Looking for that big guitar sound

LazerBeakShiek

LazerBeakShiek

Rad Racing Team
There is no luck finding that big guitar sound. My quest continues. Those Plugin VST amp sims make it look so easy. Every once in a while, I get some time to record with microphones.

What makes up that recognizable sound, that they use? Why is it so hard to find?

Time and again they say,' get most natural recording. Don't use compression and EQ. The guitar doesn't take effects well...' But obviously they are doing something to it. You cannot push a nice dynamic microphone against the grill, press record, and make it sound like the radio.

I mic'd up with a M160 ribbon, and doodled a bit. Looking for that big distortion guitar, but I came up with nothing. We'll get em' next time..


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Most of the time “that big guitar sound” is actually two guitars plus a bass and drums. The guitars by themselves are probably cleaner and thinner than you think.
 
.it is not this easy.. No IR's...according to this he uses nothing...
This VST has a free trial. Im gonna try it later. If it sounds exactly like that, ill shit my hat..
 
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The VST was installed, perhaps tonight I'll track something. But look at his video demo. How is that amp sim making any sound ?

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Doesn't that light 'closed' mean that the gate is active? Yes it does. Hmmm. And he is jamming away in the demo...They think I'm stupid or something? Little do they know Im wicked smart..
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
There is no luck finding that big guitar sound. My quest continues. Those Plugin VST amp sims make it look so easy. Every once in a while, I get some time to record with microphones.

What makes up that recognizable sound, that they use? Why is it so hard to find?

Time and again they say,' get most natural recording. Don't use compression and EQ. The guitar doesn't take effects well...' But obviously they are doing something to it. You cannot push a nice dynamic microphone against the grill, press record, and make it sound like the radio.

I mic'd up with a M160 ribbon, and doodled a bit. Looking for that big distortion guitar, but I came up with nothing. We'll get em' next time..


View attachment 113692
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That sounded pretty big to me. I'm not sure about not using compression and eq on a guitar, I use those for all of instruments, it gives a bigger space in the mix. I'm using some waves plugin for guitar VST but it's not as good as ones from guitar rig (gives you fuller sound with no mixing).

Best regards,
Mile
 
1) Double track (play the same part twice, but tweak the amp's sound for the 2nd track).
2) Don't put the mic right on the grill. Experiment - angle of the mic to the speaker, where on the speaker it's pointing (towards the voice coil will be shriller than towards the edge). Try a few inches out from the grill, or further. My usual set up with a 12" speaker is about 3" out from the grill pointing towards the edge of hte speaker, but a few inches in from the edge.
 
mjbphotos said:
1) Double track (play the same part twice, but tweak the amp's sound for the 2nd track).
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Then I get two fizzy guitar tracks..Does it sound like it is using the laptops internal microphone or something? I hate my tracks.
mjbphotos said:
2) Don't put the mic right on the grill. Experiment - angle of the mic to the speaker, where on the speaker it's pointing (towards the voice coil will be shriller than towards the edge). Try a few inches out from the grill, or further. My usual set up with a 12" speaker is about 3" out from the grill pointing towards the edge of hte speaker, but a few inches in from the edge.
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It's setup pretty reasonable.
20211230_090454.jpg
 
HobbyProducer94 said:
I'm using some waves plugin for guitar VST but it's not as good as ones from guitar rig (gives you fuller sound with no mixing).
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Does Waves make a guitar sim? I liked Codex and Element synth VSts by waves. But Guitar Rig is awesome huh? Cool.

Most of my gear is from before 1993
 
Screen Shot 12-30-21 at 10.53 AM.JPG

When trying to mimic a specific sound, Youtube Anderton Music sound like without busting the bank videos has been a great information resource.
 
The VST amp sims in the UA apollo sound alright. I did a project only using VSTs. No real amps or microphones. The tracks sounded ok. They were quiet but did mix. The file was uploaded to soundcloud. No amps or microphones.

This isn't too bad for a 'Beak Job'

Actually, it sounds a little like a radio mix to me, just quiet.

For all I know, people couldn't care less about Guitar and bass. All they want is drums and vocals...Im just living in the past...the past....the past...
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
Then I get two fizzy guitar tracks..Does it sound like it is using the laptops internal microphone or something? I hate my tracks.

It's setup pretty reasonable.
View attachment 113716
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Do you mean in your original post in this thread? That's not a 'fizzy' sound, but you first have to get a sound that you like out of the amp, then figure out how to record it. As I said, angle of mic, distance from speaker, and where on the speaker its pointed to all make a difference,
 
mjbphotos said:
you mean in your original post in this thread? That's not a 'fizzy' sound,
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Yeah, I thought it wasn't that big..It is a little better than what I get with the ADA MP-1. The ADA doesn't have the gain headroom the CAE("K") 3+ does. My Lee Jackson preamp is for clean or jazz type stuff. So I figured i wouldn't find it there. K 3 it had to be.
 
At Abbey Road Geoff Emerick and George Martin would usually put amp mics out a couple of feet, to let the sound 'bloom', but if your room sounds crappy, that won't work.
 
Here is a render with a track of that BXMegaDual...i just ripped it real quick..

2nd render

same with opto and verb...is it exciting?...no

hpf'd and lpf'd
 
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When I listen to post 3, it is evident the guitar is being panned to the left with a delayed signal (maybe 40-60 ms) to the (right) opposing side to give the width and side to side fatness.
 
#4 sounds fizzy. #1 and #2 sounded ok, can you do the same, but play the (almost) exact same thing, and pan one left, one right?
 
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