Recording bass guitar with mic?

Question

I am in need of a good bass guitar sound in my studio. But, im not sure what mic to use from my limited arsenal. I have some sm 57's a couple of kick drum mics and thats about it.

Should i use a kick mic?

Answer 1

Ever hear of M-Audio?  It's a little piece of equipment that you can plug into your computer.  Your guitar plugs into it, and voila!  Guitar records on the computer.  No mics needed.  

M-Audio can be found at Best Buy, I love it, it's great.  It just doesn't have an update online yet to be able to be used with a 64-bit Windows Vista.  But every other Windows OS has an online update if you get an older version.

Good luck, and happy recording!

Answer 2

I've used a SM57 to record a bass and it sounds just fine. I have also tried using both a kick mic and an SM57, without necessarily much improvement, although I didn't really try as hard as I could've to optimize it.

Remember that kick mic's are meant to pick up a limited spectrum of low-end sounds... good for the 'thump' but bad for the higher end, all of the detail and clarity and note definition.

I think that going direct is in general the best way to go to get that full bottom end, unless you've got a really spanking amp (how is that spelt... Gallien-Krueger?) and the right mic.

This of course could depend on the application.... but I've got a CD somewhere of this guy called Brandon Wires (Brendan? Oi, it's been a while) that is just incredible - he fingertaps a 6-string bass! It's sick, it sounds so good... he does it solo, no loops or anything, and when I had the privilege of talking with him he explained that he records from his bass into a DI into the soundboard - no effects, and only some reverb added afterwards.

If the amp/speaker has a nice "color" to it, and the room is reasonably neutral, then I'd say that mic'ing it with a SM57 is a great idea... but I would urge you to have a splitter so that half of your signal goes direct, half goes to the amp. That way you can blend the two (the DI low end, the amp coloration, perhaps) for the best result.

Plus when going DI you can use different plugins to process and tweak the sound without having to deal with room echo, speaker coloration, etc.

Saul

Answer 3

is it an acoustic bass? if so set up multiple mics. if not, just plug the electric bass straight into the mixer.

Answer 4

Kick drum mikes are the norm. They can withstand a lot of pressure, so they are well suited for being close to a loud bass amp. I've  never liked the sound of bass through an SM 57, but that's just me.

Though sometimes I sit a SM 57 in the middle of the room and turn my amp up loud, that gives it more of a "live" feel, but it'll pick up outside noises, too, so if your strings click when you play that might show up on the recording.

Answer 5

Try taking a sm57 right in the center of the speaker and one slightly above at a 45 degree angle pointing downwards at the center.  This way, you get a fuller sound.  

Answer 6

I think an SM57 should do just fine. Those are very well-rounded dynamic mics that are great for most any kind of loud signal.