Tight, funky bass sound: Go DI and use a plugin or Mic up?

[Dai]

Hey there,

I'm doing a recording tomorrow that requires a tight, funky bass sound very similar to the one found in these two songs:

Golden cage (remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMzs_3NxEEI

Everything is Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8tGNe4ygrY

Could the members of this forum suggest the best way to get this type of sound?
1. Option 1: Recording the bass using DI and a software plugin?
1b. Can someone recommend a plug-in that would be good for this purpose?
2. Option 2: mic a bass cabinet, and use ol' fashioned mixing techniques to get the sound?
3. Option 3: use midi programming?

Your advice is much appreciated!

[jonathan harker]

i would recommend a fender type bass like a jazz bass or precision and go direct. i had a look on the homepage of phoenix and tried to find pictures of their bass player. i think he uses fender basses. it sounds like he plays with fingers as well. that what makes it so funky is the stops he does with his fingers. it is more the way he plays it, not the gear. editwise i would use the dynamic tube plug in in ableton to give some natural compression to the di signal and after this i would compress it with the opto mode in the fb setting doing the rest by ear. it depends on the rest of the music. have fun! cheers, alex

[Kill Paris Live]

If you have enough in's on your interface, i would recommend that you di, then, from the di box, run it to the cab, mic the cab, and if the amp has a direct out, record that also. Now, recording three separate bass tracks might seem like a bit much. But, you can go back and pick and choose between which sounds best to you. NI's guitar rig is a good modeler to use. Make sure you use the hi-res setting for the best results. Hope this helps, and the more you have to work with, the better the end result with end up being!