Bass Recording

[cghazarian]

Can anyone suggest any good ways to record clean punchy bass?

[mrabassist]

Simply, buy youself a sansamp and record direct in.
There are a thousand other ways, but thats the easiest.

[String7th]

Depending on the sound you are looking for, try different things, see what works best with the mix. The metal bands I have in my studio, I like to make it a little crunchy by really pumping up the amp and micing the smaller speakers. The smaller speakers send to distort slightly, but cheaper speakers pop, and that's bad.

Mostly direct is the acceptable default, but doesn't mean you can't try a few things.