isolation box nescessary for solid state amp?

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sureimshure

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First of all i just joined the home recording community after finding it very helpful when googleing different home recordong topics, and this is my first post... Cool... Anyways

When recording a guitar by micing an amp, does an isolation box make much of a difference in sound quality or anything else if you are playing through a solid state amp? Obviously an isolation box is nescessary for tube amps because the higher the volume the better the sound to a certain extent, but would the same thing be true for solid state amps ( line 6 spider IV 75 watt [ please no line 6 haters]). Volume really isnt really an issue. Its just that im trying to get the most out of my guitar, amp, and mic (sm57). Thanks in advance and im looking forward to being a part of this forum.
 
An isolation box is to reduce the external volume of an amp - is this an issue where you are recording? Note that the louder the amp, the less external noise the SM57 is going to pick up.
 
Even with solid state amps, there is a 'sweet spot' where the speaker itself is a big part of the tone. When they are pushed, they give a certain grit to the sound. This is obviously subjective as to the tone you are looking for though...
 
Man, honestly, guitar amps, both tube and solid-state, have been successfully recorded without isolation boxes literally for decades. In other words, you don't need one. Use one if you want, but is it necessary? Hell no.

Get right down on the speaker. Do you like the sound coming out? It's gonna sound different down there than it would with you sitting or standing up and away from it. If you like the tone coming right out of the speaker, stick a mic on it. If you don't like the tone, twiddle the knobs until you do. Now do you like the tone? Yes? Good. Record a little track - preferably with some drums and bass. Do you like the recorded sound? No? Move the mic again. Rinse and repeat until you like what you record.
 
the only real reason to use an iso-box is iof you need to keep the volume levels down elsewhere, say your neighbors or a sleeping baby. They're really not for making the recorded guitar sound different/better.
 
How does the old saying go?

Throw the baby out with the isolation box?
 
No throwing of babies here. :)

There is no typical reason for an iso box, unless there are sleeping babies.

Though, I did see a couple of them used by Korn for their live performances. They were however, huge. It was done for consistency, and not necessarily for keeping babies asleep.
 
Can a person breathe in an iso box?

Just thinking out loud here, plus it saves any throwing.......
 
Can a person breathe in an iso box?

Just thinking out loud here, plus it saves any throwing.......

Nope, that would be the other benefit to an iso box.

By the way, I didn't mean that Korn was huge. The iso boxes they used were. Though, I did poop some huge corn the other day.
 
If Korn uses iso boxes, then there's another reason to not use one.
 
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