Tame distortion on guitars

[spidernook]

I was wondering what plug-in you use to achieve distortion that sounds "distorted" but doesn't sound abrasive or harsh. Like, the distortion I hear in any TV ad that has some lame, canned pop punk rip off music in the background- it has bad music but the guitars sound full and not too edgy. I have some great plug-ins now but it's still hard to get a direct guitar to sound the way I want it. Here's what I have:

Guitar Rig 2
Amp designer- Logic 9
SSL 4000 collection
UAD-2 card with LA2A, LA3A, 1176, EMT 250
Ozone 4

....and a bunch of other stuff. I go directly into a Pendulum Audio MDP-1 that I just bought but haven't really had to the time to use as I've been on the road.

Any tips?

 

[DrewPeterson7]

I was wondering what plug-in you use to achieve distortion that sounds "distorted" but doesn't sound abrasive or harsh. Like, the distortion I hear in any TV ad that has some lame, canned pop punk rip off music in the background- it has bad music but the guitars sound full and not too edgy. I have some great plug-ins now but it's still hard to get a direct guitar to sound the way I want it. Here's what I have:

Guitar Rig 2
Amp designer- Logic 9
SSL 4000 collection
UAD-2 card with LA2A, LA3A, 1176, EMT 250
Ozone 4

....and a bunch of other stuff. I go directly into a Pendulum Audio MDP-1 that I just bought but haven't really had to the time to use as I've been on the road.

Any tips?

Generally, that'll be the result of a mic'd amp, and not a plugin.

There's a few freeware amp modeling/cab sim plugins out there that really aren't too bad, and I'll leave it up to someone else who actually works with them to recommend something specific, but the VAST majority of "professional" recordings you'll hear today, be they CDs or product jingles, are still done with real amps.

 

[Ronan]

I have yet to hear a digital amp emulator that meets your needs.

If you must go direct, I would look at an old sansamp (not the plug in), which I find to work far better in mixes than any plug in for guitar.

 

[darrin_h2000]

Is that direct with cabinet simulation...or through an amp with a real miced speaker?

 

[LeeRosario]

you can try using a de-esser to smooth out the harshness, but other than that, you're looking at top notch gear, recording technique and mixing.

 

[darrin_h2000]

I might try that if I need to...I found they are great for squeak on acoustic guitars too.

 

[LeeRosario]

going a little further into the philosophies of distortion in recording (for general chit chat):


I think distortion guitar is just one of those things that suffers most when it comes to the recording process at home, because we're talking about really complicated, "fine grained detail" harmonics. I compare it to the nature of white noise. Clean things like voices, kicks, snares, clean guitars, etc are also complex waveforms, but not like distortion guitars.

You can generate white noise from your computer internally and it'll sound fine. Just good as is. But as soon as you send that out of your computer, to then bring it back in...then you start running into problems.

If it's not the mic or the room, then it's the type of distortion, the quality of the head, the cabinet, the preamp and I think most importantly that A/D process. Also, the approach. I think it takes time to learn how to setup a good and truly inspiring guitar track from the get go.

Internally, with a virtual guitar rig, it's really a crap shoot. For discriminating ears, it will lack that life. There's just no way around that.

Then you consider the physics behind different types of distortion. A rectifier type of distortion behaves and obviously sounds completely different than a fuzz distortion.

I think it's good to study exactly what *type* of distortion you're trying to mimic by learning the types that exist out there. Trying to match a rectified distortion against a crunch type distortion, for example, will drive someone nuts.

So to expand on my previous advice:

A de-esser works on smoothing things out, but I would spend as much time as needed figuring out what type of distortion (and gain settings) are gonna get me close to what I want.

Also, if you have something in the way of professional noise reduction, this also helps eliminate the "fizz" out of the signal (provided you spend time tweaking it), leaving just the hard crunch.

Waves Z-Noise is my go-to on that.

 

[Dogbreath]

Sounds like you (OP) may be hearing a tube type of distortion. As in a tube amp mic'd up with the overdriven tubes supplying the distortion.
just a thought as I'm not sure what ad you're talkin about.

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

Yeah, really the only plug-in that's worth using, is the "plug-in" on the front of a nice amp

 

[noisewreck]

I agree with the other guys on plugin distortion. As much as I am a digital nut and like obvious digital distortion, I have to say that plugin distortion software that claims to model analog hardware falls flat on its ass. All of it.

I've got Guitar Rig 3 and I use it for what it is -- DIGITAL distortion. As such I take full advantage of what you can do with it, that you can't do with analog hardware, like have an LFOs modulate unlikely parameters on the amps that any sane person going for a traditional "el distorto geetar" wouldn't do.

Having said that, try hitting that little "+" button found on many modules in Guitar Rig and play with the "advanced" buttons. On the amps you'll find things such as "bias", "sag", and other controls that might help you find-tune the sound.

Also, make sure you don't distor your guitar as much as you think you should. This doesn't work so well on real analog amps, and is even worse with "analog modeling" distortion software.