Hi,

I play in a band that consists of a bass player/vocalist, a drum machine and myself on guitar. We’re about to record our first few songs. The drum machine will be recorded in mono and placed in the center while bass and guitar will be spread left (bass) and right (guitar) in the stereo field. Or so we would like.

We’re planning to use two different guitar amps -one centered, one hard panned to the right-, which is a stereo recording technique I’ve used before with good results. We would like to do the same with the bass guitar: two amps, centered / hard panned to the left. The thing is that I have never seen this technique used on bass before. I know of other bands that pan the bass off-center. I also know that you can use multiple mics on a single amp placed on the same spot in the stereo field (centered or not). But, two different bass amps panned center/left?

I’m sure that there are good reasons for not doing it, probably phase related issues. Has anyone here tried this technique before?

Thanks!

Iñaki

Hi! Lots of folks have recorded bass through two amps with cool results. Chris Squire of Yes is the first that comes to mind. His pickups were split and he'd send the neck pickup to a bass amp and the bridge pickup to a guitar amp with some overdrive. Not sure if he split them into the stereo field as well. Others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the bass is usually centered to avoid tracking problems on vinyl records that could arise if there is a lot of low frequency information on only one channel. If your panned channel had some of the low frequency rolled off, or was not as "deep" as the centered bass track, it would probably work fine. Maybe use the low frequency mic on the centered track and something with more of a mid-high emphasis on the panned one.

Yep, I've been in a band that did something similar to ^above. The amp had a crossover, so the lows were going to a 15" that got centered and the highs went to a 12" guitar speaker that got semi-panned, not hard. I have yet to hear really deep bass panned to the side that I liked but maybe it can be done..

Thanks guys!

Yes, that's what I was thinking.

This is the bass players project and it shows. The bass guitar covers a great part of the spectrum. He strums chords on a few songs and uses a slightly overdriven Rusty Box at times, so the sound can get a bit complex. That's why we thought that splitting the signal would add clarity and articulation. We'll be using a Mesa Boogie 400+ with a 15" speaker and a solid state Eden with a 4x10". The Boogie sounds more gentle, a bit darker, while the Eden sounds brighter and more present. We could place a D112 or a B52 on the Boogie, centered, and a 4033 on the Eden, hard panned,... maybe... We may also use the Rusty Box on one of the amps leaving the other one clean.

Does this make sense to you?

Cheers!

Iñaki

penningtron wrote: I have yet to hear really deep bass panned to the side that I liked but maybe it can be done..

When I think of recordings that have hard panned bass, it's early stereo stuff from the late 60s where the panning is just nuts anyway. Like Kinks and Beatles recordings where they are just treating the stereo field as a psychedelic playground. Not sure what Kinks song it is on Something Else, but all the instruments are in one channel and just the vocals are in the other. The bass on those records wasn't super deep, certainly not of the bong-rattling variety that has come to be common place, so I don't think it was much of an issue for tracking. And, in many cases, those records were also generally mastered/lacquers cut with a high level of expertise and care to insure proper playback.

inaki wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:51 am We could place a D112 or a B52 on the Boogie, centered, and a 4033 on the Eden, hard panned,... maybe...

All those mics are pretty focused on the low end of the spectrum. Maybe try something you'd put on a guitar cab on the 4x12 just to see how it sounds. Like a MD421 or even an E609 or something. You can always switch back, but if you're looking for full spectrum it might be fun to embrace the mids and above.

Tom Wanderer wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:52 am The bass on those records wasn't super deep, certainly not of the bong-rattling variety that has come to be common place, so I don't think it was much of an issue for tracking. And, in many cases, those records were also generally mastered/lacquers cut with a high level of expertise and care to insure proper playback.

Yeah, and often just one room over, so if it was fucking with the lathe needle they'd just tweak and tweak the mix until it worked. I recall reading something like that when it came to cutting Pink Floyd's 'Welcome to the Machine' with the crazy stereo stuff happening on that track.

But the majority of us have to be cautious about that sort of thing!

Tom Wanderer wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:54 am

inaki wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:51 am We could place a D112 or a B52 on the Boogie, centered, and a 4033 on the Eden, hard panned,... maybe...

All those mics are pretty focused on the low end of the spectrum. Maybe try something you'd put on a guitar cab on the 4x12 just to see how it sounds. Like a MD421 or even an E609 or something. You can always switch back, but if you're looking for full spectrum it might be fun to embrace the mids and above.

Will do. I find the 4033 quite bright, that's why I tohught it would work well on the Eden. But the MD421 can be a great choice too. I've used it as the only mic on a bass cab and loved it.

Thanks,
Iñaki

inaki wrote: I find the 4033 quite bright

It can be, depending on the source, but as far as large (or medium, I guess) diaphragm condensers go, it extends pretty far into the low end. If the goal is to have something that compliments/supplements a D112 or other low frequency mic, you might want to balance it with something that swings in the other direction. But, hell, try both! Try whatever you've got!

It might be worth taking a direct signal as well in case you want to mess around with possible reamping for either more highs or lows, maybe on a song by song basis.