How would this work for recording vocals?

Boo Radley

Boo Radley

Headbobber
I'd like to "warm up" my vocal tracks a bit, and I'm thinking that a tube preamp might help me accomplish this.

Before I start shopping around, let it be known that I have an old Carvin tube guitar head. Would tracking the vocals through this help me out without creating some unforseen circumstance?

I use an AKG C-3000 B as a vocal mic.

Thanks for your feedback,

Brad
 
Say Boo, I listened to one of your tunes.

I like the bass sound you get. Seriously What kinda' rig do you got, and what's your (recording) chain for it?

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Seems to be a unanimous verdict. That's what I needed to know though. Thanks for saving me the time of a failed experiment.

Hey Chessrock...thanks for the kudos.

I use an Ibenez Ergodyne with the pickup selector in the middle position, tone and volume all up.

I record all of my stuff straight into a Boss BR-1600. For the Bass, I use a preset of theirs called "Stadium Bass," which I've tweaked a bit. On the preset, the preamp type is "AMG", with Bass at 50%, Mids at 20%, and Treble at 10% w/a bright setting and low gain. The speaker type is set to "AMG" as well with a mic level of 100% and a direct level of 50%. All of this is compressed at an 8:1 ratio with a 50ms attack and release.

After I track, I export into Acid 4.0 and bump the mids 4 to 6 db at 800hz, pull 250hz 4 to 6 db, and roll off at 80hz. I then compress again at 8:1 a quick attack (15-50ms) and a release of 250ms.

I hope that helps, and let me know if you have any more questions.

Brad
 
So you got that sound out of an Ibanez. I'm impressed. Sounds like a lot like a Fender Jazz. Ergodyne ... I'll have to check one of those out.
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You should still do the experiment just so you know what it sounds like. By no means would this be my "go to" equipment chain, but it is always nice to know what your options are. I like doing weird stuff like that when I am bored. Every once and a while I need something totally different for a special effect. Thats when those hours of experimenting pay off:)
 
One experiment that worked!! Seriously, for the price and for the type of music I play, they're hard to beat. Great action on it, and it stays in tune. I think I paid around $300 (maybe a little less) new about 6-7 years ago. My bassist just got one which he plays through a Hartke rig and he gets a pretty slamming sound out of it.

Brad
 
You can preamp a mic through any amp, sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. Guitar amps usualy distort a mic a little but that might be the sound you are looking for. Try it and see. If it works fine, if not then erase/ delete the track and try something else. Experimentation is half the fun of home recording to me. If an idea works, remember what you did so you can repeate it, when something dosen't work learn from that so you wont do it again. While there are a few set rules (never red line levels for example) home recording is largely about finding ways to duplicate the pro studio sound with limited space and funds. Try the unconventional ideas. If they don't work become friends with the "undo" button. Usualy the worse that happens is you come up with an unacceptable track, but occasionaly you come up with something that sounds great, even though someone told you it wouldnt work.
 
The head really does have a sweet sound for a clean guitar, so it could very well be worth a try. As you said, the least I'd have to do is re-record the part.
 
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