A guitar amp as a preamp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter rielp
  • Start date Start date
R

rielp

New member
Hi there,
Can anyone tell me if they've ever tried to use a guitar tube amp as a pre amp going into mic input of a computer? I know you need a preamp to strengthen a signal into a recording programme, so why not?

Peace,
Pat
Toronto, ON
 
First of all, don't go into the MIC input of the computer, that already has a preamp of its own and it's not a good one.

Go into the LINE IN of your soundcard.

And don't hook your tube amp directly into your soundcard. Unless it has a headphones out, which would sound like shit, don't do it.

Why would you want to destroy the sound of a good tube amp anyway?

Mic the amp.
 
A mic preamp is a completely different animal than a guitar amp. Guitar amps are designed to make guitars sound good. Most of the time, that means adding distortion and band limiting the sound. That is almost the exact opposite of what you want out of a mic preamp.

And, as was said in the previous post, you need to use the line input if you are using an outboard preamp.
 
Mic preamps are going to be designed for low noise (like a hi-fi amp), true response of what they are getting, guitar preamps on the other hand are a completely different beast.


-jeffrey
 
I read you to mean you were going to run the amp's output into your board/interface. This is a bad idea, unless you really like firemen.
 
hmmmm....

Thanks for the help everyone. This is a great resource, but.....Wow....now I'm really feeling dumb. I have an old beige Mac Power PC. It's a used Mac from a friends DAW that I've lost touch with. It has OMS, ProTools free, and Logic Platinum and a slew of other exciting recording programmes, but the truth is I can't seem to get any kind of signal into any of them. I've tried all signals through the 1/8" mic input, and to be honest I don't what kind of sound card I have, let alone where its input would be?

Can anyone help or perhaps point me in a direction?

Cheers,
Pat
Toronto
 
Even the cheap onboard soundcards that come on PCs should have at least 3 plugs on them. One is for mic, second is aux/cd in, third is speaker out (they are color coded but it's not the same on all brands.) All these are 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo inputs. Better soundcards have additional inputs/outputs.
I use windows, for mac you may have to open the dialog differently but the process should be the same as follows;
Double click the little speaker icon on your taskbar, when the window opens click options then properties, choose record. Make sure line in/ aux in is checked, click ok. Be sure line in is NOT muted and set the master volume to around 75%. This should get sound going into your comp from a line out signal on an amp/preamp. You will need a converter plug to conect 1/4 line out from an amp to the 1/8 input on your PC, these are easy to find at almost any music store or Radio Shack (less than $5.) DO NOT conect a speaker line out to your PC, be sure to use the line out.
You can use a guitar amp as a pre (if it has a line out) and this is often done to record guitar direct to the PC. You may get some unwanted distortion if you use a mic through a guitar amp. The line out from a PA system works fairly well for this purpose (or at least better than a guitar amp.)
Maybe some of this will help, hope you get it going.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top