Bass :: Your Suggestions?

[JeffSanders]

Probably the hardest thing for me to get just right is a stringed electric bass.

It's tough to ride the line between overpowering and lame. How do you guys create a great bass sound?

 

[sniper]

my very non proffessional advice would be:
find the bass drum's sweet spot, i.e the dominant bass frequency, for example 80hz.

carve a bit of 80hz out of the bass and then boost slightly around 50-60hz as well as maybe 120hz.
attentuate some of those 350-550 \"cardboard frequencies\".

copy your bass track to a new channel. remove everything under 600hz and slap an 1176ln on it, tweak until it pretty much distorts. add a tad of 4-5khz.
begin with bass channel 1 and carefully fade up bass chn 2.

hope that helps.

 

[Rankus]

I am a bass player and engineer myself , so a 30 year search for the perfect bass tone has led me to this discovery: It's all in the bass guitar itself.....

The best basses I have are as follows:

Fender Precision with California custom Electronics
Musicman
Pre Fender Jackson bass.

New strings are a must... I prefer light gauges in order to stay \"bright\". Fender strings are my favorite (and cheap)

I like to mike the bass cab (Ampeg) and take direct, but usualy end up using just the miked signal.

Once recorded I usually do no EQ other than to roll off below 30 hz.

Then (here is the true secret: 3 layers of compression.... On the way in I run through DBX 160's , then during mix I run through the LA2a and into the 1176....

All the compression is fairly light (say -2to3 Db at 4:1)

It's this multi layered compression that is the main ingredient.

I make sure I have these basses on hand and tuned up before any bass tracking session, and then attempt to get the bass player to \"try my basses\"..... Sometimes they refuse and then I try to fix the mess \"in the mix\"! (rarely sounds great)

Moral: Get it right in the room before pressing record.... And if you want a great sounding bass you should buy one or two for the studio (as well as guitars , cabs, etc. etc.)

Another note: All basses are not created equal: I tried over a dozen P Basses over 3 days (side by side in the store) and settled on the one I like the best.... No two identical instruments sound the same. Some clients insist that their P Bass is the same as mine... only once I found one that sounded better. Not bragging just trying to illustrate the point.

Love

 

[akisd28]

I make sure I have these basses on hand and tuned up before any bass tracking session, and then attempt to get the bass player to "try my basses"..... Sometimes they refuse and then I try to fix the mess "in the mix"! (never sounds great)

No offense, but I find it hard to believe that every other bass sounds inferior, unless you record really amateur players.

Anyway, I agree with you that it all starts from the bass itself. If you don't have a good tone before recording, it'll be almost impossible to fix it later.

 

[Rankus]

I make sure I have these basses on hand and tuned up before any bass tracking session, and then attempt to get the bass player to "try my basses"..... Sometimes they refuse and then I try to fix the mess "in the mix"! (never sounds great)

No offense, but I find it hard to believe that every other bass sounds inferior, unless you record really amateur players.

Anyway, I agree with you that it all starts from the bass itself. If you don't have a good tone before recording, it'll be almost impossible to fix it later.

Thanks akis... Changed it to "rarely sounds great"

My point I suppose is that I know these basses and have a chain that works great every time.... It's chalenging to get great sounds (as opposed to good sounds) from unfamiliar instruments.

 

[akisd28]

I agree with that. :wink:

 

[John Lance]

I am a bass player and engineer myself , so a 30 year search for the perfect bass tone has led me to this discovery: It's all in the bass guitar itself.....

And the technique. I've heard some players that sound great when recording and other folks that don't. Good guitars though, and equipment.

The really good ones get so much less "fixing" and more of what I just call shaping in a mix.

It is a joy to work with tracks like that.

 

[Eurocide]

Then (here is the true secret: 3 layers of compression.... On the way in I run through DBX 160's , then during mix I run through the LA2a and into the 1176....

All the compression is fairly light (say -2to3 Db at 4:1)

It's this multi layered compression that is the main ingredient.

Do you mean to run the compressor layers parallel (e.g. like drumtracks, where the compressed signal is blended with the uncompressed) or in chain?

 

[Rankus]

Then (here is the true secret: 3 layers of compression.... On the way in I run through DBX 160's , then during mix I run through the LA2a and into the 1176....

All the compression is fairly light (say -2to3 Db at 4:1)

It's this multi layered compression that is the main ingredient.

Do you mean to run the compressor layers parallel (e.g. like drumtracks, where the compressed signal is blended with the uncompressed) or in chain?

Loosely refered to as "New York" style compression. No, I generally just run the comps on the main Bass buss inserts (in Mono)....

Though, you have given me some ideas... :lol: So I may try the New York method on a mix I am working on now.... (Thanks for making extra work for me)

 

[Ronnie Wibbley]

Rick (or anyone else!) -

Do you have any opinions about flatwound strings and the difference they make? I ask because I play bass in an occasional band (Fender Jazz) and I love the sound of the flatwounds live, yet when it comes to recording with this bass the sound tends to blend in to the point of being muffled and muddy, and I end up EQing all the tone out of it.

Do I really have to string the bass with metallic sounding shiny strings?

Cheers


Ron

 

[Rankus]

Rick (or anyone else!) -

Do you have any opinions about flatwound strings and the difference they make? I ask because I play bass in an occasional band (Fender Jazz) and I love the sound of the flatwounds live, yet when it comes to recording with this bass the sound tends to blend in to the point of being muffled and muddy, and I end up EQing all the tone out of it.

Do I really have to string the bass with metallic sounding shiny strings?

Cheers


Ron

It really depends on musical style.... If it's Jazz then you may be Ok with the flat wounds. But for Rock, a bright sound is a must to cut through the guitars etc...

A little distortion always helps bass cut as well....you might try your flat wounds with a little crunch added?

Always remember there are no rules.... (and I am just another geek on a forum)