Recommendations for DI guitar amp simulator/effects unit

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gentlejohn

gentlejohn

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Hi Folks! Due to the sound leaking issues of my recording environment (residential area / boxroom!) I am unable to crank up the mid-1960s 150watt Fender Bassman (plus I don't have one!) This being the case I'm going to have to rely on D.I'ing to get my guitar/bass sounds. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent unit for such this purpose? The only unit I have so far at my disposal is an old Alesis Quadraverb that I've been running in-line straight into my console ie: Guitar>Alesis QV>Tascam 688. It's OK but, as is always the case, I'm aware there's a better way. I'm not looking for 1000's of amp simulations mind. I'd be more than happy with a few 'believable' guitar sounds eg: say a nice clean Fender amp tone; a bit of VOX-y crunch; and a Marshall-y sound for any heavier stuff. I'm a big Keef Richards fan when it comes to guitar sounds & my main geet is a Tele. Look forward to hearing any suggestions ....
 
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BSS AR-133 into your interface then get guitar rig. probably the handiest option if you want to go in ampless and get a decent tone
 
Hi John,

I nearly steamed in and said the usual "FCS get an interface!!" But of course the Tascam is a multitracker!
Now, you could just buy a passive DI box and they start at $20 or so from Behringer and cheap DIs are often fine because the shortcomings of the transformers add some attitude, but that will not get you any FX.

There is a range of guitar pedals that use a high voltage (300V) valve stage to create some good sounds and they also have an "emulated output" to shape the response somewhat akin to a guitar speaker cab (see my address top right) . However, the most versatile of these pedals, the HT-Dual, is the price of a good Audio Interface and many of those come with some excellent guitar sim' software (the NI KA6 e.g. comes with Guitar rig).

Then, many folks are keen on the Line 6 Pods?

Food for thought?

Dave.
 
Cheers people! Yes, I'm experimenting with a TASCAM 688 right now (whilst keeping an ear to the ground for a TASCAM 388). Both of these are ANALOGUE recording consoles so the 'interface' for my guitar/bass DI'ing would need to be compatible with analogue. I'll look into the Black Star pedal Dave - thanks for the heads up! Like I say, I've been away from the recording side of things for a while and a lot has changed. In 'the past' to get a guitar/bass sound I would just simply mic up my ol' Peavey Classic 30 (guitar) with a sturdy SM57 or my Trace Elliott combo (bass) with an old AKG D12 kick mic going via an XLR cable into my 4 track TEAC portastudio. Got some 'real', organic sounding, satisfying results that way. Unfortunately I can't mic up an amp in my new environment so will be relying on some kind of in-line 'amp simulation' unit. I'm guessing (if there is such a unit out there?) that I then wouldn't need a DI box either as the unit would act as a DI also. Anybody had any '+' results just using a multi-effects pedal like a Boss ME50 or summat or do you have to have the amp speaker emulation side of things too? I dunno!
 
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When recording with my Tascam 388,I almost exclusively use a line 6 guitar POD. It works really well for me. I dont really have a nice old tube amp to mic up.Just a really clean sounding old Roland cube amp. So I usually stick to the POD. Same thing with bass,Bass POD.
 
Aha! Cool, thanks for the heads up harv! I need to pick your brains about the TASCAM 388 too .... I REALLY want one!!! Also, I get the whole guitar treatment thing (dry DI electric guitar straight into the desk can sound very plain & 'unnatural') but, where bass is concerned, does a Bass Pod make a big difference? I realise I need to come up with some e gtr solution but I was kinda hoping I could get away with just sticking my bass (a RiC) directly into the desk with no interface/effects. PS: More personal TASCAM 388 revelations J.Harv! Are they as good in practice as I am making them out to be in theory (I've read the 388 .pdf manual virtual cover to cover twice now & it's becoming a bit of an obsession to track one down!) Also, out of interest, what did you pay for yours if you don't mind me asking?? ARRGGGH! Sooo many questions .....
 
Ah, Bass!
Now then GJ, done a bit of that live and Son just jacks it into our A&H desk when he needs bass parts (recording "live" bass at home is even more of a PITA than guitar! Not only can you not keep it from escaping but every mortal thing in the room rattles! I have a 150W MOFET PA and a !5" 200watter in a 6cu ft reflex cab, have not powered them up in 5 years, in fact the cab just stops my printer/scanner from hitting the floor!).

The Dual pedal is not aimed at bass but can do no harm and it will go from clean to the merest crunch to total mayhem.

Dave.
 
Hi ecc83 (aka 'Dave')
OK, let me get this right .... you are saying that, with this specific pedal (namely the 'HT Dual') I would be able to get a believable 'amped' electric guitar sound straight 'to tape' without the need to actually mic up a guitar amplifier in the old-skool stylee? And not just 'any ol' guitar sound' but an authentic true valve sound to boot? That from using just ONE effects pedal (?) 'in line' between my geetar and my recording console I could get a decent, authentic 'amped' electric guitar sound??! Well praise Allah if this be the case! Have we really come so far? Surely this is still the stuff of Science Fiction? (You'll be telling me they've invented video phones next!!!) Wow! Where can we possibly go next eh?? I tell you man, this whole 21st Century lark is just blowing my mind amigo - the things we can do eh? OK, enough of this nonsense! If what you say is true Dave and you're not just pulling my leg here, then one of these HT-Dual thingymebobs sounds like just the ticket and exactly what I've been looking for. If this be the case then you my friend ARE 'The Man!' Thank you for potentially cracking this guitar-related Enigma Code for me! PS: If, however, it turns out that you are just humouring me here then remember ... I now know where you live (Nottingham!) OK, now where did I put that cheque book?
 
You know, the venerable Tech21 Sansamp GT2 is still a pretty great sounding all analog amp sim. It was the only thing I used for guitar and bass (and synth organ and whatever else) for years. Doesn't do Vox, though, which is the main reason I switched away. Behringer makes a much cheaper clone which sounds pretty much exactly like the original. Now Tech21 have the individual Character series, one of which is meant to do the AC30 thing.

If you're looking at Pods then you should also consider the Behringer V-Amps. That's what I went to when I finally decided I couldn't live without a Vox sound any more. At the time (2000) I actually spent some time playing through the various offerings from Line6 and even the Vox Tonelab things and even though I had the money for the more expensive ones, I thought the Behringer sounded more like what I wanted. The fact that it also had more amps and cabs helped, too. I've had bother the guitar and Bass versions in both the tabletop "pod" versions and the rack-mounted Pro versions. I was still using them for live work until just after I joined up here last year and went to a laptop running PodFarm2.

I guess this almost comes across as an ad for Behringer. Believe me, I have seen more than my fair share of shoddy Behri gear gone to hell, but somehow the V-Amps have lasted for years, and the pedals are just too cheap to pass up considering how faithful they are to the originals that they emulate, and they're about cheap enough to be disposable. If they fall apart in a year or two, they're easy enough to replace.
 
there's a ton of amp modelers out there ...... PODs are antiques modeling-wise but they work although as ashcat says ... I've found the V-Amp to sound better than the POD and I do have both.

Zoom makes some decent ones that don't cost much, like the G3 ..... Line 6 makes newer stuff that's aight and they even still make some PODs but the current ones are a lot better than the old POS 2.0s...... if money's not an object then the Fractal unit is the one to go for.
VOX makes some ..... for easy set up I sometimes even gig with a VOX Stomplab direct into the PA ..... it's only 90 bucks and sounds about as good as any of the inexpensive modelers.
There's a zillion of 'em.

And an old Bassman put out more like 50 watts.
 
Tech 21 VT Bass Deluxe for bass and the Sansamp GT2 for guitar. If you have tracks to spare record both the dry signal from the instrument and the output of the modeler so you can reamp later.
 
Ok John!
Heh! Just hold those fiscal horses a moment!

Yes, the HT-Dual and its stablemates is an excellent product (I can say that now I don't work there any more!) but, while the pedal goes a LONG WAY to putting a "smokin' stack" silently under your hoof, like all the other simulations of a "real" micc'ed up guitar amp, it ain't perfect!...Let me tell you a bit about how it works..

The guitar signal is first boosted by a very low noise, high headroom IC amp that produces a hefty signal to drive two ECC83 valve stages and as I said, that valve is run at the 300volts that you would find in a "proper" amp. The box also gives you bass, treble and mid EQ and the patented "ISF" control. There are effectively 3 modes, clean, crunch and Wha-hayyyy! That signal would normally go on to feed a guitar amp and speaker but a second channel (extra jack) modifies the signal to suit recording or running thru a desk because the basic signal from a gitamp is "fizzy" and only sounds good when filtered by a proper guitar speaker. This "emulation" channel processes the sound to match not only the speaker but also a 4x12 cab.

But since you are UK John, take advantage of the Distance Trading Regs and try a pedal out?

And I live in NORTHAMPTON! This is the Town of Tone! Nott'ham is only famous for poncey lace!

Dave.
 
gentlejohn said:
Aha! Cool, thanks for the heads up harv! I need to pick your brains about the TASCAM 388 too .... I REALLY want one!!! Also, I get the whole guitar treatment thing (dry DI electric guitar straight into the desk can sound very plain & 'unnatural') but, where bass is concerned, does a Bass Pod make a big difference? I realise I need to come up with some e gtr solution but I was kinda hoping I could get away with just sticking my bass (a RiC) directly into the desk with no interface/effects. PS: More personal TASCAM 388 revelations J.Harv! Are they as good in practice as I am making them out to be in theory (I've read the 388 .pdf manual virtual cover to cover twice now & it's becoming a bit of an obsession to track one down!) Also, out of interest, what did you pay for yours if you don't mind me asking?? ARRGGGH! Sooo many questions .....
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John.
Yeah... I think using a POD makes a difference for bass.For me personally anyway. But you can get a nice clean sound by plugging in directly too. You just have to get the levels and eq right.But to me it's still easier to plug into a pod and dial up a pretty nice tone quickly. I also usually compress the bass through an old dbx 163x compressor after I have recorded the part. As for the tascam 388....I love them. I own two of them that are in good working order. I was asked to sell one but I just cant seem to let it go. If my primary one blows up,I'll at least have a back up. They're super easy to work with and sound pretty damn decent. The first one I bought for $500 my second I got lucky and only paid $150.It needed a little work,but I had an old spare parts 388 that I picked at and got it up and running.The second one now lives under my bed until needed. Here is a cheesy pop song I wrote and recorded on the 388 using guitar and bass PODs. No computers used.

https://soundcloud.com/jasonharvey/you-gotta-hold-on-me-jason
 
j.harv said:
https://soundcloud.com/jasonharvey/you-gotta-hold-on-me-jason
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That's is very, VERY good Harv!!! Completely musically 'up my street' for sure! Thanks for sharing! I'm back off to SoundCloud for some more critical listening (in the meantime I want a FULL break down of exactly how you did it!) That's it, decision made, I'm definitely gonna track down one of these units (even if it does mean selling my great, great, grandmother!) "Norman? Shut that virtual door, I'm cold! Who are you talking to and what is that infernal racket playing in the background? Get back in here immediately you naughty boy!" "But Grandma it's Harvey and he's got some darn catchy toons he wants me to hear!" "That you naively describe as music my dear child is quite clearly the musical noodlings of Beelzebub and you must NEVER listen to it again!" "But Gran, the guy's got talent and you're making me angry now! Remember, you don't like me when I'm angry!" (TBC ... or most probably not!)
 
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I realize that I'm late to the party, but I'm gonna throw in my two cents anyway. I am in the same situation as you, I don't even own a tube amp because I couldn't even turn the thing on. I've used a Behringer V-amp and it is a nice product, but I would recommend a Peavey Vypyr VIP. It is a combo amp with a speaker, but it has a headphone jack that I plug directly into my Tascam 2488. It sounds pretty damn good to my ears, and when you're not recording you have the option to use it as a regular amp. Here are some recordings I did with my 15 watt Vypyr running directly into my Tascam:

C_Barker's sounds on SoundCloud - Hear the world

Hopefully that link works. The new Vypyr VIP's actually double as a bass amp too, and I think they sound really good for the price. A 20 watt goes for $129 new I think, and it's worth every penny.
 
Surprised no one has mentioned the fractal audio stuff yet. Playing guitar is my main gig, and the axe-fx is almost all I use anymore.

It's pricey, $2k new, but I haven't looked back. I only have one tube amp left. IMO, it's that good. Plus recording over USB is about as convenient as you can yet.
 
gdgross1978 said:
It's pricey, $2k new, but I haven't looked back. I only have one tube amp left. IMO, it's that good. Plus recording over USB is about as convenient as you can yet.
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I suspect that may be more than his entire studio budget.
 
Something cheap.A Johnson J station-$50 on Ebay and has a spdif output
 
$2k new,
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:eek:TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS??.... for a fx/simulator? for musicians???

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...HOHOHOHOHOH...HEEEEHEHEHEHE...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

note to self...file under

Great Moments in Monumental Musician Stupidity

$2k..right. Maybe in their parallel universe.

Let me pose a question...when's the last time you had $2k to spend on ANYTHING..let alone an fx unit?

This redefines absurd. Les' would fall to the floor in gut splitting laughter.
 
chronicle said:
:eek:TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS??.... for a fx/simulator? for musicians???

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...HOHOHOHOHOH...HEEEEHEHEHEHE...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

note to self...file under

Great Moments in Monumental Musician Stupidity

$2k..right. Maybe in their parallel universe.

Let me pose a question...when's the last time you had $2k to spend on ANYTHING..let alone an fx unit?

This redefines absurd. Les' would fall to the floor in gut splitting laughter.
Click to expand...

Not everyone's broke, and some people would rather save up $2,000 for a good piece of gear than spend $400 on a piece of crap combo amp every 6-12 months.

Considering the thing has amazing emulations of a ton of different high quality amps, and just a single JVM410 or Mesa Triple Rec is going to cost you over $2,000 anyway, it's not a bad investment if you're serious about your profession, be it musician or audio engineer.
 
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