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Post subject: Good Recording Bass
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:29 am
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I just got setup with a nice Presonus sound card and plan to start doing some recording.

Any recommendations on a good Jazz Bass or a setup that would be prime for recording?

Thx.


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Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 5:41 am
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Thx for the recommendation. I currently have a 6 string Ibanez, but am really looking to get a Fender 5 string that is great for recording.


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Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 11:12 am
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I would use a bass with good Jazz pickups or good P-J pickups.


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Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 4:48 am
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recording.. Hmm.. I'd go with american vintage basses.. Or custom shop 64 jazz..

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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 1:03 pm
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fender jazz bass is just perfect for a recording. nice and smooth.


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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 6:40 am
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Precision Bass and Jazz Bass guitars are known worldwide as the instruments that started the rock revolution, and they continue to be highly prized by today?s musicians and collectors.[


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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:49 pm
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I was lucky enough to play on a couple of projects. The engineer loved the sound as it set well in the mix.

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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:42 am
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Something like a Tech 21 Bass Driver's XLR out patched into a mixer's mic channel works for me. Then patch the mixer main outs to the line/aux input on your sound card. You can get a cable for that at Radio Shack. I leave the mixer EQ set flat and tweak EQ in post production.

You can use a compressor pedal to add a LITTLE compression in front of the Bass Driver for more consistent levels. However most recording software allows you to add more compression in post production so don't overdue the compression during recording. In fact use less than you would use when playing live. I use the Aphex Punch Factory compressor pedal, but any compressor pedal will work. You can certainly record without one though. You want to use just enough compression that it helps smooth everything out. The compressor pedal should be first in the pedal chain, otherwise it will pull up hiss from whatever Bass Driver pedal you use. The Aphex Punch Factory has an XLR out so you could use it all by itself into the mixer if you wanted. I have done this and it works fine but you have to tweak the EQ a lot in post production or it sounds very sterile.

I've also used an Aphex Bass Xciter pedal instead of the Bass Driver which works too for recording as it also has an XLR out. It adds a real thickness which is great for old school stuff. It is better to insert the Aphex Bass Xciter pedal before or after the Tech 21 Pedal in the pedal chain, whichever sounds best to you. I find this pedal is a very effective and valuable recording device but it can be problematic when used live. If you don't have it set just right it can make your rig sound weak because the multiple harmonics it generates require lots of power from the power amp. Settings on this pedal that work perfectly for me when recording are not effective for me live, and in fact are a hindrance. The settings to get a benefit from this pedal live are completely different than recording settings for some reason, so I only use it to record lately.

If your current amp has a preamp out or XLR out, you can use it too. Just plug it into the mixer.

I've done all 4 of the above ways to feed the mixer. Plugging a passive bass directly into the mixer with nothing in between doesn't sound very good to me and I've never recorded that way. The active bass sounds better but is still lacking. It is just too sterile.

So the first key is you need a little mixer. It doesn't have to be fancy, and you can get one for about $50 to $100 that works fine for home recording. You only need one mic input channel on the mixer. However 2 or more mic input channels mean if one channel goes out, another one might still work.

Behringer makes a pedal called the BDI21 which is intended to be a budget Bass Driver. It works. I use one for practice into a computer now. But the Tech 21 sounds better. I bought the Behringer first. It is a decent cheap pedal, but a Tech 21 it isn't. Now I use it for home practice into my computer to give the more expensive pedal board pedals a break and they stay in the case at home.

For recording software, I use Cool Edit Pro. It is fine for working on your bass parts at home and works on most computers. I recently loaded it onto an old Windows 98 machine and it worked fine. It won't fly in a real recording studio these days but it is very simple to use which makes it a good practice tool. We used Cool Edit at the last radio station where I worked for commercial production so I was totally familiar with it and there was no learning curve. Cool Edit was bought out by Adobe and then Adobe changed the name to Adobe Audition, but it is essentially the same software. There is no shortage of recording software out there. You can even use the free Audacity recording software, but in order to save Audacity files as MP3 you have to install an additional plug-in called a LAME encoder.


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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:30 am
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Fender jazz is my pick. Clean & cool sound for recording.


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Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:53 am
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Of course if you ask the question on which bass is best for recording in the Jazz forum the majority of responses will be "JAZZ." Post the same thing in the Precision forum and guess what will win there?

Which model Fender bass has been used on more hit recordings? I'm sure it used to be a Precision by a landslide through the 60's into the 70's, but that has evened out some in recent years.

Not just the instrument matters. The pickups, strings, amp, tone settings, mic placement, speaker cab, direct box, processing (compression/limiting/eq/effects) and even the pick used (if you use one) all make a difference.


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Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:33 pm
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i agree with what brotherdave said... lots of factors will affect the tone..

fender jazz has that upfront tone that i like.. And the p bass has that thick, deep and punchy tone..

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