Guitars reverb on or off?

M

Matt Beddall

New member
I know the general rule is to record guitar tracks without reverb but I'm recording my guitar direct through a firehawk fx (amp modelling and effects) so I'm not getting any "room" coming through when I turn reverb off
I understand that it's better to be able to control reverb later on instead of recording with it and being stuck later
So do you guys add reverb to individual tracks or just a master reverb for everything
Also can you recommend some good (and cheap) reverb plugins?
Probably the main reason I don't add reverb later is I only have the bog standard cubase reverb
 
If I think there's even a small chance I'll have to edit a guitar track I may insist on recording with the reverb off. Otherwise electric guitar is kind of a special case in that the effects are part of the sound. You really need to hear the whole sound, including the amp and effects, while you're tracking. The flip side of that is that it's common to overdo distortion and effects because how it sounds in the room is not quite exactly how it sounds recorded. So if you can do takes from start to finish that don't need editing or much in the way of level automation or compression then by all means track with effects.
 
The caution I use is questioning if we really know how wet it's going to want to be in the final mix. And erring on the dry side. Easier to add later than wish it was drier.
 
What I do...is record it dry, but I add reverb to my cue mix....so I'm hearing the guitar with reverb, but the mic is only picking up a dry signal.
 
Don't use much reverb on guitars, except the spring reverb on my Fender amps. And then only a touch. I prefer a bit of delay instead, synced to the tempo of the song. Whatever I'm using, I commit at the recording stage. I don't go back and edit my guitars much at all, apart from adding a high pass. Thankfully recording guitars is the one part of the process that seems to come easy. I usually finish them early on and never worry about them after that. That said, what I'm doing with guitars is fairly simple. I never double track them, rarely have more than two or three in a song, and use mostly cleaner tones.
 
I record with the reverb if the guitar is playing through an amp with a good spring reverb and the guitar player is used to using it and wants that sound. I do try to get them to not go overboard explaining that if they use too much we cannot remove it, and if we use slightly too little we can add a bit of verb later. As a rule though I try to record without the reverb.

Alan.cannot
 
miroslav said:
What I do...is record it dry, but I add reverb to my cue mix....so I'm hearing the guitar with reverb, but the mic is only picking up a dry signal.
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I like this idea, thanks
So I'd be able to rockout on the take without feeling that something is missing and if I overcooked the reverb I can just alter it later?

So what are you guys using for reverb?
 
If you're using amp modeling, doesn't the amp model have reverb? Or reverb effects you can add? If you're using modeling, you should be able to monitor just as if you're using a real amp.
 
Dry for me. I prefer adding the same 'room' reverb to the lead guitar as the rest of the instruments. Done with a reverb bus and sends from each track, I can add more to the lead sound if that's what I want.
I also record the miked amp and a DI signal to another track, just in case.

I use ReaVerb most of the time, have a huge selection of impulse files for it, which I htink really makes the difference in how a reverb sounds overall.
 
Greg_L said:
If you're using amp modeling, doesn't the amp model have reverb? Or reverb effects you can add? If you're using modeling, you should be able to monitor just as if you're using a real amp.
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Yeah the pedal I'm using has some amazing reverbs on it but if I record with reverb on I can't adjust it later
 
Matt Beddall said:
I like this idea, thanks
So I'd be able to rockout on the take without feeling that something is missing and if I overcooked the reverb I can just alter it later?

So what are you guys using for reverb?
Click to expand...


I don't know your recording rig setup...but, you should have a way of adding reverb (not with the guitar pedal) to your headphone mix.

I use a mixer when I track, which feeds my headphone cue mixes...and I just add reverb using a racked reverb unit feeding one of my mixer Aux sends.

You should be able to closely replicate that even within the DAW environment.

That way...you can add whatever FX/processing you want to your headphone cue mix, in order to get the right vibe for the moment...but the mic is only hearing what's coming out of the guitar cab, and that's what you record.

With a DAW and your interface you might have to sort out the cue mix monitoring, and do some adjustments to your ASIO/real time FX processing to get it sounding right...but I think with reverb, latency isn't going to be an issue for a cue mix...since it's only a cue mix.
 
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