gain on amp or on input ?

C

comfused

New member
howdee,

I'm pretty new to the whole recording thing
and I was just wondering where to 'gain' when recording (guitar or bass or ..)

this is my setup
guitar-amp --> tascam FW1082 --> Cubase on my Mac

where should I 'gain' ?
- on my guitar-amp
- on the tascam FW1082

and how loud should I record ?
just before I get a clipping-signal on the tascam FW1082


thanks in advance for the info

links to related tutorials are always welcome by the way :D
 
Here's a starting point. Turn the amp gain all the way down, turn the Tascam input gain half way up. Bring up the amp volume until your guitar signal registers about 5 db below the peak value. This will give you some headroom in case you get a little crazy.

Other things to consider:

1 - You'll get a much better sound if you use a mic on your guitar amp instead of running direct.

2 - Some amps, notably tube amps, sound better when cranked a little. You might have to turn the amp up and the Tascam down in order to get in that range of the amp where it starts to break up and sound nicely distorted.

3 - If you play some guitar parts clean and others distorted, make sure you aren't overloading the Tascam input when ever you step on the distortion pedal or amp channel switch.
 
comfused said:
howdee,

I'm pretty new to the whole recording thing
and I was just wondering where to 'gain' when recording (guitar or bass or ..)
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "where to gain"? What are you trying to gain, independence?
 
thanks for the info Phyl

HangDawg, what I wanted to know is what to choose
1/ high amp volume & low input-gain on mixer
2/ low amp volume & high input-gain on mixer
 
comfused said:
thanks for the info Phyl

HangDawg, what I wanted to know is what to choose
1/ high amp volume & low input-gain on mixer
2/ low amp volume & high input-gain on mixer
Click to expand...

Ah! got ya. What kind of amp is it by the way?
 
I take it you are using a line out from the amp then. It won't matter where gain of the amp is set other than to change the sound of the amp. I'm pretty sure line out is line level no matter how loud the amp is.
 
HangDawg said:
I take it you are using a line out from the amp then. It won't matter where gain of the amp is set other than to change the sound of the amp. I'm pretty sure line out is line level no matter how loud the amp is.
Click to expand...

I don't think the line out jack on the back of most amps is a constant level. I think most guitar amps are designed such that the line out jack is the output of the preamp section, and turning the volume control on the front of the amplifier varies the preamp output, which in turn drives the power amp section which is designed to have a constant gain.

When you see an output labelled line out, it usually means that the max level of the output will typically not exceed some nominal value; I forget what the nominal value is but I think it's somehere around 1 Volt peak to peak.

I could be wrong - maybe comfused can post back once he's experimented.
 
You should set the amp where it sounds best, and then set the gain on the Tascam accordingly (probably to peak around -3-6dB). If you're clipping even with the Tascam gain all the way down, then turn the amp down. I'm assuming you are plugging into the Line IN of the FW1082 correct?
 
reshp1 said:
I'm assuming you are plugging into the Line IN of the FW1082 correct?
Click to expand...

>> Yes


at this moment I also use the Line-out on my amp
cause I don't want to mic the amp yet
(that's for later, when I understand the basics ;-)
 
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