when recording guitar

[Jammer429]

how loud do you usually have the amp turned up?

[TylerDrums109]

Originally Posted by Jammer429

how loud do you usually have the amp turned up?

From what i understand it is best to not only find the volume where the amp sounds best but also where the amps speaker gets really involved with projecting the sound...if the cone is showing significant movement...this should be a good place to record from...as the speaker is pushing lots of air which is good for getting a big sound...at least thats the impression i am under...im still a noob =]

[famous beagle]

This depends on a lot of factors, such as what type of tone you're going for, what type of amp it is, etc. I can tell you with regards to my experience.

I mostly use older amps and/or simpler designs that don't have master volumes or gain controls. So if I want a dirtier sound, I'll crank the amp up to get the overdrive. Depending on the wattage, the volume will vary.

On my Gibson GA-5 Skylark, which is only about 10 watts, I can dime it, which breaks it up very nicely, but it's still not earth-shattering by any means. On my homemade Marshall 18-watt clone, I can do the same thing, and it still doesn't peel the paint off the walls.

I mean, you're not gonna want to stick your ears a few feet from the speaker or anything, but you don't need to leave the room.

For cleaner tones, obviously I have to have the volume lower. But I still usually like to move a decent amount of air. Sometimes for certain clean parts, low volumes seem to work ok.

[Wireneck]

I record a lot of hard rock/metal. If I am using my Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 (45 watt head) I have it close to maxed. There is a point where the breakup gets too out of control but right before that point it sounds pretty killer. I also have a Framus cobra head that sounds great cranked. I have to move that one into another room to track with it. So for me I am usually turned up pretty loud. This also helps with blocking external noise. Never a bad thing with homerecording haha.

[WhiteStrat]

I can get good results anywhere from pretty quiet to loud. Depends on what sound I need to play the part in my head, and more often than not, what time of day I'm recording (as in--is my wife sleeping?)

I make up the difference with the gain on the preamp.

Mostly you need to let the tone of the guitar/amp be your guide. And Wireneck makes an excellent point--if the amp is cranked to a decent level, it means the preamp doesn't need to be cranked. That means you're gonna get more guitar, less other noise.

[Tadpui]

Good suggestion about turning your amp up enough to get the speakers involved in the overall tone.

Also it makes a difference whether you're using an amp with a tube or a solid-state power section. With a solid-state power section, the amp's distortion character doesn't really change all that much depending on the master volume level. But with a tube power section, what most people are after is power tube breakup and/or power tube saturation. That only comes when the power section is pushed hard enough to overdrive the power tubes. Depending on the wattage of your amp and the efficiency of your speakers, that will happen at different volumes.

That's the very reason that low-wattage tube amps are so popular amongst us home recordists. We can really overdrive the output tubes without the entire zip code being able to hear us.