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How do you record your guitar?

  • 47 replies
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Topic How do you record your guitar?
What do you prefer to take the sound of your favorite guitar...
2
I use a Pod.. I realy prefer recording with modeling devices...
I spent so much time setting up the mic position befor I discovered the Pod... It's interesting to try new methodes whith different mics an ddifferent amps... but it's so easy to get a perfect sound with a pod or equivalent.
But for live condition, I always use tube amp ;-) !!!!
3
Hmm... It's kinda a matter of taste and style isn't it? I mean, If I'm doing something soft and resonably unprocessed, I'll mic the amp. More rock styled, then my Digitech rp3 thru the mixer. And if really bored, a three way combo. (DI, mic, and processing software.) so again, I think it's amatter of tasteand style. Later
4
Hello mlr_pa, I totally agree!!!

I think it depends the style you're playing, and it depends the way you work. Personally I really prefer working with headphones for recording, but this is true that I haven't the same feeling than when I'm facing a 4x12 ;-)
But a detail: I live in an appartment, and my neighbours also prefer when I'm playing without amp ;-)

What mic do you use? And do you have a special position for the mic?
5
Hey there Krowms.
Well, 15 years ago, I lived in a more sound proofed apartment/condo building, so what I used to do was to place my Oliver in the bathroom with a Shure sm57 6" away from the 15" speaker at a 45 degree angle. A second mic, again a sm57, was placed 7 feet or so away on the floor angled upwards towards the speaker. A third mic, a shure sm58, was as far away as possible, and hung from the ceiling. I recorded 3 tracks as hot as possible, then mixed down to a single track. (My neighbors HATED me. :D )
Today though, since I live in a smaller apartment, I use a single sm57 clone, (I'm poor also. :( ) around 6" away and at a 45 degrees or so from the Marlboro's 10" speaker. But since I've gotten so used to recording with headphones, I haven't done that in a while. I've really come to love the digitech RP-3 for recording, and everything else. Hope that answers your query.
6
Since I got back into recording after a few years away from it, I use nothing but a modeling device. Years ago, I did it the only way you could, mic in front of cab, and honestly, when I got back into it, I really dreaded the thought of spending so much time setting up mics. Fortunately, I bought a Boss br-532, and I can truthfully say, I can get better tone out of it than when I usta mic my amps. I really only use one setting for the majority of what I do, the JAZZ setting. I can add a few of the built in effects, and get a lot of mileage out of it, plus I always go through a RAT pedal, then into the BR. I can play squeaky clean, or really dirty with that set up alone. It has always seemed to me that effects/modeler units for guitar have about 95% useless crap, but with POD, V-AMP, and several others that I have used, the 5% good stuff makes them very worthwile.
7
I have to agree with you about the ratio of crap to usefullness on most effect/modelers! In my biased view, Digitech is the best though. Decent amp cabs, and somewhat realistic, with good effects. It has an EQ that actually works! (Unlike ZOOM crap.) A question though; I'm not familiar with the Boss br-532. How is it, how much, and how new??? Later.
8
i have been experimenting with this for a while. i first started mic'ing my marshall valvestate. i got pretty good tone and sound but i had to turn it up pretty loud to get a decent bass response from my speakers. then i just tried running line out into my board. i am not even going to go into the horror i witnessed. then i found the best little amp sim software that i have seen. it is made by izotope and is called Trash. i dont think there is anything else like it out there. i find that i get the best sound from running strait from guitar to my tube pre by presonus then strait to the board. no eq from the board or anything, just as flat a sound as i can get. i get great results out of this plug in. i dont think i will ever go back to mic'ing.
https://www.izotope.com
9

Quote: i have been experimenting with this for a while. i first started mic'ing my marshall valvestate. i got pretty good tone and sound but i had to turn it up pretty loud to get a decent bass response from my speakers. then i just tried running line out into my board. i am not even going to go into the horror i witnessed. then i found the best little amp sim software that i have seen. it is made by izotope and is called Trash. i dont think there is anything else like it out there. i find that i get the best sound from running strait from guitar to my tube pre by presonus then strait to the board. no eq from the board or anything, just as flat a sound as i can get. i get great results out of this plug in. i dont think i will ever go back to mic'ing.
https://www.izotope.com




Yeah!!! This is the first time I see this plugin!!! I will try it asap!!(but I'm at work now ;-))
Do you made a comparative test between different modeling amp? It could be a great idea to realise a test, don't you think? I own a Pod Xt and Amplitube so I can process a riff with this two amp sim...
10
i would make a comparitive test but unfortunatly i do not own any other amp sims anymore. i used to have the alien connections re-valver and it was ok but Trash is so much better so i got rid of all my other amp sims.
i can tell that this has the most realistic sound of any that i have tried. i have thrown my marshall in the closet because of it. i could probably make a comparison with the basic cakewalk amp sim but that one is horribly inaccurate.
11
I think the cakewlk amp is a joke LOL Never heard such a bad sound ;-)

If you want, I can organise a test... I will think about it...
12
i agree, what the hell were they thinking. you would think that such a great company like 12 tone systems would come out with something that at least sounded like they half-assed tried. oh well.
anyways i think a comparitive test would be great.
let me know if there is anything i can do.
13

Quote: I have to agree with you about the ratio of crap to usefullness on most effect/modelers! In my biased view, Digitech is the best though. Decent amp cabs, and somewhat realistic, with good effects. It has an EQ that actually works! (Unlike ZOOM crap.) A question though; I'm not familiar with the Boss br-532. How is it, how much, and how new??? Later.

Prior to getting the BR-532, I was using a Tascam 424, and I rellay had no problem at all in adjusting to the new machine, I think I paid around $400.00 for it about 2 years ago. The biggest beef I have with it is it comes with a 32 mb memory card, so you can either shell out a few bux to buy a bigger one, or stick to 3 to 4 min. songs, kinda limiting. Other than the memory issue, I totally love the machine. It has Roland drums built in, a decent bass simulator, and a few good accoustic guitar settings, and probably one of the best built in mics I have ever used. I have quite a few musician friends who always comment on the guitar tone, and how warm and full vocals sound. The reverb and phaser sounds about as good as anything else too.
14
For the CD on my website, I used a Digitech RP2000 into my board and then into the Delta 1010. Lots of tweaking in the patches on the RP. It came out pretty good.

Then I started gigging live around town a few years ago, playing mostly blues. The Digitech didn't cut it live for blues, so I got Peavey Classic 30 amp, hoy rodded it, got some carefully selected pedals. Put together a great small room blues combo:



The new CD I'm working on is a blues CD, and no amount of tweaking on the Digitech has produced a good dirty blues tone, so I set up an isolation booth in the closet in my basement studio, and I now mic the Classic 30 up. Love the tone. It was important to me because I was looking for a more "live" blues mix. If you want, you can hear some of it HERE:

https://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3551&alid=-1
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
15
The Boss sounds as if it's a nice amchine. I was using the Fostex ME-8 (or some such number) for a while. GREAT recorder!!!!! Easy to use, and fantastic sound! But, (Ah, there's always a "but".) the sims are terrible! The mic worked well for accoustic, but the cabs were shear and utter crap on a stick. And yea, the cards are somewhat worthless. 32megs gives you what, 4 minutes? on two tracks no less. I multitrack. The last thing I recorded on it, there were 16 tracks of guitar, two tracks of bass, and two drum tracks. That was with the 256meg card. All done with the RP-3 and my trusty Aria. Later
16
A friend of mine just bought a Fostex 16 track Vf160 I think, its got the on-board burner and all, they are relatively inexpensive, and that is what I was gonna get before I switched gears and started thinkin about using my PC, Fostex makes some good stuff, but I have heard bad things about the built in FX.
17

Quote: For the CD on my website, I used a Digitech RP2000 into my board and then into the Delta 1010. Lots of tweaking in the patches on the RP. It came out pretty good.

Then I started gigging live around town a few years ago, playing mostly blues. The Digitech didn't cut it live for blues, so I got Peavey Classic 30 amp, hoy rodded it, got some carefully selected pedals. Put together a great small room blues combo:



Just to tell you that the 1010 is for me one of the best sound card, and the peavy Classic 30 is really my fovorite amp ;-) It seems you have a Lone Star Strat? So we have exactly the same set up :lol:
18

Quote: Just to tell you that the 1010 is for me one of the best sound card, and the peavy Classic 30 is really my fovorite amp ;-) It seems you have a Lone Star Strat? So we have exactly the same set up :lol:



I love my Classic 30. Have you done any mods to yours? I retubed mine and dropped a Vintage 30 speaker in it. I also changed out a couple of resistors so I could run the preamp tubes hotter without blowing the front row of the house away!!

The Strat is an odd one- I've only ever seen one other like it (and that one had a rosewood fretboard). It's not quite a Lone Star- while it does have a bucker in the bridge, it also has a coil split switch in place of the bottom tone knob. It was made in Mexico in 1995 or so. I bought it new out in San Diego.

I get LOTS of compliments on my tone with this rig...... :D
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
19
Hey there people. I'm gonna generate a lot of hate mail here, but I have to say my piece. Why do people bother with a Strat? I mean, people buy them, and if they have any clue as to how to play, and have a concept of what they want to sound like, they change the pickups. And the bridge. And the tuners. And we can't keep the plastic nut, now can we? (How many strats are out thereare still "original"?)
Also, you really have to search to find one with a neck that doesn't need a lot of work. In my, cough... "humble" opinion, :P anyone who spends the money for a strat doesn't know what they're looking for. It's name brand recognition, and a lot of guitar players are like a bunch of sheep. Notice I said "guitar players". There a difference between them, and guitarists. I'm not talking technical ablilities, I'm saying that a guitarist will take an instrument, strat, paul, whatever, and give it his or her own sound. There are sooooo many people out ther that when you hear, you go, "Gee, that's a strat running thru a marshal. " or "Another Paul thru a Peavy. yawn." There are so many different brands of instruments out there, and a lot of there are better than the BIG THREE. (Fender, Gibson, and Ibanez)
I'm sorry for ranting here, but I'm sick and tired of hearing good players playing the same crap as everyone else. Ok, I'll go into the corner now and be quiet. later.
20
I have never been much of a strat fan myself, but they do have a pretty impressive list of celebrity endorsements. Seriously though, I bought an American Strat back in 1990, it was the one I always wanted, it was perfectly made, looked and sounded great. Two months after I got the Strat, I bought a new Les Paul Standard, and I never picked up the Strat again, still haven't. My main axe now is a Gibson flyingV, only because it sounds real close to the LP, and its not as valuable. However, Fenders MIM and Highway 1 strats are probably one of the best guitar bang for the buck deals goin, well made, playable, and fairly inexpensive compared to Gibson. I know what your saying, there are a lot more than the big 3 out there, but for me, if I have the money, it would be Gibson, Fender (probably a tele) and maybe Jackson.
21
My Strat is a 95 MIM, 100% stock. I chose it carefully. My tone is my own, and is as mucha function of my playing as it is my hardware.

Some folks view a guitar as an end unto itself. While I am very fond of my guitar, it is a tool. I consider myself a musician first and a guitar player second. The Strat is my tool of choice to facilitate my musicianship.

The comments above hold true for all mass produced instruments. Although mass produced, each one has it's own character. You have to find one that suits you. Why bother with a Strat? Because of the wonderful sound they are capable of. Les Pauls are a different tone. Tele's are different, too. So are hollowbodies. I chose the Strat because no other instrument in the world makes the sound it does. And it is the tone I wanted, that suited my musical expression.

Those who are focused on their guitar as an end unto itself have missed the boat.
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD
22
I can respect your feelings about the Strat, but I just think that they are an over-priced piece of crap. Especially when you consider that you can pick up a Squire for around $200 (US) that's equal to it. Of course after changing out the pickups and the like, you've added another $300 to it. As for Gibsons, I've given up on them. WAY over-priced! Epiphones are ok, but even they are getting too expensive.
Oh, by the way NOFUNEVER, Change your saddles on the epi. They're a little softer then the Gibson saddles, and will start eating the strings. (I discovered that thru a G400 that just ate strings like candy. Later
23
If you want an UNBELIEVABLE Les Paul copy, try an Agile. I got an LP Goldtop with really good sounding P90's for $249.00. Looks and plays like the real deal, and thbe workmanship on it is better than my new Gibson FlyingV.
24
I paid $350 for my Fender strat with a maple neck (in 2002). I have been playing guitar since 1964. I used to play mainly the fat hollowbodies, like Gibson 175's, L5's, Johnny Smith etc. But I switched to my strat, Ibanez AS80 (like a 335) and a Washburn Nuno.
The only thing I changed on my strat was the pickups. I put Bill Lawrence in it because I didn't want the annoying hum. BUT...when I play jazz, I guarantee you that you would not know I was playing a strat....through a Peavey Classic 50 410.
(This is for the guy who said he doesn't like strats and everytime you hear a strat you can tell it's a strat.)
After playing the hollowbodies most of my life, I appreciate the guitars I have now. Besides, it has nothing to do with the guitar you have. What matters is how you play it and make it sound.
25
Bluejazz-

Good to see you, bro!

It's funny- I always LIKED that you could tell that a Strat was a Strat!! :lol:
The Axeman (##(===> Cuts From My New Blues CD