When I read the first post I had an essay in mind, and then all of these clever people nailed the majority of my points.

I'll echo the idea that if you want a lot of options with the bass in addition to the low end mics, it would be handy to have something mid focused, so any of the garden-variety dynamic mics could be a handy counterpoint.

As for the panning, that's more of a mix journey, so set yourself up for options when you track, and then keep an open mind as you mix. Sometimes a panning and presentation vision can be totally fulfilled, other times it's good to throw it out when it doesn't work.

There's a whole conversation about symmetry here that can get really philisophical. The great thing about recording is you can (and should) try just about anything, and that exists in dialogue with popular consensus for solving problems. Generally, you don't hear bass guitar and guitar panned opposite because it's hard to make it work well. I'm sure there are some examples where it's very intentional, and hopefully someone can share some- the only thing that comes to mind for me is how Sleater Kinney often had low tuned guitar in one speaker, and a guitar in more of a typical range panned into the opposite.

As for two amps, the best way to hear their contrast is to hard pan them in opposite directions. To have one center, and one panned will mean that the panned one will stand out more (which could be a goal). I've found playing in a 3 piece, that hard panning two amps gives a little bit of width, although not a ton. The only way to make that feel really wide is to play with time- more reverb on one side, or delaying one of the two (can get really weird fast with phase conflicts on the short side, and head-spinning psychedelics on the long side).

If a band were coming to me with the goal of having the bass player and guitar player on equal footing accomplished through hard panning, in the spirit of Mr. Albini and not fucking with the band by immediately turning that idea down, my first idea would be to have something full and dark for the bass in the center, and something more middy and bright and possibly more overdriven on the side. I'd just put the guitar a little off to the side in general. I can imagine having the panned elements turned out like 50% might be easier than hard panning. If it's a flop you can always just have the bass bright and loud down the center, pan the guitar amps (or even more typical, overdub a second pass on the rhythm guitar to pan) and settle for the typical approach.

losthighway wrote: The only way to make that feel really wide is to play with time- more reverb on one side, or delaying one of the two (can get really weird fast with phase conflicts on the short side, and head-spinning psychedelics on the long side).

If you go down this road, keep in mind that bass with reverb can potentially be another can of worms in terms of potential tracking issues.

Thank you very much, everybody! I really appreciate your advice. We'll try to keep our minds open, let's see how it turns out.

Iñaki

Tom Wanderer wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:30 pm

losthighway wrote: The only way to make that feel really wide is to play with time- more reverb on one side, or delaying one of the two (can get really weird fast with phase conflicts on the short side, and head-spinning psychedelics on the long side).

If you go down this road, keep in mind that bass with reverb can potentially be another can of worms in terms of potential tracking issues.

Whoa, yeah it would. I've never tried that. I will say that I frequently high pass other reverbs so as not to muck up the mix with a low cloud. This would probably behoove someone adventerous enough to go for a verby bass sound.

yes, DI like tallchris said for options
for best low end you want both woofers in stereo playback to be working together in the lower octave/s