Marshall AVT-20 -vs- Blues Cube 60

B

Blak Jak Balla

New member
I'm trying to decide between these two amps. I was pretty sure I wanted the Blues Cube until I read about the speaker emulation line out on the AVT-20. I plan to record extensively with this amp, so I need an amp that would be best for this purpose.

Does anyone have any recording experience with the Blues Cube? Does it need to be mic'd or is there a line out that will capture exactly the sound that is coming from the speaker without the need to use a microphone?

Ditto the AVT-20?

For those in the know, would you recommend one over the other knowing my intended use for it?


Thanks in advance!


Word.
 
I've got a Blues Cube 60, and it's great for recording. I mic it like any other combo, as I've never been a fan of direct-mic'ing a guitar amp. Anyway, my Blues Cube 60 (the 1 x 12" version) sounds great live and in the studio. I can't speak for the AVT-20, but I will say that I also mic my JCM 900 2500 Super Lead MK III half stack and my Fender Tremolux. As a side note, I can get a great Marshall tone and Fender tone out of my Blues Cube. ;)
 
Thanks for the reply.

I'm leaning towards the blues cube 60. I haven't heard a single bad thing about it so I'll probably go ahead and pick it up this weekend. Would you mind sharing with me how you mic it for best results in the studio? What do you use, how do you place it, etc? I'm new to recording a mic'd amplifier and don't have much of an idea what I am doing. I have a shure-sm57, a couple of decent condenser mics, and would be running it into a Fostex VF-160 and later mixing the wav files on a computer in Acid. (Acid is all I have right now).

Thanks again!

BTW...

Another amp that has jumped into my thought process is the little all tube driven Fender Blues Junior. If I get really crazy, maybe a hot rod deluxe. I am seriously leaning towards the blues cube from Roland as of this moment though unless someone can give me a compelling reason to buy something else.
 
I don't own either, but would like to point out that the sound a guitar amp makes comes from the speaker moving air. No emulation will be able to provide the feel and sound of an actual speaker moving air. You've got a Shure 57 for a mic which is the industry standard mic for guitar amps, so I'm going to suggest going for the amp that *sounds* the best and skip the speaker emulation. I've used both amps and, personally, like the Rolands better.

Mic technique varies, but you can't go wrong sticking 57 in front of the amp pointing towards the speaker about midway between the center and the edge. If you've got the amp in a good sounding room, try moving the mic back about a foot to pick up some of the room sound.

HTH,

Tio Ed
Austin, Texas
Land O' 10,000 Guitar Players
 
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