Recording Guitar direct

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TravisBean

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My # 1 hurdle in getting the sound quality I'm looking for involves recording guitar direct. I have 3 vintage state of the art guitar preamps, Digiteck GSP2101 Artist, Peavy TransTube Fex, and a ProFEx 2, in addition to a Boss amp factory (plus variouse pedals). Now matter how I configure speaker emulation presets, overdrivin guitar still just sounds to "Brittle, Buzzy, harsh and trebly." With all that equipment I almost think I could get better recorded tone with an inexpensive Line 6 30 watt amp recorded with a Samsom C01 condenser mike.
Any suggestions?

PS, I live in a small apt, so I can't crank a Marshal to 11.

P1000178.JPG
 
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If you have to record direct, try various EQ settings with some slanted more towards bass and others trebly and try double or treble tracking your direct guitar. Try different outputs {eg, headphone}. Alot of experienced guitar players here say go much easier on gain/distortion/overdrive than you think you need, if you're going to layer.
You never know, it just might work.
 
1) Turn down the distortion.
2) Turn up the midrange and bass (filter down the high end)
3) Experiment!
 
Okay, I quit. I have tried and tried to convince you dweebs that you will NEVER be happy with the tone you get going direct with electric guitars, but the damn question keeps popping up, like mushrooms on a pile of cow shit after a summer rain.
 
stevieb said:
Okay, I quit. I have tried and tried to convince you dweebs that you will NEVER be happy with the tone you get going direct with electric guitars, but the damn question keeps popping up, like mushrooms on a pile of cow shit after a summer rain.
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:laughings:

G'mornin stevieB :D

I used to go direct until I A/B'ed the DI and mic'd cab. I'll stay with micing. ;)

As to the OP...experiment is key dude.
And yeah, back off the gain, tweak your EQ, and double track the rhythms.
NOT copy/paste.
:drunk:
 
stevieb said:
Okay, I quit. I have tried and tried to convince you dweebs that you will NEVER be happy with the tone you get going direct with electric guitars, but the damn question keeps popping up, like mushrooms on a pile of cow
smiley35%5B1%5D.gif
after a summer rain.
Click to expand...

I think your right. It's just so frustrating. When I listen to the headphone output of my GSP2101 (through a set of headphones) it sounds 3 dimensional, no buzzing, and LARGE, but when I record that same signal (yes, I've tried the balanced outs, the unbalanced outs, the headphone outs and the 1/4 outs) the results are less than satisfactory.
I've used digital EQ and isolated the freq band that cause's the buzzing, and attenuated it, with some degree of success, but this is at the expense of causing a slightly muffled sound.
I've taken the output of the GSP2101 and run it into the Transtube Fex and tried every single speaker emulation preset on the Transtube Fex (and Visa Verse) with only limited success.
I've taken the output of both the Gsp2101 and the TransTube Fex and run them through a Boss Amp factory and tried all the different speaker emulation presets (including those on the ProFex 2),
always with limited success. Always ending up with a sound which is either too brittle/buzzy or a sound which is muffled.

I think I'm just gonna buy a small LIne 6 amp, turn the gain all the way, set the master volume at about 3, and record it with a decent condenser mike.
I'm just so frustrated that I've got all this equipment and can't get a decent direct sound. (I'm only referring to over-driven presets, clean guitar presets sound fine)
 
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Hey dude...part of the problem with using headphones to dial in a sound (or to mix with) is that headphones are hyped. Usually in the bottom and top. So it'll be a bit misleading when ya hear your stuff.

Have you tried the double tracking, less gain route yet?
 
Thread is open again, I have no Idea who closed it or why.
OK, I see why, someone sad a bad word.
 
TravisBean said:
Thread is open again, I have no Idea who closed it or why.
OK, I see why, someone sad a bad word.
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Bad word? :confused:

oohhh....I see. Yeah "Direct" is a no-no round here.
:D

If I were you, I think I'd go with a dynamic instead of a condenser. Dynamics (like a shure sm57) play well with distorted guitar amps.

And I wouldn't give up on DI just yet. I've spent hours tweaking the sound when I was goin direct.
Once ya get close, it gets easier to find.

Patience me lad. ;)
 


Of course the tin sound here is from the Lumix ZR3 Cam Mike.
The signal chain of my guitar is: GSP2101>TransTube Fex>AkaiDps16 with Digital Delay>KRK Rokit 8 Monitors>Panasonic Lumix ZR3 Cam.
 
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Hang on!!!

I'll let you in on some secret impulses and amp modeling that is free. All you need is a clean line in, nothing touching the signal in. You need:

These impulses:

Index of /impulses

Grab these VST's:

LePou Plugins

Now, how to use them. Use a amp simulator (like the Nick Crow 7010 or 8505 for example from the VST's) as your first thing in your VST chain. It will sound like crap and way to distortiony. Next in your VST chain use the Poulin LeCab. In LeCab you need to enable impulses, and select one of the impulses (good one is the s-preshigh). That should get you started on a good sound.

Here's some examples (NOT MINE - Found of this topic: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/486916-new-fredman-style-awesometime-impulses.html):

or MP3 Player SoundClick

That's probably not the style of music your going for but you get the point!
 
Tell that to Lincoln brewster, he records everything direct using line 6 gear. Look him up on YouTube if you don't know who he is.
 
Modeled guitars are just fine if you take the time to tweak the sound.

Ignore the blowhards that tell you you can only mic an amp (and a tube amp at that).

It wouldn't be my preference to ONLY use models, but you've got to work with what you've got.
 
I've tweaked them every which way I can think of. I don't think that any of the newer Guitar preamps have got anything/a leg up on the GSP2101 or the Transtube Fex.
The best of the best have pretty much peaked out. For me, I've reached that crossroad where either I stick with preamps and my dedicated multitrack/Akai DPS16 or I make the switch to a computer based recording system.
 
If anyone ever gets a mic'd Marshall Stack properly emulated they will be billionaires... I would buy one in a heartbeat.
 
TravisBean said:
For me, I've reached that crossroad where either I stick with preamps and my dedicated multitrack/Akai DPS16 or I make the switch to a computer based recording system.
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As Dogbreath and I will tell you, stick with your Akai ! There's not many of us left......
 
stevieb said:
Okay, I quit. I have tried and tried to convince you dweebs that you will NEVER be happy with the tone you get going direct with electric guitars, but the damn question keeps popping up, like mushrooms on a pile of cow shit after a summer rain.
Click to expand...
I jes lurves me some shitty 'shrooms, brudda Steve ! :D
 
Try doing things backwards...

Using the GSP-2101:

Press the "Active Speaker Compensator" button (next to the XLR outputs) IN.

Connect the XLR outputs to your Akai DPS16 using an XLR to TS cable. Do not use an XLR/XLR cable.

Connect your headphones to your Akai DPS16.

Then try to adjust your GSP-2101 to achieve an acceptable tone.

May work...may not...but worth a try...
 
I went from living in an apartment to living with my girlfriend (now wife). I still don't do much micing, though it does sound better.
I understand your frustration. I did the guitars on the this track (see link below) with a Line 6 POD Live XT. The leslie background guitar and bass guitar were recorded direct a Behringer Bass V-Amp. I recorded this on a Tascam DP-01FX (before I switched to computer recording).

SoundClick artist: J Moody - page with MP3 music downloads

Granted, it's not the best tone but it came out alright. I'm pretty sure I used the onboard compression as well, though only enough to smooth out any inconsistencies in my playing. I would certainly listen to what these folks are saying...back off on the gain...double, triple, or even quadruple the track if needed...experiment with how you're doing things...maybe even look at running the Digitech through a mic pre amp or something.

Good luck.
 
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