Guitar, bass pre-amp/ direct box suggestions - demo quality only

hattond

New member
Hey

I am excited to be back into multi track recording after a lengthy hiatus.

Must preface all of the following with this : i am only interested in using this as a demoing/songwriting tool. I am not bothered if the final product is not upto any professional standard - only want to be able to layer instuments, voices etc, basic mix/panning and then bounce down in a wave/mp3, send to other musos so the ideas, grooves, hooks, changes etc shine through clearly. We can then flesh these out in person in the rehearsal room. Also- recording takes the reliance off me remembering stuff. it also allows me/friends to come back to things i laid down and work out whether they are crap or have some potential.

so i have started to amass the following :
1) multi track software - check

2) drum machine to get loops down - check

3) interface - check (you can't put a mic/line in straight into sound card these days)

4) a way to get guitar, bass signal directly in with some tone/effects on it - negative

i dusted off the crappy old line 6 pod. it just spits out unusable noise. I am guessing this will cost money to fix. Really don't want to throw any at it.

i need a way to get a few types of guitar tones (nothing too specific - just a general nice clean tone, rock tone, basic effects maybe) into the demos. We have guitars amps and drums for the rehearsing bit later.

I have seen these behringer (and similar) type units for a massive outlay of 50 bucks. I am tempted to just do it and probably will.

my question is will i end up smashing them through frustration when i get them or will they suffice for above? if they are worthless and won't do the trick can you please suggest something that will meet my simple needs (does not have to be a high end rack setup or such).
 
My short answer is that it can depend more on the DAW and plugins you have, plus familarity with using them, than the interface. (I.e., many are using those inexpensive Berhinger interfaces, specifically the Uphoria line, successfully.)

So, what is the "multi-track software" (aka DAW) you're using?

A lot of folks just go direct in to the interface with a guitar cord and the interface switched for an Instrument input (check that the one you're looking at has a switch like that). Then, use software amp/fx in the DAW to create the specific sound for electric guitar or bass you're after.

Some folks do use a pedal/amp-fx sim device like a POD in front of the interface and record the sound they want that way, instead of using software. I'd check cables, power supply, etc., and give yours a closer look because it's a good option to at least experiment with if you can get it working, but if not, see what kind of free plugins are in your DAW or available for use with the one you have.
 
Hey
Thanks
I am using the free protools which comes with the digital interface (focusrite Scarlett). Would prefer just to send a signal in the way I want it. It appears to be laggy as it is so further processing (plugins etc) would probably make that worse.

Really just want to use it as a glorified 4 track
 
Hey
Thanks
I am using the free protools which comes with the digital interface (focusrite Scarlett). Would prefer just to send a signal in the way I want it. It appears to be laggy as it is so further processing (plugins etc) would probably make that worse.

Really just want to use it as a glorified 4 track

If it's lagging without any processing, you may want to consider upgrading your computer, or at least cleaning it out and getting rid of pre-installed things you don't need/use. Many of us have computers solely for music, as the memory and processing gets up there with this stuff. Check out how to optimize your latency with the DAW. That might cut down on those problems and let you use some EQ's and plugins...

On that note, once you get your computer in better shape for music, there are many free amp sim plugins and every effect you can imagine. The Focusrite is good, I have it as well, and I use some combination of Amplitube, Lepou amps, and Rosen Digital cabinets. But, as I said, they require the space and processing power. I can have about 20 amp sims (the most demanding for RAM, aside from Superior Drummer) running simultaneously (tested it) before I get any crackling or interference. That means compressors, EQ, reverbs, etc aren't a problem unless I really get out of hand.

You bought the interface, might as well put it to use.
 
"Brand new" can mean full of bloatware, anti-virus protection using resources and stuff running at startup you don't need. I am no PC guru but someone here will I am sure point you to a PC optimizing link.

The Scarlet might be 1st generation and they were not noted for low latency (though it should be good enough for guitar but maybe not drums?) Fortunately many of the older models can run the new software and drivers. Get thee to F'rite's site.

As for guitar FX 'going in'? Fraught because you cannot change it back. However, you can do both "Clean&Dry" and mangled with a bit of 'tronics nouce.

Feed guitar into a buffer, can be a pedal (NOT TB!) 'off' and then split the output (or you could use a DI box*). One split goes to AI ch 1 and the other through whatever FX gear you want. Comp', delay, distortion..di-da to AI ch 2 . N.B Any DIGITAL FX in that loop will add latency, only a tiny bit but would make summing with the clean signal tricky.

Now you end up with a clean track and an effected one and can play silly buggers with both!

*Almost all DI boxes have a 'loop thru' that splits off the clean guitar signal but passive DIs can alter the guitar's sound a bit since they are of lowish impedance, rarely higher than 200k Ohms and usually less. Active DIs are much more transparent especially the more expensive ones (or those by Orchid Electronics if you can get one) .

Last words for now. There are scores of "modelling" guitar amps around now and many are finding their way to the S/H market. For $100 or so you could get a very versatile box of tricks. Makes and models? Would be "spammy" of me to make suggestions!

Dave.
 
Continue to use your focusrite for your guitar and bass interface. I recommend looking at amp sim pedals like the digitech Elements or Zoom G3 Get the sound that you want going into the interface. Then you don't have to run amp plug-ins and suffer through latency issues.

I did it this way for years until I got the UAD guitar amp sims that can run with no latency. I still use my old digitech pedal to sim stomp boxes going into a Fender amp sim in the UAD interface.
 
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