Micing a Bass amp for Recording

[Crysalis]

You can usually plug right into the interface for recording bass. You could get a direct box to listen through the amp at the same time if you like.

The only good way of using the 57 on an acoustic would be to mic the frets, but you'll have to really crank the gain which will pick up lots of noise.

 

[DawnOfDoom]

Buy Behringer Ultra-G GI100 DI online at Musician's Friend

Does that look good for a Direct box for bass?

Leme see if i get this so on one side of it you've got your in/out 1/4" jacks the in is obviously the guitar and the out is going to hte amp then the XLR port on the other side goes to my M-Audio? correct?

 

[ste2425]

i dont no much about this and skipped a few posts but from that, very well drawn , picture it looked like your trying to DI the bass and guitar at the same time, well i should say through the same box? you crnt do that can you? Im starting a course at college and everytime weve used a di box its only ever had one thing going into it. also i dont no if youve mentioned this but couldnt u mike the acoustic up with two mikes? one to get the low end an one for the high? thats just a technique i was told could be used by a mate at college dont no how credable it is.
ste

 

[DawnOfDoom]

i dont no much about this and skipped a few posts but from that, very well drawn , picture it looked like your trying to DI the bass and guitar at the same time, well i should say through the same box? you crnt do that can you? Im starting a course at college and everytime weve used a di box its only ever had one thing going into it. also i dont no if youve mentioned this but couldnt u mike the acoustic up with two mikes? one to get the low end an one for the high? thats just a technique i was told could be used by a mate at college dont no how credable it is.
ste

What the picture is of is of the bass guitar going into the DI box and an 1/4" out to the amp then the XLR port to the Maudio recorder box thing.

 

[Crysalis]

That DI is fine. Most DI's are good... it's hard to find a bad one.

Again... you really don't need one if you're amp has a direct out of some sort. Even an effects send would work. The only reason you'd need a direct box would be to convert the unbalanced (TRS) to balanced (XLR). Otherwise, you can just plug directly into the interface.

 

[ricanflow]

Yeah dawnofdoom, that interface is not just a mic/instrument preamp, but its also an external soundcard...it takes over as your primary sound device in windows, so all your cables and stuff plug directly into it.

 

[DawnOfDoom]

Yeah dawnofdoom, that interface is not just a mic/instrument preamp, but its also an external soundcard...it takes over as your primary sound device in windows, so all your cables and stuff plug directly into it.

alright so leme get this straight, the M-Audio that was posted up earlier i can just plug straight up into that with a 1/4" guitar jack right outa my effect pedals? I've got 2 ports on the out side of my pedal Mixer and Amp i noticed that if i plug the mixer outlet to the amp it sounds really bassy and bad so i assume i just run from the amp jack on the pedal to the M audio?. I dont quite understand the purpose of a preamp or really what it is for that matter. :S srry for all this buggy little questions.

 

[Crysalis]

Questions are what this forum is for. Answers are why people respond. Dont feel sorry... questions are what this forum is for, not debate and bickering.

You can plug directly from your guitar into the interface if you like, or even go from your pedals. The interface will have its own preamp in it.

A Preamp's function: "...the preamplifier helps prepare the main amplifier, which increases the power and sound of the equipment, for receiving the electronic signal. Through the help of the preamplifier and the main amplifier, the sound is not altered in quality, but it is much louder."

Jibberish? Yes.

Reality: A preamp takes a very weak signal and makes it big and strong. If you plug a condensor microphone into a mixer, and turn the fader up, you are NOT going to get sound... at least audible sound. The signal is just too weak. First problem. A condenser needs +48v (phantom power) to work. Simple flip of a switch and you should have loads of signal right? No! You need a preamp. A preamp will amplifiy the signal (without applying power to it) to boost the signal to something thats usable. The little "gain" controls on a mixer are, basically, a preamp.

Long story short: A preamp boosts a weak signal into a stronger, usable signal.

 

[DawnOfDoom]

ahhh i see. so its not a quality modifier just gives it that extra punch to get the sound out there. Like at a concert. you need your amps to be loud to reach the people in the back. and the preamp gets your signal thats comin off your guitar and boosts it to make it sound louder when it goes thru your main amp's head and then to your cabinet giving you that tremendous sound, correct?

and now the M-Audio makes more sense to me.

As Rican said it will take over my computers sound card.... what does that mean, like my speakers hooked up to my onboard wont get signal?

 

[Crysalis]

Not really... close, but no.

Lets say we have an acoustic guitar. We plug it into our mixer and feed that through the main speakers in house. We turn the volume up, but we can't get it loud enough without feedback. This is where a preamp might come in. There are already amplifier powering the house speakers. The acoustic guitar just isn't giving off enough signal for the amplifier to amplify. So, we use a preamp to boost that signal PRE-amplifier. This gives the amplifier something to amplify other than noise (which will create feedback).