Can i Improve my tone?

S

schismatic

New member
I have a Toneport UX2 and am wondering whether the addition of a tube preamp to my setup could potentially give me a warmer, more realistic tone. I have though of two possibilities:

Guitar -> preamp -> toneport -> amp sims -> record

guitar -> toneport -> amp sims -> preamp -> soundcard

basically, is there any decent gear that can improve the tone i get from amp sims in any way?
 
well if you get a really good preamp or speaker emulator, you can skip the amp sims in the Toneport altogether (which is a good thing). Mesa, Marshall, and Groove Tubes make some pretty good tube recording preamps/speaker emulators from what i've heard. also check out the H&K Tubeman MkII, it's supposed to have a really good DI sound for recording, and i've been interested in getting one meself.
 
problem is they cost a hell of a lot of money.......i have a small budget of about £400 ($750-800), but I really want to improve my signal chain. i don't gig at all, just recording stuff through my pc. I wonder if it would make a difference if i put a signal through the amp sim, then back out to a tube preamp to really warm it, then back into the pc to record. i just really really really want to get the best tone without having to get an actual amp!
 
schismatic said:
problem is they cost a hell of a lot of money.......i have a small budget of about £400 ($750-800), but I really want to improve my signal chain. i don't gig at all, just recording stuff through my pc. I wonder if it would make a difference if i put a signal through the amp sim, then back out to a tube preamp to really warm it, then back into the pc to record. i just really really really want to get the best tone without having to get an actual amp!
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it probably won't help you that much using a tube preamp with software amp sims.


the Tubeman II is only $400 US, i think it might be worth a shot. it has real tube tone, plus a speaker sim (H&K Red Box) on the output. from everything i've read, it sounds way better than a POD or the gearbox amp sims. might be worth a shot. you can check out the reviews for it on Harmony Central, or see what people have to say about it on Gearslutz.

personally, i've found that i can get better tones recording with a stomp box straight into the interface and using a SIR speaker cab impulse than with recording clean and using a software amp modeler for distortion. so it makes sense that the Tubeman should sound really good, since you get good tube tone, plus a dedicated speaker sim in a outboard unit.
 
If you want to suck the life out of your guitar tone then run through a Line 6 product.

If you want a good guitar tone then stick a mic in front of an amp. The only half decent direct devices I've heard are from Damage Control or Mesa Boogie (they are recording preamps and not modellers) but even they are not as good as a real amp.
 
TexRoadkill said:
If you want to suck the life out of your guitar tone then run through a Line 6 product.

If you want a good guitar tone then stick a mic in front of an amp. The only half decent direct devices I've heard are from Damage Control or Mesa Boogie (they are recording preamps and not modellers) but even they are not as good as a real amp.
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yeah it's pretty much a given that nothing is as good as a real amp, but for his situation, i think the Mesa pre or similar devices will be a pretty big improvement over the Line6 sound. maybe not such a huge variety of tones, but the ones you DO get will be of better quality.


but to answer his question, a simple tube pre will not do much to improve the sound of the Line6 sims. you'd want a hi-end guitar preamp so that you don't have to use the sim.
 
I use my my Marshall JMP-1 direct out of the recording outs and it sounds great. I also have the H&K Tubeman and it is great for cleans and super saturation. I also have a POD but you have to put an eq between the guitar and Pod and do a low cut to clean up the bottum end. It sounds fine but not as good as the Marshall and the H&K. :D

I could let you hear some clips of them direct if you would like?
 
schismatic said:
problem is they cost a hell of a lot of money.......i have a small budget of about £400 ($750-800), but I really want to improve my signal chain. i don't gig at all, just recording stuff through my pc. I wonder if it would make a difference if i put a signal through the amp sim, then back out to a tube preamp to really warm it, then back into the pc to record. i just really really really want to get the best tone without having to get an actual amp!
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I hear ya.

I'd really like to get myself a blowup doll that is extremely close to having sex with a real woman, too.

But unfortunately, such a thing doesn't actually exist. And neither does a good guitar tone without using a real amp.

.
 
chessrock said:
I hear ya.

I'd really like to get myself a blowup doll that is extremely close to having sex with a real woman, too.

But unfortunately, such a thing doesn't actually exist. And neither does a good guitar tone without using a real amp.

.
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Ahhhemmm........cough, cough: realdoll.com

:D :D :D
 
get a monster rock cable and atleast one REALY NICE pickup for you guitar ..l that will help if you have to use the toneport. i have one for scratch work and its got some nice sounds but you will do lose a bit of tone when running though it. but its usable if you have a really nice sounding guitar and one of he monster rock cables.... still go for an amp if you can
ps:i wouldnt worry about a cheaper tube preamp if you are still running through to tone port. it will probably make the sound warmer but it wont add any tone or anything
 
I also find the Line 6 products usually have to much bottom end. So if you put an EQ between the guitar and the Tone Port and roll off the lows on it. It will tighten up your sound and get rid of the mud. :)
 
hoops said:
I also find the Line 6 products usually have to much bottom end. So if you put an EQ between the guitar and the Tone Port and roll off the lows on it. It will tighten up your sound and get rid of the mud. :)
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If anything I've found my pod pro to be a bit lacking there... everything sounds a bit thin and brittle...
 
Do you scoop out the mids? My POD has so much bass that I have to keep the dial at 2. Then I still roll off the bass at 100. Guitar speakers don't have that wide of a range but the POD does.
 
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