Reamp: DI Box or DI in Mic Pre?

[Vullkunnraven]

Which method makes the most sense in capturing a DI signal to later be reamped?


a.) Guitar> Radial JDI> Chandler TG2 Mic Input> Mytek AD
b.) Guitar> Chandler TG2 DI/Instrument Input> Mytek AD
c.) Guitar> Radial JDI> Mytek AD
d.) Guitar> My Dog> Animal Cruelty> Jail> Reamp in 2-5 years

The Gear breakdown:
Guitar- Gibson Explorer (passive pickups)
Preamp- Chandler TG2
AD- Mytek
Interface- Digi002r
Dog- Shitzu mixed with Shelti

Thanks

 

[mshilarious]

Which method makes the most sense in capturing a DI signal to later be reamped?


a.) Guitar> Radial JDI> Chandler TG2 Mic Input> Mytek AD
b.) Guitar> Chandler TG2 DI/Instrument Input> Mytek AD
c.) Guitar> Radial JDI> Mytek AD
d.) Guitar> My Dog> Animal Cruelty> Jail> Reamp in 2-5 years

You can probably rule out C, because you are unlikely to have the proper level off the DI to go straight to AD. The choice between A and B depends on which sounds better to you.

Choose D if you're into that sort of thing

 

[Farview]

Go with the chandler. The radial will load down the pickups.

 

[Fletcher]

With a sound to be "re-amped" later you're going to want to lay down as clear a "dry guitar" sound as possible... this is really where the rubber meets the road as all your "tone" will have to be created by your hands on the way to storage.

I generally like to get the amp setup as it will be [or at least 90% of the way there] as different amp sounds will change the way you play... which usually isn't a good thing. I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you not try to track through one of those "pod" things to mic up a real amp later... invariably the playing suffers when folks do that [as always, YMMV].

If its a noise issue thing then check out the Palmer PGA-04 speaker emulation DI box and or the Sequis "Motherload". You plug the output of your amp into one of these boxes... run the output of the box to your pre-amp [and record like you were using a mic], and diddle the knobs until you get a GTR sound that sounds like a GTR [and not some grainy faux digital imitation of a GTR].

The whole secret to doing a good re-amp thing is getting the playing to feel great in the track and getting the clean signal into storage for later amp tweezing... if you're not pretty close to what you want the sound to sound like when you get to the end of the rainbox chances are like 95-99% that you ain't gonna play it right and you'll end up with a ball of shit come mix time.

Best of luck with all you do.

Peace.

 

[Vullkunnraven]

Mshilarious & Fairview,
Thanks for the posts. It makes complete sense.

Fletcher-

"If its a noise issue thing then check out the Palmer PGA-04 speaker emulation DI box and or the Sequis "Motherload". You plug the output of your amp into one of these boxes... run the output of the box to your pre-amp [and record like you were using a mic], and diddle the knobs until you get a GTR sound that sounds like a GTR [and not some grainy faux digital imitation of a GTR]."

VERY GOOD POINT. One thing I hate about reamping is the loss of the 'feel' to the performance- very unmotivating. I have been splitting the signal from the Radial into a POD (ugggh!) to at least get some type of feel, and even that is nowhere near the same as my Mesa or Vox (I usually record at night, hence that POD).

My question now is this:

Would that signal chain of guitar>amp>palmer or sequis degrade the sound at all? I was going to split the signal with my Radial JDI and send one into the Micpre and the other into the amp for just the feel factor, but that is now out of the question, as Fairview pointed out that my passive pickups don't like that passive DI.

Can I use my Radial JDI after my amp?

 

[GreenDank]

...

one dude's take on how to prep a track for reamping:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/290714-preparing-your-tracks-reamping-guide.html

 

[Vullkunnraven]

That's a pretty good take. It looks like I'm going to go for the Countryman T85 DI... anyone wanting to trade for my mint condition Radial JDI?