such a thing as a recording bass amp?

[jorri]

Sold my bass amp not long ago, as I moved in with a bass player, but looks like I'm moving out in a few months.

So I only really play it for recording. I love the b15 type sounds (had a B200r and now borrowing a portaflex), as well as DIRT which I find requires me to mic up the amp. But I wonder, is there any small bass amp that produces a sound worth recording? 8" not ruled out, anything vintage and quirky would do, such as the Wem PA I recorded with once although its the opposite of size and expense. Although size isn't necessarily such a huge issue I suppose...it could be a vintage oddity, but my thoughts are something must exist similar to all those tiny tube guitar amps that are produced now for recording.

Or should I just try dirt through guitar amps? Maybe purchase a bass cab only? I routinely do DI and its 'ok' but mostly only through the amp line-outs of big amps! I've tried a few dedicated DI/preamps and they were not very satisfactory! Otherwise i have an ac30, carlsboro stingray super and a ZT lunchbox, but am too afraid to blast these with any full range sound at least.

[NoiseNoiseNoise]

The HoTone Thunder Bass may fit the bill. 5 watts with a headphone/DI out (no external speaker needed), or plug it into whatever 4 ohm minimum cab you have kicking around.
http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/nanolegacy/74.html

[Johno]

How about the Ibanez Promethan line of bass amps? Or the Roland Cubes.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_p20_pr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... GwodCO4PWQ

[jorri]

They all look pretty cool. The cube might be one to try as i hear great things about them. I guess i'm disappointed that the hotone SVT thing isn't actually a low watt svt, no tubes or whatever. I guess vintage trash might be a route that's more realistic, as all of these seem somewhat like an option for practice or small venues...I guess I want something that has one job that is giving character..or of course any type of b15 clone is all good. But i'm thinking something like an old PA type amp?

[Larry Mal]

I mean, considering how often the bass is recorded direct, it might not be worth the trouble of having a little amp and microphone and such. At least, that's how I viewed it, and I ended up buying this:

http://www.edenamps.com/wtdi-pedal.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Telliot]

I prefer the sound of a bass plugged straight in with some nice EQ and compression. I use one of these, which I really like. It works well with other instruments, too. The one in the video is a v2, mine is a v3, which has some added flexibility.

[somanytoys]

I have bass amps, I usually use an SWR Redhead that has a built in XLR pad to record, that can be chosen as direct or line out, and I can hear the sound through the amp as I play and record direct. When recording, I always have a DI going in, even if I'm recording through 1, 2 or 3 bass amps with mics, just to be able to have a more pure sound, to balance out some sounds that might be missing from micing, due to effects, the speakers or even amp voicing - mostly to carry the bottom that can disappear. I don't really have a "proper" DI box, just 2 cheaper basic ones, but if I were to buy one, the first one I think I'd try is one of the Sansamp types, I've heard good things about them.

I also have a ZT lunchbox, and bass can be played through it, even through the little speaker, but the small speaker is not going to give you a great sound to record with, I wouldn't think but you never know until you try. It works okay as a small practice amp alone, even for bass, but I wouldn't really consider it good for recording . But if you get an external speaker cabinet and plug out to it instead, that little thing becomes a 200 watt head, which you may be able to work with mic'ing. I haven't tried that yet so I can't attest to the quality of sound it would send to the speaker cab, but it would be as loud as you'd need.

Edit: I just remembered (duh) that I have a Tronographic Rusty Box, that works as a pedal, a DI or a preamp. It emulates an old Traynor bass head (TS-50B) but is pretty flexible in sound. I haven't used it as a DI or a preamp, but I love it so much I bought 2, in case anything ever happens to my Traynor head. Tronographic also makes a guitar version, the Boxidizer. Just more options to confuse you! haha

^^^^ that EWS looks nice. I may have a harder time figuring out what to buy now, if I ever buy a nice bass DI. But it's always good to have options to look at.

[jorri]

DI is definitely a part of my sound, although often its very low in the mix against a couple of mics on the cab. There isn't usually a lack of bass so much as a lack of clarity, sometimes. Unless i record with drive of course in which case it takes more of a 'bass enhancement' role.. Might be something to look into, i did like the lineout from my b200r at least. At the moment, i'm lowpassing the DI and sending it through various comps, EQs and saturators which is ok but i would not use on it's own. And then perhaps use a guitar amp at low volume for drives...well they probably handle them better than bass cabs... I think a DI would handle cleans good, maybe not so much distortion but that might be solved by sending the disortion through the ZT lunchbox, HH or carlsboro.

So i'll look into those DIs, even consider some kind of head with a DI out i suppose too...such as one of the more b15 types. Might be a solution here, does anyone send very distorted signals through a DI? I often use both the cooked, middy punk type drive with lots of attack and 'throat' to it, which is quite organic, or go full out synth-fuzz.

[Telliot]

If you're looking to add dirt, I'd split the signal and keep a track for clarity and retaining your tone (especially your bass frequencies).

[somanytoys]

I agree, I would definitely keep one signal completely clean, for me it's always the DI. You can always add to that later with plug-ins, re-amping or whatever. I don't think that I would normally use that high in the mix, but in the background it does allow for some frequencies that wouldn't otherwise necessarily come through sometimes. It's always good to have a backup in any situation, and in recording, if you like what you played, but the sound didn't capture well, you still have something to work with without having to re-record the part.

I tend to use most of the effects that I use for bass only on 1 amp, that's just a straight signal until I kick them in. I also send a clean signal to another amp because I'm looking for the tone from that amp specifically, and then I keep a preamp on constantly on the 3rd amp, which are all mic'd. I like having some clarity in there, especially because what I'm doing is holding things together rhythmically, and the guitarist uses so many effects and amps that I call his pedalboard Mission Control. It's very cool, but really, it can all only get so noisy or effected before things just start to get lost and there's no definition, it can all just become a buzz. That can be cool, but it can also grate on the ears after a while.

[somanytoys]

Sorry, missed your last question.

I don't know how well distortion and fuzz would translate through DI. I always thought most of those types of pedals were pretty heavily dependent on the amp and the speakers doing some of the work, to really make them scream or to smooth them out some so they're not just raspy and thin, which is why some pedals don't sound very good until you really open an amp up.

It seems like we tried DI'ing my bass with effects early on, but in the end we decided it was better to have it clean, especially with everything else going on with the live sounds coming from all of the amps. We don't play in a studio, we just capture things live with 400 mic's (kidding, but there are at least 9 being used at any one time for just the guitar and bass).

Another thing to consider is that there are DI boxes that emulate different amps & speakers, and that may accomplish what the amps & speaker accomplish with the distorted sounds, if you're looking specifically to DI those sounds and not mic them. The one Telliot suggested above may do that, or it may make the distorting or fuzzing sound more acceptable than just a regular DI box would.

[jorri]

yes that's my main predicament and why I don't want to go fully DI...for the drives...Its much more that i have something worked out and didn't want to have to both fork out the cash and use up the space.

But as other have mentioned, guitar amps can be OK for that split wet-dry signal...Even for full fuzz, where I wouldn't normally use a split signal, lowpassing the DI from the distortion feed might work, I suppose, for when i want zero clean signal.

I'm kinda thinking traditionally great bass amps aren't necessarily the best for distortion anyway...such as having tweeters tends to fizz things up, generally being a bit too solid in the midrange and etc...it might be just the thing to do, and amps like HH IC100 and carlsboro stingray were perhaps intended for keyboards, having more of a 'flat' channel that might be useful for this (even seen the IC100 used on bass so there you go!).

as well as the ZT lunchbox sounding good on bass through it's headphone out it may actually even be more worth it just finding a bass cab for any of these, perhaps even my AC30 occasionally, it might produce an interesting sound...I like saturation even on cleans to be honest!

[marqueemoon]

I like bass amp sims and going direct pretty well. Many, many classic bass sounds were recorded direct.

A reamp box could be fun. You could send the bass out to a guitar amp under controlled conditions if you want a little natural overdrive to blend in with your direct track.

[jorri]

Trying out a portalfex 15" with various guitar amps, is surprisingly exactly the kind of tone i want. And almost, I'd say enhances the point of miccing up a bass cab, because of the additional warmth/grit/mids etc.... So I'm set on getting a small 112 or 210 cab I think! Maybe a DI at some point too, i need one for live cello with a headway pickup and hope something could double-up, but plugins are reasonable for now likely with the Art tube MP i have.

[jorri]

and, actually the reamp box. I have one, mainly for use with running drums and vocals, and that reminded me why i have no idea why i don't use it...surely is quicker for general tracking when doing it myself being able to focus on miccing or tracking a DI in the middle of the night are a huge advantage especially as i'm in a shared apartment terrace. Being able to crank to 10 for just the length of a song is pretty damn useful!