Recording Direct

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loveofjazz

loveofjazz

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While closing down last night, I realized my Mesa Boogie Mk III had a direct output. Anyone ever try recording with the direct on a Mesa? If so, what kind of results did you get?
 
My theory is if you have the equipment and room to mic it, then do it. DI is nice for scratch tracks, but doesn't have the same sound as a mic'd amp. However, DI might give you what you're looking for, it all depends on the song. But in general, DI for guitar is a no no. Bass, on the other hand, works well DI'd.
 
Do an A/B and compare it. Typically direct from an amp will sound worse than a mic'd amp or even an amp modeler.

Just make sure your direct out is not a "speaker out". You'll damage your recording equipment if you go through the speaker out jack.
 
fuck it, try it

if it sucks, don't do it anymore
 
loveofjazz said:
While closing down last night, I realized my Mesa Boogie Mk III had a direct output. Anyone ever try recording with the direct on a Mesa? If so, what kind of results did you get?
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I tried this with my Mesa DC3 and blew the amp. If you have a manual read up on how you're supposed to set it up cause I thought it was just a plug in and go into the interface and i'd be cool but from what I was told by the repair guy the power section has to be pushing something or the amp will do what mine did which wasn't good. Mine has a speaker mute switch so I'm assuming I should go into a cab and then flip that switch before I could go direct, but I'm not sure about that.
 
With D.I outs, its normally a matter of hooking up a 1/4 inch jack. I also disconnect the speaker, but thats because going direct cuts out the excessive volume. But bear in mind, you're losing all the tone your speaker adds to your amp.
 
Wow

...and this is why I come here to ask questions...
I'm a danger to myself, my equipment, and other people around me.

Found this on the Mesa Boogie PDF from Mesa's website...

DIRECT

Previously known as the SLAVE, this feature provides a variable strength signal right from the speaker jack. This way better tone is supplied, all Effects and Reverb are included, and there is absolutely no loss of the Boogie's tone when running from the Direct to a mixing board or another amplifier. (Many players will prefer a microphone "listening" to their speaker coloration.) In some sophisticated set-ups, players run their Direct into their Effects Rack and then from the Effects into other, external amplifiers. But such a set-up cannot route the effects back into the original Boogie. Also note that a speaker or load-resistor should be plugged into a Speaker jack when using the Direct. Load-resistor value...though not critical...can change the overall tone. Suggested value: 8 ohms, 50 watts minimum. And note that this resistor will get quite hot when running the Boogie "up loud" for long periods.


(sigh)

Jeez, I just need to move out of this apartment and into a house. Direct recording to produce a decent guitar tone just isn't gonna happen that easy, is it?
Thanks, y'all. I appreciate all the input. While I wouldn't have run a speaker output into my mixer, I would have attempted to get a straight sound from the Direct output. You probably saved me from doing some damage.

Thanks,
jimbo
 
TelePaul said:
With D.I outs, its normally a matter of hooking up a 1/4 inch jack. I also disconnect the speaker, but thats because going direct cuts out the excessive volume. But bear in mind, you're losing all the tone your speaker adds to your amp.
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I've told you this before, tube amps do not operate like SS amps. You can kill a tube amp quite easy doing what you described.
 
TelePaul said:
sorry dude, dont remember you telling me before.
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It was a couple weeks back and I probably wouldn't remember if I hadn't screwed up and done it myself.
 
I'll do bass DI when I'm being lazy but everything else, no. Air has physical propertys of it's own along with the mic that effect the sound and tend to round off the sharp edges just a bit. Not to mention the sound of the cab and other things, beer stains on the speakers and the humidity of the day.

Ok I'm done I think I surpassed my beer quota.

F.S.
 
Isn't the direct out of a Mesa Boogie essentially the same as recording a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp?

FWIW, I heard that Nirvana's Nevermind guitars were recorded extensively using the studio preamp into the board. Of course, who knows what version of urban legend I caught hold of on that one...
 
I blew my Marshall by discontecting the speaker and running a 1/4 inch cable from the preamp through to a PDI-03 speaker sim. The tech who repaired it said this is a common problem in his line of business - he explained it in terms of grounds and loads but the technical end of things went over my head. Basically I don't try that anymore!
Sometimes if I want a scratch track quickly late at night I plug out of the headphone connection on the preamp - this sounds fine for quick takes and is balanced so the levels are easy to monitor. Actually I reamped a part back through the headphone jack recently and doubled it with the same part reamped through the amp and mic and it sounded pretty cool.
 
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