Pre amp out question

R

radioone

New member
Im trying to figure out the best way to record guitar on a tascam portastudio when using 1/4 inch unbalanced inputs. I have a Fender Blues Guitar amp with a preamp out jack. Is it better (when using a 1/4 inch input) to mic the amp or to run a line directly from the preamp out on my guitar amp to the input on the portastudio. I am using a tascam 488 Mk II. Although it is an 8 track recorder, only the first two inputs use the 3 pronged balanced inputs. Tracks 3-8 are 1/4 inch inputs. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
I don't know a lot, but I do know you will loose the sound of the speaker cabinet, and will probably end up with loads of harsh frequencies that you don't want and usually don't make it through the speaker..... unless you were to re-amp it at a later date. And that is something I really dont know anything about!
 
It is best to put a mic on the speaker. A proper mic will have the XLR cable which will plug into channel 1 and 2. There is also an adapter you can get to plug one of those mics into the 1/4 inputs of the other channels.
 
Not Sure Thats A Good Idea

You can use the preamp out into the Tascam but like some one else said you''l lose the sound of the speaker that way. If I were you, record one track with the preamp out and then mic the speaker and double thepreamp out track.:)
 
The preamp out will sound like crap. the power amp of the amp has an effect on the tone, so does the speaker. Go ahead and try it once, you'll hear what I'm talking about. Doubling the preamp out will do nothing besides waste a track.
 
Thanks for the advice. The mic definately sounds better than the pre-amp out. I thought the preamp might give me a stronger signal to the recorder, but that doesnt appear to be the case. Signal strength appears to be the same and the preamp doesnt have the same tone.
 
Signal strength is adjusted by the preamp in the recorder. So it is irrelevant unless it is either so low that you can't turn it up loud enough or so high that you can't turn it down enough.
 
yeah, it's pretty rare for a preamp out to sound very good on a guitar amp.
The one on my Mark V sounds pretty good but that amp is based around its' preamp sound.
And even it sounds a lot better with a mic in front of it. The preamp out is useful for live gigs sometimes but generally you're always gonna want to mic it.
 
A preamp will amplify your voice, it wont change a whisper to a scream. It can make a whisper as loud as a scream, but it wont actually change a whisper to a deep or high voice.
 
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