device recommendation for direct recording distortion (electric guitars) for demos

bubbleboy

bubbleboy

New member
I searched the archives a lot and I know there are people like me who live in a tiny apartment and can't crank a tube amp to 11 (or even 1 in my case) without being evicted. I long ago resigned myself to the fact that awesome miked distortion tones will not be coming from my home recordings.

So here's my deal/question. Songwriter, need to make some demos for a record producer before I go into a professional recording studio.

I know I won't get a great distortion tone going direct - all I need is to make some demos of my songs where I'm able to switch from a clean sound to high-gain during the song. The demo will then be shipped off to the producer so they understand the arrangement and intent for recording certain parts distorted in the professional studio setting. Part of this is also so the drummer can play along to the track and will know what parts are distortion.

The wrinkle is this - I have no laptop and no professional audio interface for my PC, just a pc for home use, and I can't afford all that stuff right now anyway given my recording budget, etc. i don't really want to mess with the pc anyway. What I do have is a Korg D1600MKII 16-tracker. A little elderly but it works nicely for churning out rough demos.

So I want to go direct into the Korg D1600 via 1/4" or XLR inputs - doesn't matter to me.

I'm thoroughly confused and frustrated, and I know you guys know stuff I don't. I can't spend more than like 250 on this.

The options I've entertained are:

  • Guitar-->high gain distortion pedal-->Radial JDI-->d1600 recorder
  • Boss ME-25, using the phone output and special cable recommended in its manual
  • Line 6 POD HD with whatever footswitch is compatible with it (seems impossible to figure out compatibility; line 6 web site is so confusing)
  • A used line 6 pod HD floor/footswitch model...

Is there some better option, approach I'm missing? It doesn't have to sound like a full stack, just have to hear the notes, not be completely fizzed out, and be distorted when switched on
 
Out of those choices, use the POD HD. When you set up your tone, use one of the comp/sustainer pedal emulations to get the sustain. That allows you to back off the gain on the amp sims without losing the sustain. When you back the gain off, the tone gets crunchy, instead of fuzzy, and sounds more real.
 
What kind of distortion are you looking for? Like, metal or rock stuff? Or just some really light distortion for more bluesy kind? Or maybe somewhere in between?

I'm only asking because even some of the better modelers I've heard start having a tough time when you get into the heavier distortions. I actually kinda like a lot of the clean sounds from modeling software, but the more distortion I get, I just start to like less and less...

Anyhoo, my personal recommendation would be the 1) POD HD. Make sure it's the HD and not the X3 or XT or one of those. Any models before the HD didn't really emulate tube amps very well because they basically were just a snapshot of the amp (in other words, you roll off the volume on your guitar or play lighter, the amount of distortion stays the same. No distortion ebb and flow). The HD models of the POD remedied this and now they behave a little more like a tube amp would.

If you're wanting to do directly into your interface (Guitar, JDI, d1600), then 2) there are some software modelers I know of that are decent. I personally really liked the Poulin amp modelers, and if you can afford to drop $125, you can buy the "big box" package from Red Wirez for cabinet impulse responses. Those are some bloody GREAT IRs if you're looking to go the software route. Our studio used to own an Axe-FX and I used the Red Wirez cab impulses over the impulses built into the Axe-FX all the time.
 
Awesome info already. Thanks all. That isocab is an amazing thing, but i'm going the easy route here. Ok we've got 2 votes for the POD HD. Where I was leaning - it's just the footswitch I need to get sorted.

Wrenchey, yeah...it's high-gain face melting distortion, without the cookie monster vocals lol. I mean, in the studio, there'll be a Bogner Ecstacy, Mesa Triple Rectifier, and a Diezel head of some sort that I hear is crazy for such distortions. So in the high-gain, punk, hard rock category of distortion flavors. On these rough demos, hell, I'd just be happy to get a standard crunch - any high-gain, tube-like 'sag' would be a bonus. The POD HD certainly impressed me on youtube - that's for sure. Good to hear input on this.
 
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I'm not sure how you can use modeling software without a computer, but it sounds like you've got an option for that. I use Amplitube 3 and I get some killer high gain sounds out of it (IMO). Another option would be to get an amp modeler for iOS or iPhone (if you have one). I use JamUp XT Pro and it's got some nice models of high gain amps in there. There's a ton of stuff on YouTube from guys doing high gain sounds/metal songs using JamUp. You'll just need an interface to plug the guitar into the iDevice. I use both of these and they work great: Positive Grid – JamUp PLUG (they now have an HD version: Positive Grid – JamUp Plug HD) and the IK Multimedia | iRig HD - High-quality digital guitar input for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and Mac.

Check out JamUps website for some demos of high gain stuff being done with it.

The thing that made me think this might be a great option for you (if you have an iOS device) is that there is a built in recording mechanism, though I'm not sure if there's a limit to how long you can record through it (have to look into that).

Good luck!
 
The POD comes with a version of Podfarm, which has some ok distortion (not heavy metal, too fizzy), but as already mentioned, you'd be using your computer for that. I guess you could take the POD headphone/monitor output to run to your recorder.
 
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