Here's what I'd like to do...

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Elco

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I have a Pod that is pretty cool for recording direct, but it's off being repaired (bad fx switch)....Sitting here without the pod, I've been thinking of going a different route for my home recordings....I would like to get a single 12" guitar speaker cabinet and then stick it in this small closet which is pretty much dead sounding with all the clothes and junk in there lol , and mic it up with the sm-57 I have,..and maybe get one other mic and blend the two different sounds at my mixer. I've got a 16 space rack that's barely full, and there are alot of rackmount tube preamps to try, that aren't to expensive (maybe get several older ones). That would leave the power amp choice...So, what are some good choices for this scenario? I AM fairly happy with the Pod, but I KNOW that live micing will sound better, especially on getting a stronger, fatter high end. Obviously , stuff would be bought one at a time , over time as I could find stuff and afford it... Any suggestions for preamp, power amp and speaker choice would be welcome ! Thanks
 
You could one, buy a small tube amp, or two buy a preamp, poweramp and a cab just t do recording. Sure, it might be more versatile, but also a hell of a lot more money. I think mesa makes a 20 watt per side power amp, buts it is still expensive as hell. Same as what a Mosvalve would cost. I have a rack setup and here it goes (I play extreme metal type stuff so it might not apply to you):

Rocktron GAP Pro Preamp (great clean and high gain settings, lacks in the not so high gain)
Mosvalve Poweramp (works great for me, I think it's 60 watts a side, I don't even own it, I'm borrowing until I get some $$ to buy one, or one like it)
and a Marshall VS412 Cab for my main,
along with a 1x12" cab I built out of a shitty speaker I got on eBay for a little monitor of just guitars for the drummer. We don't have any mroe monitors or power amps to run those monitors, so our drummer was kind of lost, this way he hears my stuff and I get use of the other side of my power amp.

a 1x12" cab isn't gonna give you the sound of a 4x12", the same way a 4x12" won't give you the sound of a 2x10". They all have their ups and downs.

What kind of music do you play?

Oh yeah, I didn't mention how much I prefer my Line 6 Flextone I Duo that I converted into a head running into a 1x10", 1x12" custom cab. I run that along with a direct feed mixed to the PA (we only play small clubs, so micing amps isn't needed, you can hear my amp along with the PA feed). Sounds killer. Sounds like there are 2 guitarists, and everything is really full. We pan so if my amp's on the left, then the PA feed is centered more on the right. I just got really off subject. Sorry. Buy the small tube amp, you'll be much happier.

Jake
 
Jrlemonz,

Thanks for the reply,...I like playing alot of styles, but mainly rock based instrumental guitar stuff...that's what is cool about the pod, the versatility of it, but I can't get a fat powerful lead tone out of it, nor a glassy shimmering clean. I'll keep it tho, because there's always little parts in a song that it is useful for. The distortions are just too direct and thin sounding for the prominent lead/melody parts , imo. A small tube combo might be cool...if it had 'The Tone' lol. My thinking was , get something like a Mesa Boogie Vintage 30 1X12" 3/4 cabinet , find a lower powered tube power amp and then start buying up some older preamps..try them out and sell or trade out what I don't like/need. I'm just convinced that micing is the only way to get the sound I want, so I'll keep looking :)
 
Had a POD, sold it & bought a Boss GT-3 processor (pedal board). Was about $80.00 more but well worth it! The amp models are warmer and organic. While playing you can switch between presets/effects/settings w/ no hands...I could go on & on. You have every guitar effect the Boss makes is in this unit.
Far more versatile than the POD. And this is a preamp, hook it up to Mosvalve & rock

Speaker in the closet sounds like a great idea. May a green back.
 
The Mesa Cab would sound nice, but you'd probably get a much better lead sound out of a 4x12", with the volume cranked. Check out the Marshall preamps and poweramps, they have a really strong distortion tone. I've heard good thigns about the Rocktron Gainiac. Any of those tube based-preamps sound pretty good. You need a tube poweramp to really get tube tone. Tubes in the power amp are what give it that "tone". I don't know what power amp you'd get for a 1x12". Look for that Mesa 20/20. They're stll expensive though. When you say instrumental lead stuff, do you mean Steve Vai type stuff? I know a guy who runs a Peavey Classic Tube 50/50 into two Marshall 4x12's and uses a Digitech RP5 type thing as his preamp. Sounds awesome for stuff like that.

Jake
 
Elco:
Whassup! A quick fix would be to buy a small used combo amp and run the POD through it like a distortion box! Just mike the combo and your set. It sounds massive. I dont like direct recording!!
For the long haul, I recommend a Mesa boogie 2:90 power amp and two 4 x 12 speakers of your own choice. I use 2 marshall 1960b cabs for my rig. I dont own a POD but I have tried one at my friends guitar store. I got a huge sound by running it through a combo amp set on clean! i hope this helps.
 
deja vu!

jrlemonz

your comment on the Pro GAP made me do a double take. I wrote the exact same thing in a post here about rack effects for a newbie, 2 days ago. I've been using it for 12 years now and still really like it, though you are right about the inbetween settings, though I use mostly those setting now and they are decent after you work with them, especially with the agx turned off. Good to hear someone else is using it. I see them on ebay all the time for CHEAP - $100 or so. I use it with a Rocktron Velocity 300 power amp -- never see these any more, usually the 200 or 150s. This is a great power amp as well. I always wonder what it would sound like with a preamp that is made for those in between sounds, since that is what i use most often now.
 
Yeah I love my GAP, but it has major problems :(. Doesn't even turn on half the time. I'm actually bidding on one on eBay at the moment for a replacement I have bought from the seller before with no trouble, but he's selling this AS-IS, so it worries me, but its only at like $40. I'll hope it works.

Jake
 
you know, i think i've sent mine back to rocktron twice in 12 years, most recently about 2 years ago. Once I think there was something wrong with the agx, the other time I can't remember. Both times they fixed it for less than $100, and returned it pretty quick. Now, the only problem is that sometimes when you try to dial in a preset it toggles back and forth between presets and you have to mess with it for a while. Not a big deal though. I would stay away from the updated one, it looks the same except with shorter chasis, external power and square buttons. a friend had one and i hated it - seemed much more cheaply made. interested in their last version which was all black with a blue lcd. good luck!
 
I think that "newer" one with the square buttons is the one I have. It worked great for the last few months (I got it off a friend really cheap, he'd had it for a few years I think), then it just stopped powering up right. I'm bidding on one like mine on eBay, its up to like 70, hopefully I get it.

Jake
 
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