jensenmann

That´s an interesting use for the U5. Honestly, as a DI I think it´s totally overpriced compared to other products in the same sonic league. I have one in the studio just to impress clients but I don´t use it since I prefer other DIs. The use as a basspre shines a new light on it, though. I have to check that out. Great idea...

The ones I liked most of all Trace Elliots was the SMX series. But I´m not sure if these will fit in your budget.

I have recently replaced the PUs of my Fenix Jazz with a Rockinger set, see here: http://www.rockinger.com/index.php?lang=ENG&list=WG101 These are modeled after 60s J PUs and sound fantastic. The improvement was way more than I expected. Esp. the Hot Jott bridge type is killer.

...but they have an Avalon It´s a Soundtracs Topaz, btw.

I have a Fenix maple neck Jazz from late 80s. It sounds incredible. The stock PUs are the weak point, though. As mentioned before very low output, microphonic, not very detailed. I swapped mine to Rockinger PUs which turned out to be a huge improvement. Couldn´t be happier with a 180€ bass + 110€ PUs.

Huge tapedelay fan here. One of my 1/4" machines is always used for tapedelay. On top of that I´m using a space echo and currently I´m refurbishing three Dynacord Echocord tapedelays for future use. Back in the days when we had to use tapedelay everybody thought it´s crap to use and sounds useless. Like Dylan said: times are achanging :-)

From todays view 456 is crap. When it came out 456 was the tape with highest headroom and lowest noise. Everybody was jumping on it. Additionally it was relatively cheap. It was my multitrack tape for that reason back then.

Absolutely 456 is crap I´m recording on PER528, a tape formulation which has been developed for german broadcasters with main focus on longterm reliability for archiving purpose.

If you need ONE mike which is good on bass cab AND on vocals then check out Beyerdynamic M88 and EV RE20.

I´m still printing my mixes on 1/4" tape besides digital. First for sonic reason because mostly tape sounds better to me. Second is that I have an immediate safety copy if I print both. On top of that the longterm reliability of tape is higher than any digital format. Of course IT-guys and manufacturer of digital gear will tell you something else. But in the meantime I have lost enough of my digital-only masters and tracks but none on tape to no more believe them. (ok, DAT excluded). Taking care of all the digital data and maintain them will turn out as a nightmare in the long run.

I´ve recently installed Rockinger PUs in my Jazz Bass. They sound incredible and were a big improvement over the stock PUs. The cool thing is that they have a bridge PU with more windings hence more mids. That makes the difference in terms of cutting through.

TC Fireworx is a mighty FXbox. It´s not intuitive and needs a steep learning curve. But it´s IMHO the most flexible 19" processor for instruments. More or less the same league as an Eventide DSP4000/7000/8000 for a lot less money.

You could try to get a cheap piezo transducer, something like this: http://us.shadow-electronics.com/products/double_bass/main/sh_sb_1 Stick it under the fretboard for the click. With a passive piezo you will need an active DI with a very high impedance input (>5MOhm). These are rare. Have a look at the specsheet of your DI to make sure that it´s not the usual 1MOhm input DI. These will kill the treble. There´s a specialized product for exactly this purpose: http://www.radialeng.com/pzdi.php

I´m using a TC electronic SCF since two decades in my live setup. Through the times I bought a few others which basically sit unused in the corner after a short honeymoon phase.

dbx160A or X or XT are a classic. I´d stay away from the budget dbx compressors range like 166, 266, or even cheaper Behringer and Alesis stuff, though. If you want to enter studio territory (financially) then a Distressor, Urei/Universal Audio 1176 or LA3A, Purple Audio MC77 may be an option. Most of the time I record bass through an Urei LA2A which is a no-go in a live rig since it eats up 3U rackspace and costs 3500bucks.

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1385685088' post='2291275'] Roland TR-77 analogue drum machine (with MIDI retrofit) Roland Jupiter JP-4 analogue synthesiser (with MIDI retrofit) Oberheim OB-X analogue synthesiser (with MIDI retrofit) ARP Omni II string synthesiser Solina String Ensemble string synthesiser Powertran Transcendent 2000 analogue synthesiser Synare 3 analogue drum synthesiser clone Coron DS8 analogue drum synthesiser clone Novation Super Bass Station analogue synthesiser module Novation Drum Station digital / analogue drum module Roland MC-50 sequencer (with HxC floppy drive emulator) (the x0xb0x has since been sold) Tascam eight track digital recorder Boss DR-55 drum machine Musicaid Clap Trap Frontline X-8 stereo mixer Frontline X-4 analogue effects Behringer mixer (about to be replaced by a Mackie with more channels) Demeter Compulator compressor pedal Darkglass B3K distortion pedal Electro Harmonix Clone Theory chorus pedal Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger pedal (now powered by a Voodoo Labs PSU, including the EH pedals which have been converted to run from DC) Melos Echo Chamber tape echo Melos DE-1 analogue echo Not Pictured: Hondo II bass guitar (Rickenbacker copy) Musicman Stingray Stealth Eko semi-acoustic bass Ampeg SVT CL with 410 and 115 cabs Hammond Organ (Japanese made transistor one, not an American made tonewheel one unfortunately) Hohner K2 String Vox keyboard Movement Sequence Memory Rhythm analogue drum machine Dynacord EC 280 analogue chorus, echo and reverb Melos Mini Fazer phaser pedal Melos Mini Comp compressor pedal [/quote] Heck, that´s some great synth gear. Congrats to that collection!

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1388256901' post='2320116'] I was hoping someone would say that! Though it would mean a wee trip to the shops for a decent bass Mic that I can't afford! [/quote] If you have to deal with many guitars then record (besides DI) the cab with lots - and I mean lots - of treble. Even if the cab sound might be too bright in the room. All that treble will help you cut through later in the mix. A compressor, which (hopefully) will be used while mixing, will tame the treble anyway. And no, that´s not the same as adding EQ later. The good thing is that using the amp/cab just for treble doesn´t require a fancy mic in front of your cab. A Shure 57/58 or whatever available crappy dynamic/ribbon mic is fine as long as you have the DI signal for the solid low end. I´d not use condenser mics for that task. If you want to go crazy then record a third, completely distorted track. This may help even more in the mix.

There was a now obsolete product by TC electronic called 1140 which is a four band parametric EQ sounding great for bass. It can still be found used for cheap (considering the quality). IIRC there was even a basspreamp version TC1144(?). Not sure about the numbers. I can highly recommend these. Besides that have a look into studio EQs. There´s quite a bunch of 1/2 19" and 19" versions out there.

I´m playing my 135 with the original 4x12" cab. The lowend of this combination is not as solid as my SVT+8x10" but the beauty of the fender stack is the midrange and overtones which are quite different than what the Ampeg does. Currently I´m looking for a Boogie 1x15" to try it with my 135. I have the feeling that the amp needs a cab which has lot´s of lowend by default.

On their first record Timmy C played a mapleneck Musicman Stingray through an SVT+8x10. I saw them several times live in the early 90s with the same setup on stage. Dunno if or what pedals were in the signalpath, though.

It´s more on a beginner level, but sheds a light into many niches, though. You get a lot of information for your money since it consists of 3 double layer DVDs. Anyway the best thing you can do to learn about recording is simply to do it and not too much think about it. Read a few good books about the theory, esp. miking and ask experienced people for their opinion about what you´ve done.

TC electronic SCF here, the only pedal which comes close to the TC2290 (the best flanger sound ever, if you know how to handle it - kind of rocket science)

usually http://leedsradio.com/ has a good stock of these, but pricey and in the US

Lovely. I used to play one of these long time ago. Here´s what I use now: