Recording Small Amps verses POD: opinions with my scenereo in mind.

B

Bobalou

New member
hey fellas. thanks. here's a quick summery:

I'm not a guitar player. I'm a singer/songwriter/pianist/drummer, I write and record my own music at my home studio (drums as well). all I really need is my co-workers (I'm in corporate entertainment/top 40) to come over and lay guitar tracks for me on my tunes. ...........my style is a 70ish rock/pop/bluesy combo leaning a bit more contemperary in production. (kinda like an early Journey/Stones/kravitz thing, meets dishwalla/matchbox20/Travis kinda blend) if thats even possible!

here's my thinking:

I'd like to get some small amps (very small) to record with, I seem to have more success with this approach. I'm lookinig at 3 flavors. a marshall, Vox, and fender. let me just say, I dont like using a POD, it just hasnt worked well for me with my tastes and my music.

if I purchased something as small as the Marshall MG15dfx, the Brian May Vox, and the fender blues jr. would these "real" amps, (though maybe considered "toys" to a gear snob), give me better results when layered and mixed than using a POD?..I've heard the amps in the store and the basic essance of each manufacterer seems to be coming through "to me" (eg. vov sounds like a vox, fender like a fender, etc..)

you guys see where I'm going with this? small low volume real amps verses the pod! I always lean towards the vibe of a real instrument over a processed one.

thanks again.
 
what POD did you use? the PODxt is much better than the older models, and that seems to be the most logical for your situation.
 
tom18222 said:
what POD did you use? the PODxt is much better than the older models, and that seems to be the most logical for your situation.
Click to expand...

hey tom,
thanks. yeah it was the xt. it seems to struggle in that slightly distorted clean sound. a bit flat/flubby/muddy kinda way!
 
Those amps are in no way a good representation of their manufacturers signature tones. They are good amps in their own rights to do what they do. But not the tone examples you are looking for.

Fender - Twin/Deluxe, Marshall Plexi/JCM series, Vox AC30/AC15. In the case of Marshall, there are several amps that will get you the "Marshall sound" what you are looking for is a valve amp with EL34s for power tubes. The "Fender" sound is a 6L6 power tube amp, and the "Vox" sound is an EL84 based tube sound. Stick to those and you're close to the sounds you actually are looking for.

That being said, it's goinna cost you alot of money...at least $500 a pop for those. So my recommendation is get a Pod. You can do alot with it. I have recorded with them and gotten really good results that impressed many people.

H2H
 
I'll go one step further. Get a POD, and a good power amp, and a good 1X12 cab, and a good noise gate. Then mic up the cab.-Richie
 
Bobalou said:
something like this?
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--ATOR112
Click to expand...


From what you're saying - sounds like a small tube amp might be the way to go. I have a POD XT for convenience, but it just doesn't compare to mic'ing up my amp and recording like that. Something like a second-hand Peavey Classic 15 makes a great small recording amp for sensible money.
Of course, then you're saddled with the difficulty of mic placement etc - but that's half the fun.
 
Richard Monroe said:
I'll go one step further. Get a POD, and a good power amp, and a good 1X12 cab, and a good noise gate. Then mic up the cab.-Richie
Click to expand...

A POD + a good monitor speaker might also do as a cheaper route.
 
i almost never record direct with a pod. for me, its guitar>pod>poweramp in on my crate vintage club>fender cab miced with an e609. it gives you the variety that modeling amps claim with a much more true, dynamic sound. i have never used a preset on the thing... its best to set everything up and hack away at the preset editing software on your computer.
 
thanks guys,

I'm trying to look at all options. I'm gonna look into some of the amps you've mentioned allready. I posted this earlier, but has anyone seen or heard of this little tube amp from atomic. its supposedly designed with amp modeling in mind???? thanks again
http://www.atomicamps.com/products.html
 
I use a small tube amp for recording. It's a Mesa/Boogie Subway blues. 1- 10inch speaker and 20watts. I absolutely love it!!!! Nothin fancy....just bass/mid/treble and
spring reverb controls. The tube sound outta this thing is pristine!! I would recommend this amp if you can find one. Mesa stopped making this model and I have yet to see one on ebay. Anyhow it was only about $400 new back in the day.
Could be worth a look around though.......

brumby
 
i bought a Demeter silent speaker cabinet

I take my pod xt, use the amp models only, put that into my mesa boogie head, as a power amp, and then through a speaker and mic setup....

the iso cab allows me to crank, without getting evicted.

here's an example of my first shot at recording with the iso cab.

here's the link to the mp3.....





what i used:
elec guitar>>podxt>>mesa boogie efx return>>demeter iso cab>>57>>art dps>>convertor>>vs
 
GONZO-X said:
I take my pod xt, use the amp models only, put that into my mesa boogie head, as a power amp, and then through a speaker and mic setup....

the iso cab allows me to crank, without getting evicted.

here's an example of my first shot at recording with the iso cab.

here's the link to the mp3.....





what i used:
elec guitar>>podxt>>mesa boogie efx return>>demeter iso cab>>57>>art dps>>convertor>>vs
Click to expand...

Gonzo, very groovy BTW!...i really! dig the tone you're getting at the 2:22 part of the tune, very phat! (if you could elaborate on that) ....the clean stuff is a bit too chimey/Jangley for me) However, i know thats what you were going for...very nice playing, the leads were screamin!

maybe you can give a listen to the link i supplied above and tell me what you think those cats were usin?

thanks for the link
 
thanks, bobalou-
only info i could find on dishwalla.....

dishwalla, opaline

P-bass, Les Pauls, Teles and vintage amps and keys

bassist Scott Alexander uses the [ODB-3] Bass OverDrive and CEB-3 Bass Chorus
 
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