Questions on tone

[TheNightman77]

Hey All,

In my experience with recording guitar, I often find it hard to tell if I have a good tone right away. Often times I spend quite a while looking for a great tone, and when I record the track and play it back it doesn't sound great. But when I finally settle with a tone that I feel is less than desirable and record an identical track on a second take and then pan the two, it sounds much better than I anticipated. I know that it is common practice to pan to identical guitar tracks hard R/L to get the "chorus" wall of sound type effect, but do you also find that you aren't sure if you're tone is good/useable until you record the second track? Just wondering if I was the only person struggling with this.

Thanks in advance for any and all responses!

 

[jonny deep]

You'll find much discussion on tone, with recorded examples and critique of stuff you post, here: -

https://homerecording.com/bbs/equipment-forums/guitars-basses/new-tone-thread-340185/

 

[Greg_L]

Hey All,

In my experience with recording guitar, I often find it hard to tell if I have a good tone right away. Often times I spend quite a while looking for a great tone, and when I record the track and play it back it doesn't sound great. But when I finally settle with a tone that I feel is less than desirable and record an identical track on a second take and then pan the two, it sounds much better than I anticipated. I know that it is common practice to pan to identical guitar tracks hard R/L to get the "chorus" wall of sound type effect, but do you also find that you aren't sure if you're tone is good/useable until you record the second track? Just wondering if I was the only person struggling with this.

Thanks in advance for any and all responses!

What you hear out in the room and what gets recorded is rarely identical. Tiny things like mic position makes a big difference. On top of that, one guitar track with nothing around it all by itself can reveal all kinds of frequencies and characteristics that you might not find desirable. But once you get it settled into a mix it might sound perfect. Don't EQ before you have it in a mix, and don't worry too much about the track by itself. All that matters is what it does in a mix. Then you can act accordingly. If you find you're having to do a lot of EQ'ing, then you did something wrong. EQ is your friends, but you shouldn't have to use the hell out of it if you dialed in the right tone and tracked properly. As for a second track making all the difference, it could just be the sound of balance and fullness that's making you feel better about your tones. Whatever it is, if it works, it works.