The simplest option is direct injection, and in a hard disc-based recording system, that can allow the most options later. Cakewalk's Sonar program has an EQ with a plug-in that simulates the EQ curve of a traditional recording studio direct box. It's possible to plug a Fender Bass straight through something as simple as a Soundblaster soundcard's Live Drive breakout box, or M-Audio's Omni I/O breakout box and get a fat, terrific tone using this method.

However, noted British session musician Huw Price, the author of Recording the Guitar and Bass, would argue that using a small, valve-powered bass amp such as the Ampeg Portaflex and miking it with an Neumann U-47 microphone produces the best result. In his book, Price stresses the importance of capturing the low-mid and upper-mid frequencies of the electric bass:

because most domestic hi-fi speakers are incapable of producing the lowest frequencies. If the listener can hear the upper harmonics of a low bass note, the ear can be fooled into believing that it can hear the fundamental. If upper harmonics are absent, the bass line might disappear on small speakers.

Jim Roberts says that recording a bass amp has its drawbacks, though:

Nine times out of ten, if you go into the studio, they'll ask you to plug-in direct to the board, just because that's easier for the engineer to control, rather than using an amp and to mic the amp, because bass amps make so much noise in the studio that they leak into all the other amps, and they cause problems.

Roberts believes that a combination of direct and an amp produces the best tone. "You take a really good studio amp (and for many, many years, a really good studio amp was the Ampeg B-15, a small tube amp, that has a nice round sound), you mic that, and you take it direct off the bass, and then you can combine the two."

Ultimately though, as Craig Anderton, long time musician and author says, "Frankly, to me the most important aspect of the bass involves the notes and rhythms. I don't agonize all that much over the timbre as long as it fits the song". And in terms of how people hear music, he's probably right.

Comping Down a Track

Paul McCartney once said that when recording during the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper era, he'd frequently put the bass on last. While the band was recording its basic tracks, he would either do a simple bass part, or play a different instrument, such as piano or guitar. But waiting until the track was near completion allowed him to compose the most appropriate bass part for the completed song.