Micing A Bass Amp?

[superpete]

Hey
I was just wondering what you all think of micing bass amps
ive seen it done a few time before and just wondering what kind of mic you would suggest, could you use a kick drum mic?
also.
Would it be "better" to mic a bass amp with the correct mic or use the inbuild D.I. out on the bass amp

[zildjohn01]

depends what sound you are after. you can just DI the bass into your interface too. try all 3 ways and see what sounds best. be careful not to damage your gear if plugging directly from an amp head to a sound card. sometimes i blend the DI signal with a bass amp sim or real mic'd amp to bring out the low end more. as for mics, any good kick mic will do. i have used my atm25 with good results.

[superpete]

thanks for that
might have a play and see what sound best

[tatteredstudios]

I use a Sennheiser e906, works great ! But often I go DI....whatever works best for a given song...

[brandondrury]

I only mic bass cabinets when they are doing something interesting. If the bass amp is simply making the bass tone louder and not adding anything, I don't see the advantage of micing it. I've been very happy with the straight DI sound.

Sometimes I'll duplicate the DI sound and run it through a guitar emulator of some kind. This works well and I don't have to worry about weird room or EQ issues.

Brandon

[superpete]

What would be a good distance to place the mic?

[brandondrury]

The distance that sounds best. There is no possible way I can tell you without being there. It's probably within 36" and more than likely within 4" depending about 5,000 factors.

Brandon

[superpete]

you do have a good point there