Here in Nashville, bassists rarely mic the amps. Usually we either give the engineer a line and let them do their thing, or we might supply a pre-amp of some kind.

I carry an ART mic pre. It's not very expensive and gets a sound, almost as good as a high-end unit. When I record to ADATs with my G&L 5 string, I just run a line right into the ADAT. Whatever pre-amp is on the G&L matches fine.

Amp modelers don't always give you a match to the line input. Many of them supply a tone, but not a line match. I've played through a bass Pod that I thought was pretty good. And, yes, you can't baby the strings too much unless you compress the dogsnot out of it.

What kind of recorder do you use? What's the modeler? Is the EMG active?

Also, do you have anything recorded online? If so, I'll take a listen.

All the Best,
Mike

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Mike Dunbar Music

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music