I actually got a pretty decent recording of a bass with a SM57 on the speaker. I was very impressed

MD 421 works well, The ATM4033a is excellent on bass cabs. I usually track a 421, 4033 and direct on bass, but end up using just the 4033.

Is that the Audio Technica 4033?
and how do you place the 421 and 4033?

Any large diaphragm dynamic will work well. AKG D112 or D12, Sennheiser 421 (kinda mid range -ish), Electro Voice RE20. Also a Neumann U87, or as mentioned the 4033(one of my favorite all time mics). SM57 too! Best bass tone I ever got was with a bi amped cab, 1 - 15" and 2 - 10"s using a D112 on the 15" and a 4033 on the 10". Full, warm, PHAT but with lots of sparkle on the top. Killer! ..... Kurt

Thanks for the input you guys. Im sure youll see me alot more on this site.

Here is another question for you. Im miking a Mesa Boogie tube guitar amp with 1-12" speaker in it. Before I've put a sm57 in the middle and a U87 off to the side of the speaker. I dont have access to a U87 what do you recommend? Thanks, Jeremy

Do you have any LD condensers? If not, are you willing to purchase one? The Studio Projects C3 would be a good inexpensive choice. While the C3 doesn’t sound exactly like a U87 it's of the same "ilk", design type. I like to use a U87 in figure 8 pattern set sideways behind an open back amp and then a 57 or 421 in front. Flip the phase on the 87... Very deep, dimensional sound. On a Twin style amp with 2 speakers, I'll use 2 mics in front in stereo and the 87 in back as described. Submix it to 2 tracks. Very deep and a great stereo spread! BTW, I like to mic speakers more towards the edge. In the center is too bright! Nothing but the cone. .... Kurt

I HAVE THIS GREAT ARTICLE ON RICK RUBIN AND HE USES KIND OF THE SAME TECHNIQUE HE USES TWO 57'S
MICED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CONE SO THEY ARE ACTUALLY COMPLETELY PHASING EACH OTHER OUT THEN HE POPS ONE OF THEM IN PHASE AND HE USES THE 87 ABOUT 12 INCHES BACK ON AN ANGLE LOOKING DOWN AT THE SPEAKER JUST TO GET A LITTLE MORE ROOMINESS OUT OF IT I'VE DONE IT WORKS GREAT BUT HONESTLY I NEVER ENDED UP USING THE U87 ANYWAYS
THE TWO 57'S SOUNDED JUST FINE WITHOUT IT. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS OVER COMPLIMENTING. I ALSO LIKE THE STEPPED APPROACH ONE 57 ON THE GRILL
ONE COLES 4038 ABOUT 2 FEET BACK AT AN ANGLE AND ABOUT TWO FEET HIGHER THAN THE 57
AND AN m147 ABOUT 6 FEET BACK AND ABOUT 2 FOOT HIGHER THAN THAT IT'S REALLY GREAT AND GIVES YOU ALOT OF OPTION ON THE PRODUCTION END OF THINGS
REMEMBER IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO HAVE TO MUCH TO WORK WITH THAN NEVER ENOUGH!

JUST REALIZED I DIDN'T EVEN ANSWER YOU ORIGINAL QUESTION OH WELL I THINK KURT ANSWERED IT ABOUT THE SAME WAY I WOULD HAVE!

PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS PEACE...

I haven't been real happy with the results I get from SM57's on bass cab myself (although once in a while it does work).

I got a good sound last week using a MXL v67.
Might be worth a try (they are under 100 bucks new)

Normally I use 3 tracks for bass
I get the preamp out from the bass amp
run a signal through a SansAmp Bass Driver DI
and mic the cabinet.

Usually one of the three or a combination of them gets the job done for me.

just my 2 centavos

ditto on Kurt's comments, on every point. I mic'd a 5 string going through a princeton reverb (10" speaker, low volume), with the amp up at waist height, and using a AT 4047 as Kurt describes... huge .. the small speaker and wattage providing great tone with a good mic (away from the cone)...
The 421 is ok, but I'd agree again with Kurts stuff above

just a note; don't forget to either delay the di or bring the amp track forward a few ms until they line up (makes a huge difference to the sound)

His question was whether or not a shure beta 52 would work as a bass mic....and the answer is yes....most good kick mics will work as a bass guitar mic if placed properly...even a D112 works in THIS capacity....(hi kurt!)

a clue about rick rubin (whom I've mixed for.... among other this). It's the engineers that he hires that these techniques come from (althougnhe knows waht he likes).

Yes, 57's a good on bass amps, especially if you're going for the upper mids and are gettingthe fundamental from the d.i .
421's; re20's ;and (my favorite) the U47fet are also excellant. Find the best speaker in the bunch and then the best position on that speaker. The "best speaker" has alot to do with it's hieght and relationship to the floor and surrounding walls.ect. In fact, moving the Bass amp to differrent spots & directions in diff. rooms (as drums ) makes a huge differrence, as we are talking about Low frequencies wich interreact with room modes much more than say a gtr amp freq's.
Along with the close mic...if your looking for something else (like an ambient mic to add a touch of)...walk all around...and even get a chair to stand on. Onetime I found a great close ambient spot on a SVT about 8' high and 4' feet out from the amp...it realyl got the fundamental.
Use what you have , use your ears.

Oh....time aligning the D.I. back relative to rhe amp (as posted above) is good. If you're using a daw you can aproximate this by nudging the amp track back till you get maximum phatness in the combined sound of DI&Amp. I like to do this with a little-labs IBP box, sometimes.

...And when in a hurry I find that for most music a really well recorded DI is all I need.

Here's another bass mic soulution...

Depends on the type of music I guess, but I did a band once with a Neuman U47 FET more or less in the middle of one of a cone (4x10 cab) maybe a foot or so away and it sounded killer. Full and punchy. Also like to mix mic with DI. Good call on the delay thing too.

Just my 2 cents...

Oops!

Just realized that RecorderMan already metioned the U47 FET. Oh well... it gets 2 votes now.

later

I always try to have as more as different sound sources to choose from, so clients always get happy and we can work better.

Channel 01 - Large diaphragm condenser At4050
Channel 02 - Also, but a GT55
Channel 03 - Signal coming from pre, combo direct
Channel 04 - dynamic mic, Beta 57
Channel 05 - signal coming from Dbox, Klark Teknik

start evaluating the phase, end up recording the 2 we/you like best at its own tracks inside PT/your favorite recorsing system´s session.

Generally, we end up with Channel 03+ Channel 04 and a little bit of Channel 01.

In one track sometimes we have most of the very low/mid low region and at the other track, the highmid to high region.

Blend everything as you wish, but taking serious care with the phase and also, evalate the tone against your kick drum, to see if the whole picture functions.

Hope it helped ya
:)