'duh' question from a dad

[jer01001]

14 yr old son with strat asked for a 4 track cassette recorder for xmas...

purchased a 424 mkII on ebay...\

attempted so try it out so no bad surprises on xmas morning...

now the 'duh' part...it came with the owners manual but there seems to be some pre-knowledge assumed...can I plug the guitar directly into the input and have it record, because I was unable to do so...thinking I needed to supply power, I plugged the guitar into his amp and then the amp into the input line (15 watt fender amp with an 'emulated CD/out' line...only got a read with full volume on both guitar and amp.

what setup do I need to make a basic recording with an electric guitar...

also, to record acoustic thru a mike, do I need a special kind of mike?

thank you kind souls and the best of the season to you all

jerry

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Dad:

I'm sure GHOST WILL set you straight. But, you will need to use the mic pre amp to boost the signal from the guitar. Not sure if your recorder has mic pres on it? Little knobs that you turn to boost the input, as well as putting the fader into the normal position which is about 3/4 the way up.

You should be able to record direct via your amp; don't know why you can't?

Using a mic would normally require a mic preamp which would feed into the recorder.

You have a wide selections of mics to choose from; visit the mic forum and ask what works with guitar.

I once recorded an electric bass player by running his line into a might KG amp that had a direct out, not through the speaker cone; it worked fine as this feature acts like a mic pre amp using the KG's electronics.

Keep putzing with it; you should be able to get a signal strong enough to record the ax.

Come on Ghost, help me out.

Green Hornet

 

[DigitalSmigital]

can I plug the guitar directly into the input and have it record, because I was unable to do so...thinking I needed to supply power, I plugged the guitar into his amp and then the amp into the input line (15 watt fender amp with an 'emulated CD/out' line...only got a read with full volume on both guitar and amp.

Yes you can.

Never plug the amplifier output into a line level input! The "trim" knob on the top of the ch. strip will bring your guitar's output to the necessary level to record.

The best way is to put a mic in front of the amplifier's speaker.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Yes you can.

Never plug the amplifier output into a line level input! The "trim" knob on the top of the ch. strip will bring your guitar's output to the necessary level to record.

The best way is to put a mic in front of the amplifier's speaker.

I see my work here is done.

Sorry Grass colored Insect!

Cheers!

 

[A Reel Person]

I think the 424mkII is an awesome Portastudio,...

and your son should be thrilled, or at least I would be. It's capable of advanced recording and mixing techniques, as compared to some more stripped down units.

First, I'm not clear whether or not you have the manual,... or if you're just misunderstanding parts of the manual descriptions. All the necessary information is in the manual.

Each channel, 1-4, has XLR (balanced) and 1/4" (unbalanced) inputs. The important consideration is to not use the XLR and 1/4" input on the same channel, simultaneously. This would be improper loading, and could damage the Portastudio. These channels, 1-4, are the ones with the preamps built in. The TRIM controls the preamp boost.

You may plug the guitar or other line level instrument into the 1/4" jacks on channels 1-4, and use the preamps for boost, if necessary. Useage of mics with either XLR plugs or 1/4", likewise would go in channels 1-4.

Inputs 5/6 and 7/8 are line level inputs, with no preamp or channel strip, that handle a straight line level source. Inputs 5 and 7 have a handy bridged mono function. A guitar that's plugged into inputs 5/6/7/8 will have no boost at all, just clean line level sound, all the way.

Inputs 5/6 and 7/8 are good for line level instruments, so use them straight in, if it suits your sound. Electronic keyboards are pretty well suited to Inputs 5/6/7/8. Implied, is that the inputs 5/6/7/8 would also handle the effected line out of a guitar stomp box (compressor/flanger) or preamp (distortion) pedal, just fine.

If you want to use mics in inputs 5/6/7/8, you'll need an external mic preamp for each mic. (Note: a nice mic preamp is the Tascam MX-80, but that's another post).

Inputs 5/6/7/8 are also used for effects return inputs.

The output you'd typically want to use off a guitar amp would be a PREAMP OUT or LINE OUT circuit. I've had good luck with PRE-OUTs from guitar amps, but I'd typically end up mixing that with a mic signal for liveness, anyway.

A technique I like a lot is to plug the electric guitar straight into a mixer channel [1-4], using the preamp for boost, and also mixing a close mic on the body of the guitar, for liveness,... w/ no amps in the recording chain. That's my "stealth" technique that always works for me. I almost always do electric guitars that way. You can dial in almost any sound that way. I'm probably way off topic by now.

Besides just line-in straight from the guitar to the Portastudio, (which I do a lot), you could also try the amp's "headphone/emulated" output into the channels 1-4 for preamp boost, by turning the TRIM control a bit to the right.

I can't speak directly for the "emulated headphone out" on your amp. A headphone out circuit is usually not suitable for a recording line feed. I've never heard anything good about those "headphone/emulated speaker recording output" combo jacks, but I have seen that term on amps occasionally, at the GC. If you can work out recording with that "headphone/emulated" output jack, then let us know.