Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Jason Raboin said:
Is it going in monitors?

if not, KSM32
if so, Heil PR40 (may sound better either way)
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I suspect it will not be in the monitors. Only vocals and the keyboard I think. It is an accoustic Trio with vocalist. Guitar, Keys, Bass and Vocal.
I have Heil PR31s and PR35s. I also have SM81s, Rode NT5s (a friend used to put a KMS152 in the tailpiece in foam), AT2020s and a few others I can't think of now.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Rob Spence said:
I suspect it will not be in the monitors. Only vocals and the keyboard I think. It is an accoustic Trio with vocalist. Guitar, Keys, Bass and Vocal.
I have Heil PR31s and PR35s. I also have SM81s, Rode NT5s (a friend used to put a KMS152 in the tailpiece in foam), AT2020s and a few others I can't think of now.
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No reason you can't put two mics on it. One for the monitors and one for the mains. Does the player use a bow? or finger style alone? I think the NT5 would do a great job of picking up that edgy sound of a bow on the strings while retaining the full bass sound. If it's finger style only the PR35 at the F holes might do the trick just fine.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

The uprights players I encounter seem to like to swing them back and forth so anything on a stand is a loser. The NT5 in the tailpiece should work well.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Rob Spence said:
I have a gig coming up where the bass is an upright bass with no pickups.
The band leader tells me he just puts an SM57 on it.

I have a pretty good collection of mics to choose from (no $500+ models though) and thought I might be able to do better than the 57.

Suggestions?
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The guy knows what he's talking about. It's hard to beat a 57 wrapped in a towel laid in the tail piece. It's one of those old standard things...
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Hey Rob,

I do a variety of upright basses (imagine that). One thing that will matter is how that player stands on stage and where because the instrument itself will resonant at some natural frequencies with your mains, whether it is in the monitors or not. This always seems to change with stage/room layout as well. It will be worth ringing out that channel with the bass held in a variety of positions.

As for mics, I have done the 57, actually like a 58 better in the "stuff the tailpiece" rig. Just as good, and easier for changeovers is an AT Pro35 or ATM350 clipped to the F Hole with the mic just off of the wood between the bridge and F Hole. You can also dangle just the mic bud (take it out of the boom) of the Pro 35 inside the bass (For that matter I have dropped a 57 through the F hole and let it sit on the bootom of the inside before. My favorite is a N/D 468 mounted on the bridge (in one of the round holes, if the bridge has oval holes it doesn't work).

The n/d 468 or the pro35 have always given me the best gain before feedback even with the bass on the front line and in the monitors.

I have never done it, but I would like to try a PR31BW on the upright sometime.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Jay Barracato said:
Hey Rob,

I do a variety of upright basses (imagine that). One thing that will matter is how that player stands on stage and where because the instrument itself will resonant at some natural frequencies with your mains, whether it is in the monitors or not. This always seems to change with stage/room layout as well. It will be worth ringing out that channel with the bass held in a variety of positions.

As for mics, I have done the 57, actually like a 58 better in the "stuff the tailpiece" rig. Just as good, and easier for changeovers is an AT Pro35 or ATM350 clipped to the F Hole with the mic just off of the wood between the bridge and F Hole. You can also dangle just the mic bud (take it out of the boom) of the Pro 35 inside the bass (For that matter I have dropped a 57 through the F hole and let it sit on the bootom of the inside before. My favorite is a N/D 468 mounted on the bridge (in one of the round holes, if the bridge has oval holes it doesn't work).

The n/d 468 or the pro35 have always given me the best gain before feedback even with the bass on the front line and in the monitors.

I have never done it, but I would like to try a PR31BW on the upright sometime.
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This is a Swing Dance with one band so no changeovers needed. I think I will dig in the basement for a chunk of foam and bring a utility knife to cut it to fit. Maybe make a hole in it first :)

Thanks. I have one more week before this band so keep the ideas coming.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Tim Padrick said:
An omni in the tailpiece should be a lot better, owing to the lack of proximity effect (+12 centered at 200, very wide bw). We used an EV 635 back in the day.
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That is interesting. I have a couple of 635s (one from the early 70s or late 60s I think).
Stick it in some foam to put in the tailpiece? I don't have access to a parametric at this gig (Mackie 1604 .. sigh) and it doesn't pay enough to haul one of my desks. So, I will just play with the eq best I can.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

I'm a big fan of the 421 on the upright, but it has to be the right playing. Doesn't seem to work as well with the bowed playing, but this sounds like it might be percussive enough.

+1 on the two mic deal.

K&K makes a decent bass pick-up that he could pick for not a ton of money.
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

As a long-time stand-up bass player I vote for the "58 in a towel" trick. It worked for me for over 20 years......
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Well, the gig went fine.

Turned out the bass player is used to playing to a mic on a stand aimed at the f hole. I put a Heil PR31BW on it and it sounded fine.
I was surprised that the guitar player also used a mic on a stand - aimed at the guitar from over a foot away. An SM57 :)

Female vocal (using my e865) in one monitor and keyboard and his vocal in the other.

I had time to dance after a few songs!
 
Re: Mics for an acoustic upright bass

Surprisingly, one of the best sounds I've had while mic'ing an upright bass was using a Sennheiser e604 tom mic. Is small and easy to get placed well. Came out sounding extremely well balanced and smooth. If you have one sitting around or have access to one, worth giving a shot.
 
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