Guitar Reverb - from Amp or in Post?

dudernut

dudernut

New member
A few years back when I was just getting serious about recording, a book aimed at beginners suggested applying all reverb and delay in post…to give it more clarity and to take advantage of the full stereo effect. This is how I've done it since, with one exception. A friend had a cool indie rock song we wanted to record. He didn't want to give up the actual reverb from the Fender amp. But I gotta say, it sounded pretty cool. It didn't even quite sound like what I was hearing with my ears from the amp, but I liked it. Also, I guess I shouldn't be worried so much about stereo reverb with electric guitar, since that's not really what you hear from an amp anyway. I was just wondering what the consensus is 'round these parts on using reverb in your recordings. I know that many songs won't require any, but I'm a sucker for a rich 'verb on an otherwise cleanish guitar tone. What's your practice?
 
Well, those indie guys... :D

I always add reverb in post.
When I track, I add reverb to my cue mix, so...I can actually hear reverb when recording the guitars, but it's not part of the recording.

You can record it as you track if you are 100% sure it's going to be like you want it....but you are them stuck with it, and if it's a miss, you have to do the track over. It's very hard fixing it later.
 
The only reverb is use much on guitars is the spring reverb on my Fender amps. I prefer delay. Regardless, all guitar effects get recorded. I like committing to a sound at the tracking stage. Why not? I've got a pretty good idea what I want out of the guitars by the time the song is written.
 
I don't really like clean electric guitar, but when I use it, I add a little reverb.
There are no rules, though, so disagree with that book. It would depend on the song. If it's a raw/indie song I'd record the reverb from the amp itself. Personal taste. If the song calls for something more refined maybe go a different direction...

Over the past month or so I've realized good decision making is almost everything with audio engineering. It reminds me of medicine in a way. Proper diagnosis [of what you're hearing] leads to proper response/treatment. Misdiagnosis leads to a string of problems.

Since you don't clearly know what you want, do it both ways and decide. You'll learn a lot if you do both and compare.
 
As with so many questions, "it depends".

The amp and all it's distortion and effects is an integral part of the sound of an electric guitar and, in an idea world, I'll record exactly the sound the guitarist likes and use that happily in a mix.

Unfortunately, that idea world of perfect guitar sound, unicorns and flying pigs doesn't always exist and, in those cases, I'll try to get the guitarist to leave off any amp reverb and add it later. This can have an added advantage because, quite often, what is a "perfect" guitar sound is less than perfect when the instrument has to sit in a mix with the rest of the band. Too some extent I think about what's going to be important in a mix. On some tracks, the guitar wants to stand out and be distinctive. Other times it plays a secondary role to either the vocals or to other instruments. Considerations like this tend to affect how I want to record the guitar.
 
If you know exactly what you're doing, record with it on. Most of us don't, so we record with it off. Note the aforementioned comments about spring reverb in particular though - you won't necessarily find an exact substitute in VST land.
 
That's a sensible approach when you are working with others, or when studio time is money. If you are recording and producing your own music in a home studio, different considerations might come into play. When you spend a fair amount of time finding a sound that you think will work in an arrangement, it might make sense just to capture it then and there. I might miscalculate. Worst case scenario, I'll do another take. I'm not paying for studio time or hiring a session cat. I have learned to err on the conservative side when tracking FX. The order in which you record might make a difference too. If you're tracking guitars early on, I can see wanting to leave your options open. My procedure is: Drums and bass, then a scratch guitar track, then vocals, then keyboards and the keeper guitar takes. By the time I get to tracking the guitars for real, I'm hearing something close to the final arrangement.
 
If the reverb from the amp is part of the sound, use it. If you are adding reverb to create space, do it in post.
 
Farview said:
If the reverb from the amp is part of the sound, use it. If you are adding reverb to create space, do it in post.
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This ^^^^

I mostly record myself and other people with no reverb. Dry guitar track straight from the amp. I don't like reverb, unless it's a signature part of that guitar sound....like with surf or rockabilly. Gotta have fat reverb for that, preferably spring, and I haven't heard anything that does that better than a Fender amp.

But I do like to record effects as they are being played. Flangers, delays, phasers, whatever....record it as the player plays it. I'm not adding that shit later.

I recently got a hold of a 70s Ross Flanger. The big red one. There's not a flanger plug-in on earth that sounds as awesome as that thing.
 
These responses have been quite helpful...it's interesting to see that some here pretty much always do it in post, while others record it straight from the amp. I like the idea of using the amp's reverb if it's an integral part of the guitar tone. Adding it in post seems to be the best choice if it's meant to add texture or depth. As with anything in recording, it's never black-and-white.
 
Greg_L said:
...unless it's a signature part of that guitar sound....like with surf or rockabilly. Gotta have fat reverb for that, preferably spring....
Click to expand...

Yes...and that's the thing. There are few situations where reverb IS a signature part of the tone, like the ones you mentioned.

dudernut said:
I like the idea of using the amp's reverb if it's an integral part of the guitar tone. Adding it in post seems to be the best choice if it's meant to add texture or depth.
Click to expand...

I mean...any time you play guitar, no matter what style, if you turn on the reverb, to you it will become part of the tone, but that's not the same as it being a signature element of the tone.
I always like to hear some reverb when I'm cutting guitar leads...but...it's not really a part of the guitar tone, 9-out of 10 times it's just adding some space and depth, and for that, you want to leave it for the mix session because all your other elements are also going to have to fit into a certain space...which is why it can be risky recording it with the guitar track, 'cuz you are stuck with it.
There's a reason theyh now have some "de-verb" plugins...'cuz too many times great tracks were recorded, and then people went, "shit, the reverb is all wrong, but now I can't get rid of it, so I have to re-track". :(

Not to mention, when you're just focusing on the guitar track, there will be a tendency to have more reverb mixed in. Same thing happens when tracking a lead vocal, it just sound better with a bit more reverb....but then in the mix, you want a lot less.
So like I said earlier, I make sure my cue mixes have all the reverb I want...it's all safe, since it's only part of the cue mix, but it gives me that space and depth I like to hear.
Then when I mix, I can make a better decision about reverb...and generally, I always end up using much less than what I liked in the cue mixes during tracking.

All that said...I never sweat it anyway. There's never been a track that I didn't mind re-tracking if I had to. :)
It's more of a concern when you are working with clients...and having to tell Joe Shred that his Arena Rock lead has to be done over 'cuz the reverb he had going on from the amp is mushing up the mix! :D
When you are working on your own stuff...do whatever you feel like. If you don't like it...do it over.
 
My reverb is always on on my amp but subtle. Got me thinking that if you put too much on when recording then you make it hard for the mixer to get an even reverb sound (on the mix as a whole) if it's washed in reverb. Maybe....
 
Amp reverb is completely different than mix reverb. They perform completely different functions, which can be the guideline you use to decide when to use which.

Same thing with delay. If the guitar part needs the delay to make sense (like a lot of the stuff David Gilmore used to do), it must be played with the delay. If the delay is only there to enhance the sense of space and depth, it probably should be done in the mix.
 
The other thing with amp reverb...it's just not that great, IMO, when you get to studio use.

Yeah, there are some instances where spring reverb is THE ticket for a certain guitar/amp tone...but I find spring reverbs generally don't have the quality I like in a reverb, and they're rather one-trick ponies.
Yeah, you can add more/less of it, and maybe you even have a Dwell knob you can play with...but it is what it is.
The spring reverb tanks generally sound one way depending on the size and number of springs, and some of the electronics.

For live use, spring reverb does the job....for recording, it usually falls short for my tastes, and there's little control of the depth, size, decay...etc.
Like even if I needed to record reverb with the guitar track....I would probably use one of my outboard units or my vintage EMT 240 plate over any of the spring tanks I have on hand.
 
A few years ago I would say turn it off on your amp, but now I would set it a little less than I would normally. You can add extra "room" reverb if you need to push it back in the mix and that will sound very natural. A fender spring reverb adds a bit of dirt and melds with the dry tone before any power tube distortion giving you a bit more sustain and ring to the tone. It colors the tone in a very nice way.
 
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