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[klaukholm]

J.J. Blair wrote on Tue, 05 February 2008 21:21

I'd start with the C12, but that's not normally my first choice for bass.  But since it's a Tele USA C12, give it a whirl.  I find their capsules to be a shade darker than real CK12s, so it might work.  Hell, I even find C12VRs to sound good on upright.   You might actually do OK with a KM84 if they have one.  My first choice for upright is always a U47, though. Anyway, Klaukolm is right about the instrument.  But I can tell you that with upright, the room is so freaking important.  I have noticed that upright sounds so much better in my vocal booth than in my live room or when we stuck it in the kitchen.  Walk around with it and try playing it in a few different spots and see what it sounds like before even throw a mic up.

There is nothing like a good concert space like a good recital hall for bass.

[andychamp]

A small-to-medium sized room with good acoustics (lively reflections but short decay), like a vocal booth, and a ribbon mic about a foot from the bridge work great.
I found that getting the respective proportions of room and direct sound right was more decisive than the lowend content.
Good thing the instrument has such a big body: it comes with its own Early Reflections.

[C.Cash]

I had really nice results with a Hiel PR-40 on the f-hole and a Rodes NT5 a little higher up, almost where the neck starts , both about 2 feet off. The bass was plucked and bowed.

[Jim Williams]

I've found flat large diaphram condensers work best for me. Mics with hyped top end response add too much string noise, like C-12's. I also found it helpful if the mic has an extended low end response. U-87's are a bit thin in the low end and can sound nasal. I've had great results with transformer-less 414's. I've also had suprisingly good results with some cheap mics, like the $39 MCA-SP1 with some larger coupling caps to extend the low end to below 20hz. There are some session guys in LA that use these and carry them to sessions "in case".

[Audio Craftsman]

I've worked with a Rockabilly act for several projects and struggled to find a mic / mics that I really liked on standup bass.  We've always recorded in a vocal iso booth.

I first tried a technique I learned from one of my mentors: a SDC surrounded by a pair of foam windsocks, stuffed in the bridge (aimed up).  I used a KM184.  No one really liked the way it sounded.  For all of my other experiments, I put mics on stands and aimed them into the f-hole from a height near the bridge and about two feet back.

I had decent results with a u87Ai.  I also tried an Audix D6 at the same time, because I could.  The output was too faint to be useful.

Later I tried an AEA 44cx and a Lawson L47, two mics that I love and use often.  I don't want to start a "Lawson mics don't sound like real u47s" argument here, but I think it is safe to say that the L47s lean that direction.  But I much preferred the 44cx.  It has become my "go to" mic for standup bass.  With no EQ or compressesion it sounded perfect for that project (I did add a bit of compression when we mixed it).  And I suspect that any large ribbon would be useful for this kind of application.

[Alan Meyerson]

I usually go with 2 mics. One pointing at where the right hand plays coming from the right side at about a 45 degree angle. A second mic to fill out the low end about 2/3 inches below the fhole on the left side, also at about a 45 degree angle. That way I can sort of adjust for wolftones with a little bit of riding between the mics.

[Kris]

If you feel like listening, here's a tune where the upright was tracked with an AT4047.  http://www.logcabinmusic.com/audio/03%20Andrew%2003.mp3  There's a bass solo about half way through.(Disclaimer:  The tracks were sent with the artist to be mixed so this is just an end of tracking day rough...)

[tom eaton]

Alan Meyerson wrote on Thu, 20 November 2008 22:30

I usually go with 2 mics. One pointing at where the right hand plays coming from the right side at about a 45 degree angle. A second mic to fill out the low end about 2/3 inches below the fhole on the left side, also at about a 45 degree angle. That way I can sort of adjust for wolftones with a little bit of riding between the mics.

I do something very similar, but using what is essentially an XY pair midway between the players right fingers and the f hole.  Both mics to the player's left.  Usually a mis-matched pair, a SDC pointed up and a LDC pointed down.  If other things are in the room live (as is usually the case) a DI can save you (especially if you need to, uh, tune a note).  I use this same vertical xy thing for lead cello stuff.  Seems to give me what I'm looking for.

t