DM60
Well-known member
My brother gifted me an amp. A Crate. I had heard a lot of negatives about Crate, so I wasn't super excited about getting it. I play guitar, but I am not a guitar player. I usually DI and use amp sims, but have always thought the sounds was s**t and really didn't put the sound of the electric guitar too prominent in the mix, either acoustic or something else but not EG.
I get this Crate amp and I have a solid body LTD that I purchased about 6+ years ago. Man the LTD sounded terrible. My cheap hollow body would get used more as it could have a decent sound, but the LTD, well, lets just say, I wasn't a fan. But when I buy something, it will get used somehow (waste not, want not). I am determined to get this guitar to work. The amp looks great, has three "characters" Clean, Rhythm, and Solo. Long story short, I tweaked both the LTD and the amp (having looked at several YouTube's, reading here and just general sound learning over the years. Yesterday, I focused on getting that guitar/amp to sound usable in my next album. I am focusing on sound.
After about two hours, I started dialing it in. Then I found my sweet spot. WOW! I am not sure that an amp simulator could ever "really produce this tone. I mic'ed it up with two condensers, one close the other far (not being crazy about positioning, just cognizant of the sound). Put R'verb on the back end inside the box. I was so exited about the sound I got. Just couldn't believe it after all of these years playing, I have a sound that I don't just like it, but I really love it.
Once I found said sound, I wanted to record some down and dirty. I am just a rhythm guy, but not just up and down, I extend the drums. I ended up with a jam session, came back with my new analog synth, as some other sounds, It was just a pure joy to record. I built something like 8 hours that, while not finished, sounded pretty good, had good energy and felt "played" and not just arranged. Fun.
Anyway, Crate isn't a bad amp, LTD isn't a bad guitar. But it does take more effort than I realized to dial in the sound of a guitar. Just thought I would share.
I get this Crate amp and I have a solid body LTD that I purchased about 6+ years ago. Man the LTD sounded terrible. My cheap hollow body would get used more as it could have a decent sound, but the LTD, well, lets just say, I wasn't a fan. But when I buy something, it will get used somehow (waste not, want not). I am determined to get this guitar to work. The amp looks great, has three "characters" Clean, Rhythm, and Solo. Long story short, I tweaked both the LTD and the amp (having looked at several YouTube's, reading here and just general sound learning over the years. Yesterday, I focused on getting that guitar/amp to sound usable in my next album. I am focusing on sound.
After about two hours, I started dialing it in. Then I found my sweet spot. WOW! I am not sure that an amp simulator could ever "really produce this tone. I mic'ed it up with two condensers, one close the other far (not being crazy about positioning, just cognizant of the sound). Put R'verb on the back end inside the box. I was so exited about the sound I got. Just couldn't believe it after all of these years playing, I have a sound that I don't just like it, but I really love it.
Once I found said sound, I wanted to record some down and dirty. I am just a rhythm guy, but not just up and down, I extend the drums. I ended up with a jam session, came back with my new analog synth, as some other sounds, It was just a pure joy to record. I built something like 8 hours that, while not finished, sounded pretty good, had good energy and felt "played" and not just arranged. Fun.
Anyway, Crate isn't a bad amp, LTD isn't a bad guitar. But it does take more effort than I realized to dial in the sound of a guitar. Just thought I would share.
I don't to want to totally embarrass myself.
