Guitar sounds terrible

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hal333rlee

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I have been reading this forum for a couple weeks now and decided to try to do some amateur recording. Here’s the cliché, I’m very new to recording, this is my first post, and have probably a very simple question.

I just bought the Tascam US-122 and trying to do some recordings with my guitar. The recording is coming out very distorted. I am recording by direct input. I have turned down all the input and output levels on the US-122 and the sound still distorts. I turn down the volume on the guitar and the clean sounds a little ok but the when I hit the distortion, the sound is terrible. Am I missing a level somewhere that needs to be adjusted?

Any help would be appreciated.

BTW This is a great site and I thank everyone for his or her posts. Very informative for people who have no clue what’s going on.
 
I think you answered your own question when you said that the sound is okay when you turn down the guitar and play a clean patch. When an input to a digital device like the US-122 is overdriven it produces digital distortion which sounds terrible.

You haven't said whether you are plugging the guitar directly into the US-122 for clean sounds or whether you are running it through a pedal or amp (or both) before it gets to the US-122.

If you are plugging the guitar directly into the US-122 line in, try the following using either you ears or the signal strength meter in your recording software:

1) Turn the volume knob on your guitar all the way up. Turn the input volume of the US-122 all the way down. Make sure you have the input switch set for "guitar level" or "direct instrument", I forget how it's labelled. While playing, slowly bring up the US-122 input volume until the signal starts to distort and then back off a little bit to allow for when you hit the strings really hard.

If you are feeding a signal from a pedal or amp there is more potential to damage the US-122. Most pedals and amplifier outputs meant to feed a recorder are labelled as -10dBm. This is the signal level the US-122 line in designed to accept. You can use the same procedure outlined above to get a good signal into the US-122, but make sure the input switch is set for a line input instead of "guitar" or "direct instrument" as described above.

You also need to remember that when switching between clean and distorted sounds on your amp, there is always the possibility that the signal level into the US-122 will change drastically, meaning you may have to change the US-122 input volume each time you change a patch.

Here's the link to Tascam's web site in case you don't have the US-122 manual.

Having said all this, you'll get much better results - sonically speaking - if you mic your amp instead of recording direct.


http://www.tascam.com/product_info.php?pid=253
 
Thanks a lot Phyl for the quick response. I tried the recording through my amp to the US-122 (clean and distorted). In order to get any kind of recording, not being distorted is to have the amp volumes all the way down, guitar volume all the way down and all the input levels on the US-122 all the way down/off. When I do all that, the OL red light still comes on.

Could this be a possibility? I don’t have a line out on my guitar amp so I am running the (Speaker Out) on the amp, to the (Guitar In) on the US-122. Could I do something like that or does that screw things up?

If that doesn’t work, I guess I will just try to mic the amp and try recording like that. I just wanted to try direct input to eliminate any outside noises.
 
I would just go ahead and mic the amp itself, that should take care of your problem. Direct recording of guitars ALMOST always sound worse than miking the amp. By miking the amp, you are getting a truer sound of what is coming out. As for the outside noise, there will be little or none. Place the mic 1-3 inches from the face of the amp. let me know what you get. later the dude.
 
Holy crap, do not use a "speaker out" from an amp, the speaker out and the line out are different things. If you do not have a line out, then you cannot do direct recording. The speaker out is designed to drive a speaker, NOT a line level signal, you will blow something up...possibly even your amp, because the speaker out needs to recieve the resistance/load of a speaker.

What amp are you using?
 
Wow, thanks for the warning on the speaker out. That would explain my overload and distorted sound. Like I said before, I am new to all this stuff and I thank you guys for the advice. I am using a Crate GFX 212 and there is no line out so I will just mic the amp and record that way.

How do I set up the mic? Like you said 1-3 inches away but what direction do I point the mic? Directly inbetween the two speakers? Pointing up, down?
 
Where does it smoke?

Holy Christ on a sofa!

You may thank the good lord on your knees you didn't blow your US.

There are special DI boxes you can use on the speaker out of your amp.

A line in is aprox 150 mV ( 0.150 volt), a speaker out can give 80 volts.

You can make your own line out by making a 200 kohm resistor in the speaker out.

In the future, ask first and do later.
 
hal333rlee said:

Could this be a possibility? I don’t have a line out on my guitar amp so I am running the (Speaker Out) on the amp, to the (Guitar In) on the US-122. Could I do something like that or does that screw things up?

If that doesn’t work, I guess I will just try to mic the amp and try recording like that. I just wanted to try direct input to eliminate any outside noises.
Click to expand...

Whoa!

Do not, under any circumstances, run your amplifier speaker out to your US-122, the level is probably much too high and there is an impedance mismatch as well.

Sounds like mic'ing your amp is the only (and still the best) option.

PS - you say your amp doesn't have a line out. Sometimes there will be an output labelled preamp out, or an effects loop input and output, you could use either the pre-amp out or the effects loop output.

I looked at the specs for your amp and it appears you have an effects loop jack on the front panel. It's a TRS jack meaning that it can both send a signal out and receive it back on the same jack. If you buy a Y cable (Tip-Ring-Sleeve plug at one end, two regular 1/4 plugs at the other end) you could plug the 1/4 plug corresponding to the "ring" into your US-122.
 
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Thanks for all the help guys. Last night I mic'ed the amp and was very happy with the quality. Im sure I will be back with more questions to come.
 
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