How to Record Acoustic Bass Guitar

[Sonoma Bass]

Lately I've experimented with how to track the acoustic bass guitar. None of the usual recording books / resources cover this topic. Too bad because with the right tracking technique, you can get amazing tone from an ABG. This video, How to Record Acoustic Bass Guitar presents principles and comparative demos of tracking it with:

• Acoustic – with microphone
• Pickup – straight into DI
• Pickup – via tube preamp / DI
• Cabinet – with microphone
• Blend – tube DI & mic’d cabinet

PDF script of this video available at:
Script - How to Record the Acoustic Bass Guitar.pdf

I'll cross-post this info in a few other threads that provide sonic insights with specific gear used in case readers are not watching this forum.

Hope it's useful for you!

 

[Shanannigan]

This is something I've been looking to research lately, but as you pointed out there aren't really any resources covering it in detail. Thanks for this.

Is that a ramp on your acoustic? I've been thinking of making one for my acoustic, but I wasn't sure if it would affect the sound.

 

[Sonoma Bass]

This is something I've been looking to research lately, but as you pointed out there aren't really any resources covering it in detail. Thanks for this.

Is that a ramp on your acoustic? I've been thinking of making one for my acoustic, but I wasn't sure if it would affect the sound.

Hope the info is helpful!

Not a ramp. Just an extension of the fingerboard. Here's a thread about the Taylor AB acoustic bass guitar.
Taylor AB acoustic bass guitars (ABG) megathread

 

[ofajen]

There’s a joke in here somewhere... something like “a gentleman is one who knows how to track an acoustic bass guitar... but chooses not to.”

Seriously, thanks for the info, it’s not something I’ve needed to do, but glad to know where to look if the need arises.

Otto

 

[Sonoma Bass]

Here's a new song where I recorded the Taylor AB-1 acoustic bass guitar with a tube-based Peluso 22 251 large diaphragm condenser mic. I used an expander plug in to create a fast attack and fast decay - similar to an upright bass with gut strings. The song includes ABG, dobro, lap steel slide guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals.



And if you don't have Spotify:

Worry Be Gone (on ReverbNation)

 

[Sonoma Bass]

I just produced a jazz tune for a video music soundtrack using the Taylor AB-1 acoustic bass guitar. Signal blend is about 75% mic'd and 25% DI (Noble tube, no EQ). The song is a slow cover of Charlie Haden's Our Spanish Love Song. This is the best result I've achieved with the AB-1. I've noticed when recording acoustically, tone from the lower five frets of the E string aren't quite as robust as everything else. Adding a touch of the DI adds back what the mic was not capturing from the sound hole.