im trying to record some bass today ,
and i was considering using the line in
or micing my amp…but id prefer to run
straight in and use plug ins
to get the romp im looking for.
Im an unschooled, self taught kinda guy and
im still new to cubase 6 and vst3 plug ins…
so…what would u guys do to get a good bass
sound with the plug ins that come with Artist?
no details needed, but what plug ins would be best
and in what order? …thx …zimmy
Aloha z,
You did not tell us what style of music and
what instrument you are using.
Acoustic bass (classical or jazz)
Slap bass
Rock bass (fingers or pick)
Synth bass
Country bass
Pop bass
etc etc
Depending on the client and the goal, these factors tend to dictate
the specific recording approach.
Perhaps you could list/name some artist bass sounds that you like
and are attempting to achieve.
{‘-’}
in my small studio i have a marshall head hooked up to a 12" speaker wedge monitor ,so for a lemmy type rock bass sound i mic up with a sm57 and crank it up . smoother type music i tend to go direct and mess around with the new cubase 6 amp sim ,although going direct i find the bass can get a bit lumpy, i am a 6 stringer by trade so it`s all a bit hit and miss for me , i do prefer micing up though.
There are various approches based on the style and sound you’re looking for. Without knowing exactly what you want, I can only point you to sources of information and then you decide where to go from there. As examples, I have linked two videos that demonstrate how to record Upright and Electric Bass:
For Upright Bass: recording acoustic bass with steve bailey - YouTube
For Electric: How to record bass guitar - YouTube
BTW, these are not the only ways to record Bass and you don’t even have to use the same exact mics, preamps and compressors (some of them are very expensive), but these videos should give you a general idea of the kind of mics and placements that work. For Electric Bass, some people use a mix of both the recorded and the direct signal to get a fat, punchy sound. You coul also take a direct recording, duplicate it and add some EQ and Distortion to the copy as a way to insert some harmonic content into it as shown in the videos below:
This is a well known technique for Electric Bass in Rock/Punk music, though you could use it for other styles as well. There’s also a plugin called Recabinet 3 that allows you to simulate a recording of a Guitar/Bass through different amps and cabs. It uses impulse response and adds that character to your D.I. recording. It works pretty well. Here’s a video showing it:
As far as EQ and Compression, there’s a ton of ways and configurations there. But here are a couple more videos:
Just browse YouTube. Seriously, the best thing about it is the incredible amount of free resources we have available.
Enjoy!
thx for the helpful replys…
i play rock/metal style bass in
an 80s hair band sorta way.
i set up according to the
type of song im recording of course.
my ibanez sounds pretty decent recorded
straight in, but some songs will need the
umph that i can get with my amp settings.
just curious to see what other people are doin with
their bass setups…knowledge is power 
You said in your OP:
so…what would u guys do to get a good bass
sound with the plug ins that come with Artist?
Ahh! Got it!
That sound to my ears is classic ‘SVT’ and (not sure about Artist)
with the C6 plugs (Amp Rack included) I cannot get
anywhere close to that.
So instead I use a IK Multimedia SVT plug which sounds
very close (90-95%) and I know because I have the
real thang and have been able to an A/B.
As for routing
Outside the 'puter:
1-First from the bass itself, run it as hot as possible.
Full output if you can. This way the picks-ups
don’t ‘load’ and chop off hi end.
We may need that hi end later for ‘definition’.
(If you use active pick-ups, you need not worry about loading).
2-I first add on a tiny bit of limiting. Just enough to tame the peaks.
3-I would then EQ
but sometime you will want to reverse the order of 3 & 2.
Use your ears.
Inside the 'puter:
4-Then into your plug. What ever sounds closest for you.
5-FX (I sometimes even use very short reverb/delays on bass to fatten)
6-final EQ if necessary.
(here is where that early hi end may prove useful)
HTH (hope this helps)
{‘-’}
Perhaps the easiest way to get that tone is to use a Tech 21 SansAmp bass driver before it hits your recording channel. Sure, plugins can do a lot, but getting the right signal into Cubase in the first place makes a huge difference.
99% I’m using it with a tube DI (Tube Demeter) with a Neve clone preamp or with Instrument DI from Avalon 737.
Sometimes I use some little compression when tracking…
thx curteye…sounds like a good plan…
artist is kinda lackin when it comes to plug ins,
especially with the new vst3 stuff…
i have piles of older vst plug ins, and can
do most anything with them,so im a lil
disappointed with the limited setup i have right now.
is there a plugin for my old plugins?
like maybe jbridge or somethin?
im new to vst3, and im not too impressed yet…
thx for ur help guys…zimmy
JOSE - Hey. Are you using the Recabinet3 plugin? I am looking for someone here who does because there is something about it that appeals to me when I use a DI to record my bass tracks. I like IR verb so this seems like a good idea, an IR cab sim. 
I don’t own the plugin form, but I do have Recabinet 2 (which was sold as a bundle of IRs of Guitar & Bass cabs). It adds the guts to DI recordings that is often missing from amp simulators. But the plugin form makes it faster and easier to dial in the sound you want. They have a demo version you can try out.
I need to upgrade to version 3 as it’s only $40 bucks for me. But there’s always something else I need, so I haven’t 
. I totally recommend it as a good tool to have available in the toolbox. Check it out.
Take care!
Jose - Great, thanks for this info. OK, I am glad to hear you see some validity to such a plugin because it seems like a pretty useful tool to me. I will try the trial download right now actually!!
Jose - OK, I tried the download and I was not too impressed. They didn’t really have the depth of IRs I was looking for - not the mic variety, the mic placement variety, and not the mic distance variety either. I see that they are working on Recabinet 4 and that might hold some promise.
Meanwhile I saw the redwires cab sim product and downloaded the free marshall cab IRs. Now this is a better product IMO. They are treating this like a very serious, many option program. Also, although their $49 convolution program will run many IRs at once - apparently, creating a wall of guitars if you want - I was able to use the IRs in my SIR2 verb program one at a time. You know what? Just running with their 4/12 Marshall cab IRs, paralleling my DI track, I may have all I need to improve my DI bass guitar tracks. I can ‘honk’ things or ‘round’ things quite easily for my needs - better than I could do with my Waves plugs actually. It’s way more effective than EQing, IMO.
So thank you for the mention of the cab sim program, Jose!! This has really, really, made my day!! YOU ROCK!! 
Nice bass…nice strings…monster bass cable into a LA610 DI. Usually requires nothing but a little squeeze with the La3a at mix time.
Precisions are king. I have a modern passive P5 with rounds…and a 62RI with flats. I have a J5, too, but it doesn’t see a lot of use–usually needs more EQ at mix time.
For lesser basses, the Sansamp rack unit is the way to go.
Really? Now that’s interesting. I’ve heard of the Redwire, but I’ve never tried them since Recabinet did the job for me. Now, after hearing your opinion, I think I will give them a shot and see if I like 'em better. Overall though, cab IR is the way to go when recording a real guitar/bass amp is not feasible (or if you want to blend different sounds). It gets you closer to the real thing, IMO.
Thank you for your input!