How to get guitar to sound more natural?

[Armistice]

Just to clarify the "meandering lead crap" ...

I always have some idea of the tone I'm after, but I get nit picky, and want to fine-tune it. So rather than just grabbing a go-to solution, which I know I can do....I mean, I keep notes on all my recorded tracks from the past, so even if I don't remember what I used 3 years ago, I can easily/quickly dial it in from the note...I like to start from scratch.
I'll intentionally avoid the known go-to solutions in favor of just experimenting...which is where the fun in recording is for me.

If I was doing a sessions with other people, on the clock...etc...then shit yeah, I'm with you...I would grab the known go-to solution based on the sound I've already thought about, and cut to the chase....but I'm not in that situation.
Not to mention...if I was doing a similar style from song to song, like a band might do...then it might be more about reusing known stuff. I'm doing everything from sappy/easy ballads to up-tempo Rock to some Latin flavored shit...so yeah, it's one constant experiment.

So...recording lead guitar for me is usually about trying out things rather than grabbing the known go-to solutions.
Yeah...I admit that it IS more of "meandering lead crap" approach... ...but that's the pleasure I get from recording.
What can I say...it's how I like to work with guitar. As I said earlier, I don't get a chance to just jam/play guitar all that much...so when I start working on the lead...I admit, it's more of "let's have some fun" rather than just thinking about knocking out the lead guitar track.

Wait, I didn't understand this miro, can you explain it again please? (I just know you're coming back for the last word...

 

[Greg_L]

Just to clarify the "meandering lead crap" ...

I always have some idea of the tone I'm after, but I get nit picky, and want to fine-tune it. So rather than just grabbing a go-to solution, which I know I can do....I mean, I keep notes on all my recorded tracks from the past, so even if I don't remember what I used 3 years ago, I can easily/quickly dial it in from the note...I like to start from scratch.
I'll intentionally avoid the known go-to solutions in favor of just experimenting...which is where the fun in recording is for me.

If I was doing a sessions with other people, on the clock...etc...then shit yeah, I'm with you...I would grab the known go-to solution based on the sound I've already thought about, and cut to the chase....but I'm not in that situation.
Not to mention...if I was doing a similar style from song to song, like a band might do...then it might be more about reusing known stuff. I'm doing everything from sappy/easy ballads to up-tempo Rock to some Latin flavored shit...so yeah, it's one constant experiment.

So...recording lead guitar for me is usually about trying out things rather than grabbing the known go-to solutions.
Yeah...I admit that it IS more of "meandering lead crap" approach... ...but that's the pleasure I get from recording.
What can I say...it's how I like to work with guitar. As I said earlier, I don't get a chance to just jam/play guitar all that much...so when I start working on the lead...I admit, it's more of "let's have some fun" rather than just thinking about knocking out the lead guitar track.

I wasn't talking about a go-to solution, I was talking about knowing one's gear. Meaning, knowing the character of your musical equipment. Not going for the same go-to sound for everything, but knowing which pieces to use to get the sound in your head down to tape without having to fiddle around too much. For me, I do the fiddling between tracking sessions.

 

[miroslav]

...knowing which pieces to use to get the sound in your head down to tape without having to fiddle around too much. For me, I do the fiddling between tracking sessions.

OK...so I like fiddling around when I track, and you fiddle around between tracking.

I know my equipment very well, but the whole recording process for me is not always a 100% pre-planned thing.
I may have ideas in my head about what I want, but then I always like to also try some different things while tracking.
That's what makes it fun for me to record.

 

[Greg_L]

3 years in the tone thread has been invaluable for me. I've never been more pleased with my guitar tracks. I like to just know what to do and do it.

 

[thikpurple]

John Frusciante. Big fanboy here

 

[jjinvegas]

One thing that seems to help those that I record, and I find it helpful myself, is just to use amp and cab simulators. That way while you are tracking you can have all the fluid sustain and effects that help performance. And then start drying it up in the mix, toning down the square wave quotient, and going for a cleaner, more savage tone. Although master volumes on amps made being near a guitarist slightly less obnoxious, to my ears the best sounds are from amps like the old four-input Marshalls and Fender combos cranked up. They have more dynamics because there is no "fake" pre-amp trick, and get their sustain and muscle the old-fashioned way, by annoying everyone within one hundred yards.....

 

[rocksblender]

Keep in mind that if the amp speaker is not directly pointing at your face, what you hear "directly" from the amp is a very different sound than your mic does, not to mention the fact that the mic, assuming it's a dynamic mic, is probably very close to the amp and rejects most of the room sound.
What I sometimes do to find the right guitar tone is I use a looper to record a short part of what I want to record, then I let it roll, hit the record button and start playing with the mic position or any other settings; amp, pedals etc. Each time I change the settings, I get close to the mic and say what I'm doing, so I can later listen back to the recording and know what I liked and what I didn't.

Hope that will help you better find your tone. Unless something is very wrong with your gear and I doubt it, it's not your software or your interface and I'm pretty sure it's not the mic as well.