Aloha + dumb bass question

[Spine Of God]

Newbie says hi,

I’m a lifer, guitarist/vocalist, who quite recently realized some compositions would benefit from a real bass. So far ive “faked” basslines with my Gretch, but... it doesnt fool anyone. Kinda OK for demo’s but not much more. A bass is a bass. But I can not fit another amp into my tiny apartment (seriously), so here goes my question(s):

- Can I use a virtual amp (recommend me free .vst’s eh!) to record bass?
- Will I “lose” something, as opposed to a big ass 100W amp, by doing so?
- How dumb am I, in dreaming of actually buying a bass but no amp? Be honest.

Cheers!
SoG

[Studiodawg]

If you get a decent bass DI...that's a"normal" way to record bass (with or without an amp). You might have fun shopping for a bass DI. I use an Avalon U5, but there are many awesome options. Have fun!

[Spine Of God]

Originally Posted by Studiodawg

If you get a decent bass DI...that's a"normal" way to record bass (with or without an amp). You might have fun shopping for a bass DI. I use an Avalon U5, but there are many awesome options. Have fun!

I got a Roland Duo Capture, with 1 direct input for guitars (/bass?), does that constitute a DI?

I mean I’ve toyed around with guitars that way, playing with virtual amps, does it ‘do’ bass as well?

Thanks for your response, either way!

[Studiodawg]

As Joe Meek taught us, if it sounds good, it is good. Try it, I would!

[Spine Of God]

Probably exactly what I will do! Joe Meek sounds like me. Except I am cheap

I hope my music nerd shop will “loan” me a bass for this project. As in: 7-30 days return policy...

After plugging a bass in - what kind of ‘virtual amp’ I should go for, next? Recommendations?

[Studiodawg]

I don't have any suggestions. I've f'd around with them and do have some sort of Waves guitar virtual amp that has mojo, but personally I usually like my bass clean.

[domzy]

you haven't said what sort of sound you are going for, but i would start simple by DIing & then experimenting with Bass Professor 2 to see if that gets you anywhere, then start thinking about amp sims if you need them.

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php...MarkII&id=2590

[grinder]

I have three basses
I have three Preamps
I do not have a bass amp
I have some material on Soundcloud which maybe is not the right medium to hear what a bass sounds like without going through an "Amp" as such however
it may give you an idea.
The best sound I have got so far for my bass is through my Focusrite ISA 220.
There are some out there who doubt this preamp however for bass I would give it the big tick.
https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1/the-hearing

Grinder

[Studiodawg]

grinder, Thanks for me mentioning the Focusrite ISA 220. I'm always interested in different DIs for bass. SOG, you can always visit the TalkBass Forum where you'll get way too much info on bass DIs.

[grinder]

I got a shock with the 220 studiodawg
I say this because I purchased the 220 as many of us do, in the early days because of advertising.
I threw vocals at it, acoustic guitars and electric I was not sold. I left it alone for many years.
I was using a Groove tubes Vipre for bass then I had to send the Vipre in for love and attention. I then tried the Focusrite with my Fender basses jazz and Precision what a match I have not looked back...
The low pass and high pass filters are great by the way.

Grinder

[toleolu]

I bought a bass for recording purposes, like you I play guitar but needed a bass for recording. I bought a 300 dollar Yamaha bass, plug it directly into my interface and use the Ignite Amps plugin and IR files, no amp.

If your Aloha suggests you're in Hawaii, I live in Honolulu and am working on some recording projects in Kailua where I could use another guitar player and male vocalist.

If you're on Oahu, let me know if you're interested.

Good Luck

[Spine Of God]

Damn man, I SO wish I was in Hawaii. I live pretty much on the other side of the world. Cold and dark here!

Hey, thanks to all the responses to this thread... I basically wanted to check if playing bass “directly in” thru my pre-amp would work. As I understood, I might even find a basic bass sound there easily, without much of VST/etc-garbage in between. It looks like I’m gonna look for a cheap bass. This one doom’y piece I recently put together just DIES while screaming for a bass to be added into.

Stylistically, I am an old hardcore/punk/metal/fast-loud-rock player (with maybe 5-7 years of live bassist experience in the 90’s/00’s), evolving (?) towards a simpler/mellower sound. I guess. Xanax Folk/Murder Blues? Having fun trying to learn drum machine composing, vintage synths, and now bass. Less screaming, more actual singing, nowadays. Also, I can’t mix for poop, my first 18+ months or so with Reaper have passed and I’m still recording ‘demo’s & covers. MO: I’ll mix all that chit later.

I like this place already.

PS: grinder, I’ll have a listen! (do you get ‘grinder’ from a life in poker?)

[Spine Of God]

Originally Posted by grinder

https://soundcloud.com/steve-maitland-1/the-hearing

Grinder

1) sounds like a proper bass to me
2) sounds like you’re a REAL bass player! (I am not, more of a “fill-in”, me!)
3) wicked drums, I like!



Bass plugged in #1, then. Good to go, with no physical bass amp? Eh? EHH?

[grinder]

No no no no no Kia ora
Spine of God
I am or was a Jade carver had a website till last month got rid of it too many plastic models for people to buy...
47 years being an artist in Pounamu
grinding grinding and grinding!
Time to follow writing music now.
51 years writing my own material no time to waste is there..
Where would music be without drums and bass!

Grinder

[zeekat]

Originally Posted by Spine Of God

Bass plugged in #1, then. Good to go, with no physical bass amp? Eh? EHH?

Sure, we're living in the future after all. Some people can make direct signal sound awesome with no amp sims, for the rest of us there's virtual Ampegs and stuff.

[vdubreeze]

Originally Posted by Spine Of God

Bass plugged in #1, then. Good to go, with no physical bass amp? Eh? EHH?

Yup! Are you on Windows or Mac?

Here are a few free amps to try. All are Windows compatible, some are Mac also.

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php...r_Free&id=2082

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php...=SHB-1&id=1132

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/tse-bod-by-tse-audio

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/gk-...le-by-audified

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/clb...exe-consulting

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/clb...exe-consulting


Cheers! And welcome.

[Pinknoise]

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=223985

[JeffreyET]

Bass is my primary instrument, and I pay a LOT of attention to my tones. I've always plugged directly into my interface (Scarlett 2i4) with excellent results. Of course my tastes run to a more proggy or jazz clean sound.