Crisp distortion and clean guitar sounds???

[jbenishek]

Hi, i have been doing recording for just a little bit more than two months now and have figured out a lot of stuff in a little time. I have everything sounding okay except for gutairs (mainly distorted guitars). The sound isnt horrible, but i want to tweak them even more so. AFter i ad eq and some compression, it is a little bit cleaner, but how do i get my distortion to sound sharp and crisp? ARe there any other tricks? What do you guys do to get a killer guitar sound? Thanks for your imput, J

 

[LocusLarsen]

I would have to say don't use EQ, make it sound right before you record. A touch of reverb should smooth it out. Maybe dub you guitar tracks for thickness, or use a slight delay for a different version of the same effect.

Sharp and crisp. That to me almost sounds like a pedal straight into the board. Say a BigMuff DIed with maybe a bit of compression and a tad of reverb. I like it...personal preference...for somethings...

Then there is always the mic-ing of a Marshall....................

 

[LocusLarsen]

This might not be something you want to hear but....

If you tryout a portable Marshall MS-2...the one with a 2" speaker and belt clip that runs on batteries, with a Volume, Tone, OFF/CLEAN/OD knobs...output the headphone signal into your recording equipment and maybe compress or reverb it a bit. That is a TIGHT sound if you work it right. Maybe not the best for intricate hard/soft picking for breakup, but for a all-out-sonic-power-fest, its worth the 40 bux.

 

[LocusLarsen]

Think........La Sexorcisto

 

[toyL]

it'll help if you tell us "how" you're recording...generally speaking, us guitarists tend to use too much distortion when recording...the "ears" perceive distortion quite differently than a microphone--a mic picks up distortion really well, as does most every recording medium...so, whether you're using a mic or not you might try a little less distortion.

 

[OstiaMan]

for a big distorted guitar sound
I use 2 mics SM57 as close as pocible to the grill, an a Oktava cond like 6" from the grill.
the 57 is realy sharp, and the oktava has a realy full sound.

toyL is right, back of the gain

 

[wjgypsy]

One word dude.......POD! alot of people love it and alot of people don't but i love it! want to here how good it is? www.nowhereradio.com/zeke/singles both of these songs where recorded useing the pod. i recorded them like this: guitar---into----pod----into---art tbs preamp---berhinger composer pro---berhinger ultra graph pro eq---into the recorder (vf16)

where to buy the pod? www.musiciansfriend.com
www.interstatemusic.com
www.8thstreetmusic.com
www.americanmusical.com

ZEKE

" I will make your hair turn gray!"

 

[Disco_Dave]

I find a Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion pedal useful for that sort of sound. Just go easy on the distortion, and try recording at a lower volume.

 

[Neil Ogilvie]

guitar---into----pod----into---art tbs preamp---berhinger composer pro---berhinger ultra graph pro eq---into the recorder (vf16)

Thats quite a signal chain dude - why do you use the Art pre and Behringer composer? Maybe its just me, but they wouldn't seem to add much to it.

I can understand teh EQ, but most people use EQ after recording.

I'm just curious why you do it the way you do?

 

[Gidge]

http://www.guitarschool.net/video/video.htm

 

[Dan DA]

I agree with using an amp modeler. You can get a wide variety of sounds, and depending on your setup, you can monitor a wet signal but record a dry signal. That way you can modifiy it on playback in context with the rest of the mix.
I use a Digitech.

 

[KaBudokan]

Well, I agree with whoever said that it would be helpful to know how you are trying to record.

Also - what "kind" of distortion, etc. are you looking for? There's a big difference between Stevie Ray Vaughn's distortion and that of Dimebag Darrell's...

 

[wjgypsy]

Thats quite a signal chain dude - why do you use the Art pre and Behringer composer? Maybe its just me, but they wouldn't seem to add much to it.

I can understand teh EQ, but most people use EQ after recording.

I'm just curious why you do it the way you do?

i use the eq only because my vf16's eq won't go down to 20hz. (the lows are fixed at 100hz ) And the compresser is used to keep the level under control. The art tbs add alot of "warth" and Phatness"