Recording a guitar without mic'ing it?

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tf5_bassist

The LouDogg
Here's one of my thoughts to record my guitar without having to crank it up and then mic it....

Guitar through the effects pedals desired... Then to my Crate BX-100 bass amp... go from the balanced Line Out on that to my recording rig...

Any thoughts on that?
 
My guess is it will sound crappy and noisy. But you never know until you try it.
 
Yeah, I thought about that... I do have a pre/post EQ choice on the line out on the amp... maybe that'd help shape the tone a bit... We'll find out though, soon enough... As soon as I get my new mobo/chip installed and a soundcard, I'll be testing that theory out. :)
 
I'm thinkin' that running the signal in & out of your amp is going to do more harm than good. Best bet is usually to mic it (IMO), but if you've got a cab simulator in your effects pedal collection, I'd give that a shot first - keep the amp out of the loop.
 
Yeah, i thought of that one too... I don't have any sort of amp or cap simulator, really... I was thinking of going through the amp as a clean way of DIing into my comp... *shrugs* I dunno... hehe
 
i'm having good success with the Tech 21 SansAmp Classic!

i had been recording with an SM57 up close and a AT4033 a few feet away from a Fender Hot Rod Deville with really good results, but can't always play that loud.

then i got a whirlwind director DI box and connected that to the 2nd amp out thats in the back of the fender amp. this sounded really good and meant i didn't have to play around with mic placement, but of course didn't help in the noise department.

then I got the sanasmp, and the fender is now in the closet. i only take it out for gigs and when i've gotta have that double mic'd sound.

ARE YOU A BASS PLAYER? i use the Tech21 Sans Amp Bass DI to record a Conklin Groove Tools 5-string and it sounds great. Using the Sans Amp Classic was a compromise because cranking up the amp can be a bit much sometimes, but using the sansamp bass DI was a choice based on sound quality.
 
Yes, I'm a bassist, and a guitarist. Guitarist longer than bassist however. My last band (of two years) nearly fully converted me over hehe. So the Sans Amp Bass works well? Heh... The Conklin GrooveTools 4 string is the bass of my dreams! *LOL*

I don't have any of this spiffy expensive gear, so I'm just going to have to go from my Ibanez Iceman bass, to my Crate BX-100 and line-out to a mixer or soundcard. *shrugs* Simple, dirty, but effective. At least until I can get some new gear..
 
Crosstudio, just out of curiosity, are you having success recording clean or distorted guitar? I do like running clean direct out of my RP100 (there's a great Jazz guitar preset), but nada for dirty.
 
Is the Sans Amp Bass DI really as great as it should be? I have been more and more wanting a SansAmp for recording at like, four in the morning (when I'm actually awake heh), but apprehensive on buying one still. But if it can give as good a tone as some claim, I may have to break finally lol. Ooooh... Conklin GrooveTools... *drools* Best bass I've played ever. Hmm... SansAmp... may have to consider it.

crosstudio said:
i'm having good success with the Tech 21 SansAmp Classic!

i had been recording with an SM57 up close and a AT4033 a few feet away from a Fender Hot Rod Deville with really good results, but can't always play that loud.

then i got a whirlwind director DI box and connected that to the 2nd amp out thats in the back of the fender amp. this sounded really good and meant i didn't have to play around with mic placement, but of course didn't help in the noise department.

then I got the sanasmp, and the fender is now in the closet. i only take it out for gigs and when i've gotta have that double mic'd sound.

ARE YOU A BASS PLAYER? i use the Tech21 Sans Amp Bass DI to record a Conklin Groove Tools 5-string and it sounds great. Using the Sans Amp Classic was a compromise because cranking up the amp can be a bit much sometimes, but using the sansamp bass DI was a choice based on sound quality.
Click to expand...
 
A recording partner of mine was doing that and I didn't actually know he was using his direct out from his amp into the recording system until I nailed him down on why the guitar sounded horrible. He was working on his solo project and was having problems with neighbors so he went direct and it SUCKS! Just a thin grainy no bite type of sound. Amp modelers sound WAY better than his direct in from his amp sound. He went out and got a GNX2 and gets much better sound now.

Mic it!
 
When I got my RP-100, I recorded three different amp combinations for the same song:

1. Guitar-->RP-100-->Crate DSP-->SM57-->ART Tube Pre-->ADAT

2. Guitar-->RP-100-->Crate DSP-->ART Tube Pre-->ADAT

3. Guitar-->RP-100-->ART Tube Pre-->ADAT

All of these were on a basic Mesa Boogie preset.

#1 was the best. #3 was ok. It had a fake feel to it, but was at least manageable (in fact, I used a combination of #1 and #3 using different presets and it sounded very nice).

#2 sounded like ass. My guess is because you are picking up the amp without the speaker, giving you a lifeless and odd quality, while adding the fakeness of the RP-100.

Cy
 
I had a Sansamp D1 bass direct box and ran my bass through it into my DAW and it sounded pretty good. Then I decided to try running my bass through my ART PROMPA Dual Microphone Preamp and a week later sold my Sansamp.
 
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