Using A Cabinet Simulator Circuit To Record

[fivesixonesk8er]

Im going to be recording a band next week at my studio. The guitarist just got a Randall Vmax full stack and it has this "new technology" for guitar heads that has a cabinet simulator circuit that is suppost to sound like a mic'd cabinet without a mic. I was thinking of using a SM57 but I dont know what would sound better. Has anyone tried this in there recordings?

 

[fivesixonesk8er]

Anyone Heard of One??

 

[Farview]

If it is from Randall, use the '57. I've seen the Randall/Washburn company and how they work. Most cabinet simulators don't work very well. I would use both, just so you have the '57. The simulator could suprise you, but I doubt it.

 

[scrubs]

I'm not familiar with that one, but most cabinet simulators are a poor substitute for the real thing (sometimes useful for recording in an apartment for noise considerations). If your guitarist wants to try it out, use both the cab simulator and a mic. That way, you can use the best sound and/or blend the two together.

 

[fivesixonesk8er]

The guitarist said it was a "New Technology" to guitar amps because normally only Bass amps have cabinet simulators on it...

I guess still one one has tried this kind of thing?

 

[Farview]

Bass amps don't have cabinet simulators on them. They have line outputs. Bass (in general) can do without speaker breakup, guitars can not. Your friend is reading some hype about his new amp and believing it. If that hype came from Randall, you can assume the opposite.

 

[fivesixonesk8er]

I guess No One has tried a Cabinet Simulator on a guitar amp huh?

 

[scrubs]

I guess No One has tried a Cabinet Simulator on a guitar amp huh?

Well, I haven't used one from randall. I do have a crate that has a cab sim on the line out and it generally sounds like ass compared to a mic on the speaker (even on a lowly crate). Every hardware or software cabinet simulator (POD, Vamp, Amplitube, etc.) I've ever tried or heard has left me wanting for a real mic on the cabinet sound. That being said, the technology is always improving. It may get you close enough. The only way to know is to try. As I mentioned above, I would track both just so you're not fucked if you don't like the simulator tone when you're mixing down.

 

[Farview]

I guess No One has tried a Cabinet Simulator on a guitar amp huh?

I was around when they were putting together the Warhead (for Dimebag) and The Colossus (for Paul Stanley). I saw the compromises that were made, the lack of planning, The way that they would come up with great ideas and shoot themselves in the foot by building it wrong. As far as I'm concerned, anything that Washburn/Randall makes has a 90% chance of being a poorly implemented great idea.

If the cabinet simulator sounds good, it's an accident. I wouldn't count on it.