Honestly, given the time I'd try every mics with the ISA and chose the best sounding one.
Or you could put the Ribbon on the ISA (since it has enough gain) and a 414 on the ADK and try to blend the 2.
To me moving the mics around holds the best value to fine the placement who will give you the sound you are looking for..
But hey what do I know ;)

Personally not a lover of 414s on cellos or double basses - especially newer ones.

I'm not familiar with that particular ribbon, but I'd probably look at that first with the pre you think does it justice...move it around to taste so you get the noise you want.

So much comes down to the playing style - for big band style bass from a ¾ size instrument, then the 414 seems a good choice if the playing style uses the fingers. I don't like 414s on any form of slapping style - but if we're talking Rat Pack stuff there's not that much percussive playing going on. I'd also check the instrument doesn't already have a pickup installed - if it does, record that too!

My favourite on decent basses is about 9"-15" above the strings, but angled at the bridge to end of fingerboard area, from the players left. If the player moves little maybe closer, but if he's a bit mobile, then nearer the ft mark to minimise tonal shifts as he pivots. Hopefully, he'll be a static player. The area near the f hole is dark and a bit murky, and the actual string sound has lots of harmonic content - so balancing the two is quite important. Don't think there is nothing up top - there is! Most bass players play with the side of the fingers rather than the tip, so adjust the tone by moving up and down in relation to the bridge, so don't be tempted to go in too close.

Things to watch out for - solid floors - by far the best. If the floor is floating, or supported on joists, surprising amounts of energy can travel to the mic stand, making an isolation mount pretty vital - floors and panels can also vibrate in sympathy.

A while back I was very unconvinced by preamp differences, but I did eventually come around a little - finally detecting some small differences between the ones I have - and I very nearly kept the Presonus I got from Thomann to replace my Tascam rack preamp/interface - but in the end the difference I considered just too small. So I can't help on the preamp choice front. I have an EV320, but don't like it on double basses or cellos. It's fine, but just a bit dull?

Awesome suggestions guys. Paul... Thanks for your in depth on this. Your post was a cool (and valuable) read. :)

If you have the spare time and channels, one fun way to capture bass is with headphones. You can sort of clamp the headphones on the body in one of the cutouts, one ear cup on the front and one on the back. If you plug directly into a balanced input you'll just get the difference signal between the two ear cups, so use a DI or something to either get just one ear cup or get them both without inverting one's polarity.

Obviously this would just be an addition to the legit ways suggested above.

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/how-to-mic-a-double-bass

I really like the method of using an omni lav mounted as shown in the above link. It solves all of the issues of a bassist moving with the groove, and once you find the sweet spot between definition, thump and finger noises the tracks are very easy to throw into a mix.

Paulears has some great suggestions, and if I were in a spot where I didn't have a small lav I wouldn't hesitate to try the ribbon and experiment with small changes in placement.

An MKE-2 in a roll of foam in between the bridge posts works quite nicely live - if it's a real bass, but sounds really thin and nasty on beginners plywood basses, where the top is very stiff and thicker, and not as resonant.

On general bass techniques, the two mic slap kits work very well for that percussive slap. At a push, a gooseneck tenor sax clip-on is worth trying off you have one - a bit too clicks for me, but some people like it.

Edit to add

I'd forgotten, but years ago I did try using an AKG D112 - I think it was mentioned in the AKG blurb that this mic was good for double bass too - I tried it and it was very dull!

How fun. I love upright bass.

Here is another thread with some ideas too, Donny.
/forum/recording-live-or-studio/tracking-doubleupright-bass

This is cool.

Would you be recording only the bass in this session?

Both for solo studio use or if you have other instruments playing at the same time, try the DPA 4099B clip-on microphone. I have a couple of 4099s with lots of different mounts (fiddle, guitar, bass etc). If you follow Chris's link above, you can get to the DPA Youtube page, but '">here it is again.

Hey Donny, I know it's not the same style at all but I was recording to the band : Lake Street Dive
They have a nice groovy double bass player girl and it made me think of this thread.
Their signer is amazing too ;)

pcrecord, post: 455442, member: 46460 wrote: Hey Donny, I know it's not the same style at all but I was recording to the band : Lake Street Dive
They have a nice groovy double bass player girl and it made me think of this thread.
Their signer is amazing too ;)

i love them!

audiokid pcrecord Boswell bouldersound paulears Kurt Foster ronmac Keith Johnson

Hi Guys, I apologize for the delay in thanking you for a series of great posts.
Chris... thanks for posting the vid. Cool stuff.
Things have been dicey with my mom this past week, and I've also been locked down in rehearsals for two shows this weekend, and both of those things have had me hopping.
I'm going to read through all of these posts again on Sunday after the smoke clears a bit for me.
FWIW, the bass will be recorded on its own. Not at the same time as the other tracks (drums, clean guitar, piano, B3) so I won't be having to deal with bleed from other instruments. Thanks again, gang. I look forward to reading through this thread again in the next few days.
:)