I couldn't tell you for sure cause I've only done it once and I'm sure I did it wrong. But I think the idea behind it is that when you're playing something like a guitar, the sound coming out of the amp has more of a full energetic sound given to it by the amp than when you record just directly from the instrument itself. Play around with both ways and I'm sure you'll see the difference.
ok im no bob rock but with my experience the amp rules over direct .now direct can be ok but if you want the best sound then get a great amp(I use a musicman 112 rd)and if niose is no problem crank it make it sound as good as posible then go about making that sound come out of your monitors with the tried and true method of mic placement .I dont bother to experiment to much cause I like the do less is more or just enough aproach but don't expect to get a good sound out of a marshall and quad with out shaking some of the plaster from the ceiling. Have got cool sound from small solid state amps with dist pedals(rat dist)at moderate levels.I think if your sound pressure is high then the less you need to gain up your pre amp. hope I've been of some help
The tone of the amp is at it's best when it comes from the speakers that were designed and built for that amp.
When you bypass the speakers and go direct you're taking away the "pure tone" that the manufacturer intended.
You want to be able to hear that amp like you're standing in front of it!
Back in the day(7 yrs ago/hehe) i tryed going direct from amp to 4 track- it was so horrible, it was........so shitty,ahhh, never again, havent since, got to mic it to capture the balls of the amp.
There was a good article in Mix (I think) a few months ago about the engineer who recorded Cream's first album... Stack of guitar amps on one side, stack of bass amps on the other, a mic in front of each... Crank amps to 11 - Play. Record.
Mine your German-ass business. There is no harm in posting a link to something of my needs or wants. It's not like its an entire post just for that item. Its only a link, don't have a heart attack.
scuse me, Sir, didn't mean to offend you (if that is what you thought). I was just trying to make a funny remark, but as that didn't work out, I'll take my German ass and shut up now.