unwanted clipping/dbx386

J

John LaGreca

New member
I have a dbx 386 mic pre. Strummed chords on acoustic guitar tend to distort a bit if I'm not really careful.
Would a compressor/ limiter hooked up to the 386 help this?
If so, any recommended models?
Is there anything else I should know?
 
Have you tried backing off on the drive knob?

Sure- a compressor would be a "safety net", but it's also gonna squash some life out of the sound.
 
John,

I have a 376 that I just used the other night for tracking acoustic guitar. First, is this an acoustic electric or a miced acoustic? If it's an acoustic electric try turning the gain on the guitar down some.

I find that the 376 (same as the 386 but mono) is very clean so use it's gain controls before you add gain from the guitar pickup. Basically, turn the input and output levels all the way up on the 386 and leave the gain on the guitar all the way down. Now slowly raise the gain on the guitar until you find a good level without clipping. If you're clipping with no gain from the guitar you'll have to back off the gain on the 386.

If there is still distortion the 386 has a compressor on it and you may want to use it. In the tracking stages I would suggest a very minimal setting. Start with a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 and experiment with different thresholds. The lower the threshold the more tight the sound (more compression). With higher thresholds you will get more sustain (less compression).

If you're micing I can't really help as I've never done that before but you can probably still utilize some of this info.

Hope this helps.

Stray

www.mp3.com/PerpetualProductio
 
Thanks!
I'm using a mic on an archtop guitar.
Single lines and finger picking sound fine, btw.
If I keep a certain distance from the mic and adjust all the levels just so, I can control it. It just seems I have to be REALLY careful on the strummed chords.
 
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