Help a noob out-- want to mic my amp and record on PC

  • Thread starter Thread starter arjun
  • Start date Start date
The Flextone is a modeling amp. It can sound like a Mesa-Boogie, a couple of old Marshalls, a couple of old Fenders, a Roland Jazz chorus and a Vox as well as custom sounds just by turning a knob. Check out http://www.line6.com/main/main.cfm for more details. If you're playing in a cover band, this would be the amp. If you want to develop your own sound (and it sounds like you do), then go down to the music shop and try a variety of amps out. Good luck
 
alright.. nice, thanks for the info. yes i'm not currently in a band, but i plan on setting one up with some friends once school starts. i think the flextone is out of my price range anyway... thanks again
 
arjun, you don't need a 100 watt head to record with. On the other hand you WILL need that to play out with for small/medium size venue.

Some of the best recordings have been done on a 30 watt practice amp. No joke.

There is even one I'm told of on this board done on a Pignose.

You'd have to search for that post, but as I recall it wasn't too long ago.

When I have recorded E guitar in my past studios all I had was a 50 watt Peavy Bandit and an American Strat. It sounded very good after some mic placement experiments and some adjustments with the amp/guitar combo.

I actually got so close with this combo that several listeners couldn't tell the difference from the original recorded solo and the one performed with the Peavey and the Strat. I was proud, to say the least. It took hours of tweaking knobs though.

Granted, if you get a good price on what you are after go for it and deal with it in the studio later.
 
Senn, yeah I know what you mean. I just got outbidded, oh well :D I never expected it to stay low. But anyway, I have to decide what amp I'm going to buy now. I'll go to a few local music stores, and whatever sounds best to me with my guitar, I will get. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Later
 
I picked up a Marshall AVT50 head and a 4x12 Cab used for $600. You would need a distortion pedal for a more modern sound but it's a great setup for the price.
 
I think I'm going to stick with a combo amp when I pick one up at the store. It's wayyy over my budget to be thinking about a head and cab, unless I buy through auction online. Plus it wouldn't be too convenient to lug back and forth from and to school. Parents wouldn't be too keen on the sheer power that I have to kill their eardrums either. I'll get plenty loud with even a 50 watter. Suggestions are still welcome if you have any. My main question is whether a tube or tubeless amp will be better with my kind of music. Maybe I'll have to try them out myself to find out..
 
Well, Arjun, I'm the odd man out here. I use a guitar modeler (POD) into a power amp that bridges to 8 ohm mono. I use a Carver PM125, but a Samson Servo 120 is just fine. Then into a Marshall cab. A 1X12 or 2X12 should meet your needs. This system is more versatile than any guitar amp. For live, you have a broad array of cusomizable distortions and amp sounds. You can get 100+ watts with the little POD, a very small power amp, and a cab. For recording, you can either mic the cab or use POD directly into the recorder, and for practice, you jack some headphones into the POD, and your parents will kiss you! For small, I use a 1X12 cab with a Celestion vintage 30. New POD- $250. New Samson Servo 120- $189. New Celestion 12" speaker- about $100, but you need the cab. Just find a used cab with good speakers, or even 1 speaker, with 8 ohms impedence, a decent used power amp, and a POD. I know it sounds totally weird, but it works.-Richie
 
Unless you plan on a stadium tour, I'd stick with the combo amp. When I was playing out regularly, I used an old Fender Princeton tube amp and a Roland JC-55 (both stolen, but that's another story). Once miked, they sounded huge through the PA and I had no trouble hearing myself. Remember, unless you can sucker your best friend into playing roadie, you'll have to load all of your equipment in & out.
 
Senn, yeah I know what you mean. I just got outbidded, oh well
Click to expand...
That SUCKS!

I hate to be outbid (does't eveyone!). The only time it happens though is when I'm hoping to get something for less than everyone else thinks it's worth.

Doesn't happen very often. I usually bid to win. And only bid If I think I can. It's hard to go "tire kicking" on ebay. And it doesn't do any good either unless the auction is within an hour of ending AND IT HAS HAD NO BIDS YET WITH NO RESERVE. You'll find out if someone has been watching the auction for a bid this way. It IS good for that. then you know where you stand in respect to price wanted vs. price bid.

Believe me, there are people out there for deals that DO watch auctions VERY closely even though we not have a bid in yet.

I just got a Sennheiser MD-402K for $42 bucks plus shipping. Had three bids and I bid at 30seconds before EOA.
 
If you are going to play in a band then yes youll have to buy an amp.

if you are just interested in recording at the moment, you can record direct to your computer with a V-amp with brilliant results. you can choose the effect you want, the amp you want, and itll play just like you were playing through that amp but without the very large cost of purchasing that amp!!! it has about20 different kind of amps if im not mistaken.
my brother just picked up a V-amp 2 for $289 new(Australia) if you live in america which you probably do itd probly be about half that.
an example - www.traveldreams.com.au/Don't Leave Me.mp3

if you hearts set on getting an amp though, do you have some kind of "trading post" newspaper or something? its private advertising for second hand things. you can pick up very good deals in those sort of situations. Alot of the time for things that are practically new, people just get sick of using that 'perfect' amp and want to get rid of it for half the price!

peace

balshazza
 
Tube amps
Tubes aren't cheap, and need to be replaced from time to time. They also need to warm up to sound good. Tube amps can be heavy as hell. The tubes can be fragile. If yoiu do get a tube amp, don't move it around while it's plugged in (or do so caredully), the tubes can arc and go monophonic. Don't ask me whyat that means, but you end up hearing a slight ringing sound sometimes. Most of the older tube amps only get that high gain sound when they are CRANKED.

Solidstate Amps
...are lighter, less fuss, produce more consistent sounds at different volumes etc...and are cheaper to buy and maintain (or used to be).

If it's all about overdrive, tubes are the only way to go, but SS amps are getting better.

There are many hybred SS/Tube amps as well, or tube amps with SS clipping circuits (like a D pedal) built in for extra gain.

A lot of common pop rock sounds are old Marshall JCM800 single channel amps with some kind of distortion pedal in front of them, but you won't find one of these cheap, and they like being turned up loud.

If you find "the tube amp" that does what you want it to, you probably won't regret buying it. A cheaper SS amp that makes all the sounds you need may have a long and usefull life span, and the money saved can be spent on the ultimate tube amp at a later date.

Doug
 
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