jensenmann

I always record DI + amp and blend them. As JapanAxe said whatever bass the track requires will be used. In my case these are Wal 5strings (fretted or fretless) or Fender Jazz and Precisions. My recording amps all are vintage tube amps and cabs which I don´t carry with me for gigs. They are too heavy and expensive for gigs and have low wattage. Some of them being unreliable due to age as a bonus :-( That´s not exactly what I want to gig with. That means that my settings for recording are always different from gigs.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1484917127' post='3219664'] Yes. With his technical ability as well. And not just on bass, but singing too. [/quote] And your keyboardplaying will improve, too.

Here´s another Wal, obviously mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3y2IRHgtxs I bought her new in 1989 for 3500 DM (german Mark). In the meantime I had >30 other basses but this one is my big love. Most of the others had to go at some point, even if I played them for quite some time. Whenever I grab this one it feels like home. Somehow everything at this bass is exactly how I like it. That surely isn´t elitism.

I used to play my Stingray with an old SVT + SVT cab.

Have a look at the Yamaha MG12xu desk. It has easy to use compressors on board, a Multi-effect and two group outs which is great for recording. Besides that it´s got all the features you mentioned. Soundquality is much better than Behringer.

These amps reside in the studio: Ampeg SVT (1970) + SVT cab Ampeg B15 Hiwatt Custom 100 (DR103 1976) Fender Bassman 135 + Bassman 4x12" cab + several Boogie, Marshall, Kitty Hawk, JBL and some other strange cabs That´s for gigs: Trace Elliot SMX600 selfmade preamp + KMT poweramp

I´m happy with my Beyer DT770s.

Oliver, you´re killing me....

If there is no reference to A, B or C then it doesn´t matter which one you are using.

There´s a lot of useful information in that interview. Thanks for sharing! I do disagree a bit on that LDC subject, though. I find that the most important difference between good and mediocre LDCs is how precise they capture the lowend. Many LDCs tend to have wooly, cloudy, less defined lows, while the better ones capture very solid lows. I´d always go for a good Neumann for that pupose, like a U87, U89 or U47fet, or a Beyerdynamic MC840. The picture of the Rode next to LDC comment especially doesn´t translate to me well since Rodes were some of my first LDCs and they really suffered in the lowend. Having said that I have to admit that I prefer dynamic mics on basscabs. My goto mics are Beyerdynamic Opus 99, M88, or EV RE20. And I always blend mic and DI to one track and compress on the way into the computer, either with 1176, LA3A or LA2A (occasionally SPL Dynamaxx).

Those Golden Age products have cheesy chinese transformers inside. If you go for one of these then have them upgraded with original transformers. That makes all the difference, esp. in the lowend. I´m through that.... Trannies are available from audiomaintenance.com in Manchester. The best preamp for DI recording bass in my book (and arsenal) is a Gyraf Audio G9 preamp. That thing has blown every single bassist I recorded away. Totally...

Way back in my giggin´days I played larger gigs with my SVT+8x10". For smaller gigs I left my 8x10" in our tourbus and carried the SVT with me, using a single Boogie 2x10". Later I went through several other amps to go with my smaller cabs but in the end nothing came close to the SVT+8x10" combination. Today it resides in my studio and honestly I´m glad if the bands I record like my B15 or Bassman 135 rigs more. The sound/volume ratio is a lot better with these. But then... still nothing comes close if you want that sound.

To be honest, I don´t use the midi function. In one band I was planning to use the Midi part, but they threw me out before it actually happened. Maybe they were afraid that I could replace all of them ;-)

Nope, the Midi Bass will stay with me, except I get a seriously dangerous offer.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1440062430' post='2847899'] Lovely... MK2 Shedua? [/quote] Absolutely. I bought it from spiritchaser. It must have been fretted at some point according to the serial number in the Wal database. But it arrived here with a superthin fretboard. Close to no wood left. I had german luthier Günther Eyb of Eyb Guitars replace the fretboard with a 5mm ebony board. That made a lot of a difference in tone in a very positive way. I´m very happy with it as it is. So much that my only fretless GAS is a 70s mapleneck Precision for it´s beatiful and very different tone.

Here´s a picture of my fretless prior to a recording session.

[quote name='spiritchaser' timestamp='1435301754' post='2807346'] My current rig minus the Darkglass Duality Fuzz and Boss DD: Glockenklang Blue Sky + Mesa Boogie Diesel cabs [attachment=195036:SDC14920.JPG] [/quote] Damned,.... Oliver, whenever you want to get rid of your Boogie cabs give me a call. I currently have a 1x15" with horn and could have a use for either the 2x10 or another 15" cab.

Some of my rigs which I posted in other threads before: Ampeg B15s + ´62 Jazz in my controlroom [sharedmedia=core:attachments:92838] Ampeg SVT + 8x10" + Squier JV Precision prior to a session in my studio [sharedmedia=core:attachments:91982]

Luckily these days are over for some reason .... called age and damaged back. I can´t even lift my SVT on top of the 8x10" alone anymore.

I remember the Bass 300 combo very well. The tone wasn´t the best but at that time it was the loudest amp around for affordable money. The barking tone helped to cut through and frighten the guitarplayer and my mom. Not the worst feature. It could not be called lightweight, though. Unfortunately it has been stolen... After that I played an Alphabass Preamp + CS800 poweramp. Again this rig had a barking, midrangey tone which cut through and could be unbearingly load. At that time I´ve been gigging huge open air stages and I never had any problems with volume. But the very best was that it never let me down. Not one single gig with problems. The only reason to sell it was to finance my SVT rig. Better tone but less reliable.

I´ve always been into vintage rigs from my early days on. Whenever tone was important I chose my Ampeg SVT, B15, Hiwatt DR103 or Bassman 135 rigs. Back in my days as professional player most often serving certain types of music was more important than my own tone, though. Therefore I used to play Trace Elliot and SWR amps + Boogie cabs. That combination always delivered but never hurt anybody or came into their way. Since I don´t gig that much anymore but mostly record originals in my own room I´m back to those old mofos. Not having to carry them doesn´t hurt either.... I don´t miss the days when I had to load my cased SVT and 8x10 into my car ALONE

@ Pentode: The HV winding was defective. 40V is not enough for this amp :-) @ Ancient Mariner: My kit was bought from Musikding.

My custom trannies are done by German company [url="http://www.mueller-rondo.com/produkte.htm"]http://www.mueller-rondo.com/produkte.htm[/url] They are very good with torroidal stuff and are willing to wind single custom items.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1426882457' post='2723192'] The thought of building a single channel G9 had crossed my mind, but I figured the Ampeg preamp would better suit the sound I'm going for. Nothing to stop me trying both, other than a serious lack of free time! [/quote] In the meantime I´m a bit further with my DIY basspreamp quest. The BP1 finds no use anymore. I´ve perfboarded a 3 stage FET preamp with with the intention to simulate the Bassman 135 preamp wit FETs. It has one volume control and a bright switch with 5 frequencies which sounds nice. After fiddling with a tonestack which I didn´t like I finally added a trusty workhorse EQ which I know very well from my studiowork. It´s a DIYed API553-stylee 3 band swinging input EQ. For techies: It´s inductor based, low and mid band proportional Q bell filters and a shelving HF filter. All bands have 3 switchable frequencies which are optimized for my basses. Finding the good sounding frequencies took 10hrs alone... The output stage is a Melcor DOA driving an API 2623 transformer. Here´s some porn, inside: [url="http://www.directupload.net/file/d/3985/fqao7pgu_jpg.htm"]http://www.directupl...qao7pgu_jpg.htm[/url] Outside, the one with the silver frontpanel: [url="http://www.directupload.net/file/d/3985/k8mifzzz_jpg.htm"]http://www.directupl...8mifzzz_jpg.htm[/url] No tubes, sorry.... The single G9 PTP Basspre is in the works, too. The layout and most of the drillwork is done, turretboard stuffed... Pictures to follow...