How to record a Stand Up Double Bass?

To get a good sound I would mic the bridge, but also do some far-mic'ing to get the deep bass parts too (assuming you have a good enough room). Then a bit of clearing up on the EQ should do the trick (disclaimer: I have never mic'd a double bass before, so I may be talking out of my arse. This is merely how I would approach the problem).

A friend of mine has gotten great results just by setting up a mic a few inches from the bridge (can't remember what kind, but it wasn't anything special). The EQ'ing is key, I think he cuts a lot of low-end.

Does he have a pickup on his bass, btw? You could see how it sounds going direct, maybe mixing that with a mic.

I'm going live to eight tracks, so there will not be the luxury of a second track.

I've got one of those smaller pencil sized AKG condensers that I was thinking might work ok rigged up on the bridge pointing towards one of the sound holes.

The bassist has a small contact mike on the bass he plugs into an amp sometimes, I figured that would work, but a condenser might get a better tone. I might also try running that contact mic into a bass Sansamp and see what happens.

There will also be an electric guitar, drum kit and a violin going through a small tube amp at the same time, so I don't think I could get away with putting a mic on a stand and have the bassist play to the mic like an acoustic guitar.

If you have the luxury of dragging the bass player out beforehand, try this...take the AKG, wrap it in one wrap of foam, and tuck it (head towards the upper strings) under the tailpiece. If you need to, mix this signal with a safety track from the contact mic. Depending on the mic, this will work wonders.

If you can't do two tracks, the pick-up is almost always the worse choice.