it was actually a video demo , and I think you were demoing the acme bar gig plug and you showed how a compressor helps with the sustain of guitar and bass when using the smp sims.   
  

Yeah you can use just about any hardware compressor for that. I wouldn't use a pedal though. But honestly, check out that bass POD. It will make a huge difference in the sound of your bass because it's geared for bass tones. Plus you get a wide array of sounds with it that are easy to tweak.
 
Put it this way...if you're not quite happy with your bass tones, a compressor won't do much good. It will condition your signal like you want it to but that's about it. The bass pod is a pre-amp made for bass loaded with bass tones. So you're going to get something that excels at bass tones with a compressor built in that you can use lightly while getting solid bass tones instead of using a guitar sim plug or a bass going into a direct box. The pod also can act as a direct box too which is a nice added feature.
 
-Danny

do you side chain the pod,i use it to but only on certain songs because once mixdown starts if i want to change the sound of the bass and the pod's been printed to a track i find im kinda stuck with that sound.
i use a compressor to just smooth the sound out,thats about it.
but ive been trying to figure a decent way of side chaining the pod so i change presets later on incase im not happy with the sound during mix down.
i have the same one you do i believe,well mines a few years old,i love it for certain songs.your right the presets are awesome.

chuckebaby

Danny Danzi

TraceyStudios


@Danny, it was actually a video demo , and I think you were demoing the acme bar gig plug and you showed how a compressor helps with the sustain of guitar and bass when using the smp sims.   
  

Yeah you can use just about any hardware compressor for that. I wouldn't use a pedal though. But honestly, check out that bass POD. It will make a huge difference in the sound of your bass because it's geared for bass tones. Plus you get a wide array of sounds with it that are easy to tweak.
 
Put it this way...if you're not quite happy with your bass tones, a compressor won't do much good. It will condition your signal like you want it to but that's about it. The bass pod is a pre-amp made for bass loaded with bass tones. So you're going to get something that excels at bass tones with a compressor built in that you can use lightly while getting solid bass tones instead of using a guitar sim plug or a bass going into a direct box. The pod also can act as a direct box too which is a nice added feature.
 
-Danny

do you side chain the pod,i use it to but only on certain songs because once mixdown starts if i want to change the sound of the bass and the pod's been printed to a track i find im kinda stuck with that sound.
i use a compressor to just smooth the sound out,thats about it.
but ive been trying to figure a decent way of side chaining the pod so i change presets later on incase im not happy with the sound during mix down.
i have the same one you do i believe,well mines a few years old,i love it for certain songs.your right the presets are awesome.

Nah, I stay away from side-chaining unless I absolutely have to. You know Chuck...on certain things, it doesn't bother me to go "destructive". The reason being, after doing this stuff for over 30 years, you kinda just know what will work and what won't, ya know? Most times, when I record a bass with the pod, all I have to do is adjust the low end a little with a high pass and add a little "clack" at like 2.5 k using a UAD Helios, some compression and I'm golden. With everything else (other than if we're doing a bass amp and sending signals into our Drawmer tube comp which totally kicks butt) I find that I sit there tweaking and tweaking, and I'm never happy with a bass tone.
 
This is especially true if the bass being used is something super cheap. But with a good sounding bass along with a guy that can actually play it, I can get a good sound out of anything. But that pod really works well for me. I don't use any of the presets though. I started with one of course, but then totally changed it, killed the effects and stuff and have it sounding great with any bass that plugs into it. A few knob tweaks and it's ready to roll with any bass. Mine is old too...I think I got it in like 2002. 
 
-Danny

For neutral bass sounds I´m using the hi-Z Pre Amp of my focusrite saffire 40,
for a characterful growling bass the Golden Age Pre 73, sounds great. with the Sonnox limiter.
Pragi