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hi!

What kind of mics are your favorite for tracking bass guitar? By accident I have Shure Beta 52, Sennheiser 412, Blue Woodpecker... Used them in all possible combinations and blends, but I have feeling that this probably is not best setup for bass.

Your suggestions are welcome.

AKG D112 with a BSS AR133 Di box is my combination of choice. Also had a nice sound with a Sennheiser 412 and a AKG 4500-BC.

Had the chance to work with a Neumann U67 once it sounded killer on bass.

D112 and the 412 get a lot of love for micing bass cabs.

I've always just gone for the 57, myself. With some halfway decent gear, it sounds more vintage than your grandparents boning.

I've had luck with using a beta 52 and an sm57 in combination on cabs. I know the beta is supposed to be a kick mic, but it sounds great mixed in with another mic like the sm57. And they're fairly affordable. I've also had great results using the beta 52 along with an active DI box. I've never used one, but I also hear ribbons can sound good as a room mic for that dark chest thumping sound.

akg c12 is nice
ribbons are also good
m88 if ur broke like me

anything in my opinion

avalon pre's work great on bass on a side note

i use a heil pr48 or akg d112 and an sm57 usually. When recording bass i find it best to use 2 mics, the sm57 is great for capturing the punchy mid range and highs without coloring it and the kick mics are great for the low end feel, then eq and blend to taste. then compress them with a sidechain off the kick drum, etc, etc...

on a side note i like the beta 52 better for bass then actual kick drum, i've never liked the 52 on kick but it brings out the natural tones of a bass well (i believe it's due to its flatter eq curve and smaller 63hz bump than other kick mics). So try the 52 (on axis) and a 57 (45 off axis) equal distant from the speakers, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Something to watch out for: Some bass drum mic's have a wicked mid scoop to them.

D.o.S. wrote:Something to watch out for: Some bass drum mic's have a wicked mid scoop to them.

+1 I feel that way about the d112 actually, its all click and oomph but no mids, thats why i like the pr48. We tested 4 mics the pr48, d112, beta52, and an sm57 before we recorded a full length for a band last year. the pr48 had the most natural woody tone with plenty of thump but not alot of click, d112 had gob's of lows and click but every drum we put in sounded similar, the beta 52 was just bland in our opinion, the 57 was actually really tight and punchy and well balanced minus the lows of the other mics, in a kick drum it sounds great for jazz drums but not so much for heavy music.

one thing I've been meaning to try is the old Emerick/Beatles trick of using a loudspeaker as a mic on bass. Not sure if I'd have to do any z matching or whatever, but it couldn't hurt.

Thanks for ideas.

So far my best results were Woodpecker (unusual ribbon) mixed with 52 and small amount of DI (phased with Little Labs IPB). Never tried to blend 57 and 112 yet, but I will.

RR Bigman wrote:one thing I've been meaning to try is the old Emerick/Beatles trick of using a loudspeaker as a mic on bass. Not sure if I'd have to do any z matching or whatever, but it couldn't hurt.

sounds interesting. what kind of speaker should be used for this?

Ancient Astronaught wrote:i use a heil pr48 or akg d112 and an sm57 usually. When recording bass i find it best to use 2 mics, the sm57 is great for capturing the punchy mid range and highs without coloring it and the kick mics are great for the low end feel, then eq and blend to taste. then compress them with a sidechain off the kick drum, etc, etc...

on a side note i like the beta 52 better for bass then actual kick drum, i've never liked the 52 on kick but it brings out the natural tones of a bass well (i believe it's due to its flatter eq curve and smaller 63hz bump than other kick mics). So try the 52 (on axis) and a 57 (45 off axis) equal distant from the speakers, you may be pleasantly surprised.

heil mics are bit exotic here in Riga. but I'll try to find some one other day and try.

Ancient Astronaught wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Something to watch out for: Some bass drum mic's have a wicked mid scoop to them.

+1 I feel that way about the d112 actually, its all click and oomph but no mids, thats why i like the pr48. We tested 4 mics the pr48, d112, beta52, and an sm57 before we recorded a full length for a band last year. the pr48 had the most natural woody tone with plenty of thump but not alot of click, d112 had gob's of lows and click but every drum we put in sounded similar, the beta 52 was just bland in our opinion, the 57 was actually really tight and punchy and well balanced minus the lows of the other mics, in a kick drum it sounds great for jazz drums but not so much for heavy music.

is there big difference of sound between d112 and beta52?

ural wrote:sounds interesting. what kind of speaker should be used for this?

6 to 8 inch bass woofer, you will need a preamp for this as you will need alot of gain, it also does not capture frequencies above 2k very well (the smaller the speaker the better upper mids but less lows)

Heil's are nice but theyre a lil more expensive and hard to come by but i love them on drums, they faithfully reproduce the actual sound of the wood best IMO.

there is a very noticeable difference between the d112 and the beta 52, honestly for bass keep the 52 it reproduces the mids much better than the d112 and any lows that it may not have in comparison to the d112 you can make up for in mixing.

Has anyone tried those Kickball mics on bass? The reviews say it's great for that, but they seem relatively unknown