Nooby question about recording dist/OD guitar

[AndyDenyer]

I have a TASCAM US-1641, which has a built-in DI unit, but when I try to put a guitar though it, either using the software distortion or a pedal, it sounds very fuzzy and bad. I normally mic up an amp, but I don't think my mics are that good, so if possible I would prefer to use the DI. Is there something I'm doing wrong, or will it always sound like that?

 

[Armistice]

DI-ing electric guitar, unless you have a really good modeller, often produces unsatisfactory results. Try miking your amp anyway... or buy a better mic. SM57s are cheap.

There's always the possibility that you've got too much gain happening as well, which is a classic noob error when recording distorted guitar.

What sound are you trying to achieve? What pedal / software options do you own?

 

[AndyDenyer]

The pedal I was using was a "Distortion DS-1", if that means anything, and the software was Cubase LE5. Yes, I tried adjusting the gain, but the distortion went with the fuzz.

 

[Dogbreath]

Have you tweaked any EQ settings? Maybe backing off a little top end?
What about a different guitar?

 

[Armistice]

This is a huge topic and there have been many threads about it.. suggest you do a bit of searching and reading...

I don't think you're ever going to get a great sound DI-ing a guitar through a boss distortion pedal. Getting good distorted guitar sounds often involves a number of elements including multi-tracking... but I'm not really an expert. Perhaps others can give you more tips... a lot depends upon how distorted you want it to be...

Read up...

 

[legionserial]

I started off recording direct out of my amp, and it used to take me days to twist and shape the sound using all sorts of effects to turn it into something useable. I listen back to that stuff and it still sounds like total ass.

I would recommend getting either an SM57 if you want to mic, or a modeller like a POD or a V-Amp. Failing that, you could record your guitars clean and add VST distortion afterwards. Personally I've never had any good results at all with VST distortions, but apparently some people have.

 

[Lt. Bob]

the DS-1 is inherently a nasty sounding fuzz in the first place and it's meant to drive an amp ...... not a DI.
Even if your mics aren't too good, you can probably get a better sound by micing your amp.
DI's for guitar recording mostly don't work very well.

 

[johnnymegabyte]

I used to make NASTY (aka terrible) recordings with DS-1. What sounded good, just plain awful when recorded.
What started to work better was turn down all that gain, and you got better crunchy distortion and less fuzztastic
And over the years, I started to rely more on LESS. And feedback issues are gone

 

[Lt. Bob]

I used to make NASTY (aka terrible) recordings with DS-1. What sounded good, just plain awful when recorded.
What started to work better was turn down all that gain, and you got better crunchy distortion and less fuzztastic
And over the years, I started to rely more on LESS. And feedback issues are gone

^^^ this ^^^^
ya' know ....... somehow I forgot that.

Really, the first advice anyone should consider is to use WAY less gain/distortion than you think you need.