Question about stereo pedals

[superelixir]

I'm looking into some stereo delay/reverb type effects for my guitar rig, and I've come up with two possible ways to record them:

1) use two identical (or similar sounding) amps; route left channel to amp #1 and right channel to amp #2

2) use only one amp; route left channel to amp #1 and right channel to DI. After the take has been recorded, reamp the clean DI signal through the amp, and line it up temporally with the original recording.

Obviously the first option is ideal--the left and right channels would exist in the same space--but also more costly, because you need two channels of amplification. How close does the second technique come to the first? Assuming the DI signal is recorded at instrument level through decent quality converters, is there any reason this technique wouldn't capture the stereo effect?

 

[ocnor]

Option #3: Record a dry guitar track and add the stereo effects after.

Option #4: Record 2 separate dry guitar takes, pan them L&R, and add the effects after.

 

[superelixir]

Not sure why those would be preferable to #2... the problem is that the pedals have stereo output and I need to record both channels. I could run the guitar through the pedal, and record each channel dry, but in the end I'm going to want to run both channels through the amp anyhow..

 

[Farview]

But why would the pedal be preferable to the same effect added during the mix? Reverb through a guitar amp doesn't add thru space that it does when you add it to a recorded guitar tone. With distorted guitar, the feedback on a delay gets a little hard to control sometimes.

With a stereo chorus, half thru pedals out there just inverted the phase of the other channel, so you get something that is hollow sounding and will cancel in mono.

 

[Greg_L]

Add it in the mix. Simple.

 

[superelixir]

I suppose that could work, but let's take a specific example. Strymon Timeline is a stereo delay pedal that sounds far better than any plugins I've come across. I could add it in the mix, just route the mono guitar track through the pedal and rerecord it, which I guess would sound something like using the pedal in an effects send/return loop (although the guitar sound would have been already colored by the speakers, which is also cool I guess). The problem is reverb/delay pedals tend to work better in front of the amp, because they're optimized to work on instrument level signals, and amplified signals tend to yield an exaggerated effect. I guess this will just take some experimentation...

 

[Greg_L]

The problem is reverb/delay pedals tend to work better in front of the amp,

Don't tell my Flashback delay that. It sucks in front of the amp. It's best in the loop.

Seriously, why complicate it? Do it the true way, with two amps/two cabs, or just add a stereo delay plug-in in the mix.

 

[superelixir]

Seriously, why complicate it? Do it the true way, with two amps/two cabs, or just add a stereo delay plug-in in the mix.

Well, that was my question. I'll use two amps/two cabs if that's the best way; I'm just wondering if there are any tricks to get the same result with one amp/cab.

 

[Greg_L]

Well, that was my question. I'll use two amps/two cabs if that's the best way; I'm just wondering if there are any tricks to get the same result with one amp/cab.

It's not the best way, it's just a way. Guitar is a mono instrument. You're artificially creating a stereo sound with a pedal no matter how you work it out. Pedal, plug-in, both fake and an illusion. If "authentic" is your goal, put your cab against a wall, mic it, and then put a mic about 100 feet away. That's a real sense of space and delay. Anything else is an illusion, so you might as well do it the easiest way, which is a delay plug-in in the mix. There are many good ones for free out there. And the benefit of a stereo delay plug-in is it's adaptability. Suppose you set up all your amps and cabs and record your stereo delay tracks only to find later that something is wrong, off, etc? Uh oh, you fucked up! That otherwise perfect and wonderful guitar take is jacked up because you did something wrong with the delay settings. Re-do it all! Or, you can just virtually tweak your delay plug-in and have it be fine. I'm all for doing things the "right" way, but you gotta pick and choose your battles. Something like this is a no-brainer to me.