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Im new to recording. I am looking to record bass, guitar, and drums in a few days, but i have never recorded bass. How would I get the best quality. I have my hands on a borrowed line 6 bass effects processor. Should I just direct input to the board, then bus to the effects processor, or would it make sense to use a large diaphragm condenser mic on the amp also? I have no clue, perhaps someone can help. Also, pres? I have Avalon 2022, would this do the trick?

Comments

moonbaby Thu, 10/18/2007 - 00:57

Welcome to RO. If I understand you correctly...
You own a 2022 and have "no clue" as to how to track a bass guitar? Hmmm.
OK, first off, you have to determine the tone that the bass player is going for. If he/she is using a reasonably decent amp with a good satisfying tone, yes, you can mic it. With a large diaphragm DYNAMIC like a 421 or an RE-20. I would think that an LDC would be too sensitive, too bright, and too wide a pattern to be that useable on a bass amp, but it wouldn't hurt to try it out.
As far as the "Line 6" is concerned, these products are not so much an "effects unit" (although L6 DOES make "effects units"), per se, as they are MODELLERS. They are designed to be THE tone. You plug the bass into the modeller, set it up on a preset, and then take that out to the line input on the console. That simple. No "busing to the effects".
Yes, I believe that the Avalon 2022 has the proper interface the bass to the line in on the mixer. It's those (2) 1/4" input jacks on the front panel, labeled "Hi-Z Instrument Inputs" (surprise!). You plug the bass into one of those. Then you twist the Input and Output level controls on said front panel so that the needle on the meter reads "0" but doesn't peg. Switch in the Filter, set it at 40Hz. You da man. BTW, this is referred to the industry as "DI". You are using the 2022 as an expensive DI box (albeit a very good one).
Which approach you use depends on the bass, the player, the music genre, and more. Give us more info...
.

anonymous Thu, 10/18/2007 - 09:23

moonbaby wrote: ........you can mic it. With a large diaphragm DYNAMIC like a 421 or an RE-20. ..........

As far as the "Line 6" is concerned, these products are not so much an "effects unit" ...as they are MODELLERS. .......

You are using the 2022 as an expensive DI box (albeit a very good one).
Which approach you use depends on the bass, the player, the music genre, and more. Give us more info...
.

so using the avalon as a pre, would I perhaps run the bass into the avalon, then out into the line 6 and also out into a bass amp and mic it just for taste if needed?

so i can use a bass drum mic on the amp?

it will be more of a blues style, jazz, funk.

My buddy needs to put together some tracks, and I have worked with him many times (guitar), but never worked wit bass, or the bass player. And also there will be a drummer, which i think I can handle, but also wasnt sure about compression on snares, bass drums, etc.

Thanks,
Jason

moonbaby Thu, 10/18/2007 - 09:58

I would run the bass into the POD first, as it is designed to work with the pick-ups on the instrument directly. The problem you'll run into if you run the bass into the Avalon first is that the outputs on the 2022 are balanced line level types, there are no unbalanced outs on the 2022 to feed into the POD (or into an amp, for that matter).
And it is a very popular practice to route the bass to more than 1 track (one DI, one a mic on the amp). You would have to split the signal from the bass to go to both the amp and then to the POD/AD2022. We don't know at this stage what bass amp you are going to deal with. Many models made these days already have a built-in DI feature with an XLR output. If so, you can run the bass through the amp AND take a DI out to the mixer. This way, you won't have to deal with the POD at all. I know Bob likes the PODs (I do for guitar, prefer the Tech 21 for bass...picky, picky!), but unless you are familiar with it (or the bassist is), you may find yourself spending too much time fidgeting with it in front of a group of impatient musicians. Chances are that the bass player has a tone from his rig that he's comfortable with anyway. Personally, I would let the player get the tone from the amp, AND take a DI off of either the amp or the 2022. Put the mic'd cab on 1 track, the DI on the other. Another advantage of this is that the AD2022 can be reserved for something that would benefit from it better...DRUMS comes to mind. That box is bitchin' for overheads.
If the amp does not have a DI output, you can hook up the AD2022 thusly: most amps have a pair of 1/4" inputs paralleled together ( the 2 inputs on the 2022 are not, they're 2 seperate channels). Assuming this, you plug the bass into one of those inputs. Then you run another guitar-type (shielded) cable from that 2nd input on the amp and over to one of the "Instrument Inputs" on the front panel of the 2022. This acts like a 'Y' cord. It's not an ideal solution, but it's certainly a viable one.
Have I thoroughly confused you? Good! Keep us posted!
I re-read your post, here is an addendum:
Yes, a kick mic can make a very good bass amp mic. The DI will bring in the full range of the instrument. The mic'd cab will add some character, especially if this guy is a 'slapper'. Be ready to compress the bass, if just a tad. Don't be so concerned about that with the drums. They require a different approach we won't get into...yet.