What guitar pedal to record direct to Audio Interface

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trusso11783

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I currently record my guitar direct through a Steinberg UR44C interface. I have used a Line 6 Plus pedal board plugged in directly but I do not need anything as elaborate as this. I just want a single pedal that I could use to give my guitar a good Distortion sound when needed. I bought a BOSS DS-1X Distortion Pedal for $150. It gets rave reviews everywhere I looked. I plugged it in and the sound was so shrill. I do. It wish to use an amp.

What are you all doing to record your guitars direct? I can process the signal after it is recorded but I don’t want to play totally clean direct in without a pedal. I play rock but not metal.back in the 80s, I used a Rockman. Sounded great and easy to use but it would be dated now. I need a modern equivalent cersion of the Rockman. Anyone?
 
At the risk of being accused of spamming...You could look for a second hand Blackstar HT-Dual. Not only does it have 3 distortion modes but a real valve in it that works from 300 volts AND has an emulated output which should kill the harsh fizz.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
At the risk of being accused of spamming...You could look for a second hand Blackstar HT-Dual. Not only does it have 3 distortion modes but a real valve in it that works from 300 volts AND has an emulated output which should kill the harsh fizz.

Dave.
Click to expand...

There’s a video that just came out from a studio in LA that covers this pedal for recording .
The studio’s channel is called ultimatestudios,inc.
I’ve never tried one, but they seem to like it.

Other options that I actually use are....

Avid eleven rack.
lots of good usable and programable amp models in it, as well as effects. Because it's ‘dated’, they can be had for dirt cheap. But it works great and can even be used as a stand-alone unit

Amp one by Bluguitar.
Its a 2.5 lb 100watt power amp with 4 channels ranging from fender to boogie territories. You can hook it to a cabinet for use on stage, go direct out, use it for headphone practice or go into a recording rig.
I like it a lot and have used it in all those situations

One thing I particularly like about both units is that they have knobs. They feel and work like an amp. That helix type stuff drives me insane. :)
Hope that helps some.
 
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RFR said:
There’s a video that just came out from a studio in LA that covers this pedal for recording .
The studio’s channel is called ultimatestudios,inc.
I’ve never tried one, but they seem to like it.
Click to expand...

Could you post a link please? Not found it so far.

Dave.
 
Sorry Dave, don’t know how to post links on my phone.

Video was a live stream called “Distortion pedals! Types, sounds, setups and more”.

It could be its not available yet. sometimes I’ve found that happens with live streams.
 
RFR said:
Sorry Dave, don’t know how to post links on my phone.

Video was a live stream called “Distortion pedals! Types, sounds, setups and more”.

It could be its not available yet. sometimes I’ve found that happens with live streams.
Click to expand...

Ok, just that some of these reports give out wrong information because the guys involved do not have much of a clue about electronics and false information becomes LORE!

Can I add? The EM out from the Dual (and other pedals in the range) can feed directly into the 3.5mm jack of a laptop if the bod is pushed for an AI.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Ok, just that some of these reports give out wrong information because the guys involved do not have much of a clue about electronics and false information becomes LORE!
Click to expand...

What you talking about?? It’s not a pedal review show. Its a studio and they’re showing what they use and how they use it.

Besides, who gives a shit if they know electronics. All they have to know is how to use the gear to get good sounds.

And wasn’t that the question posed by the op?
;)
 
RFR said:
What you talking about?? It’s not a pedal review show. Its a studio and they’re showing what they use and how they use it.

Besides, who gives a shit if they know electronics. All they have to know is how to use the gear to get good sounds.

And wasn’t that the question posed by the op?
;)
Click to expand...

My mistake. I have an ongoing interest in Blackstar products and in the past certain statements have been made that are simply untrue (this has happened to other mnfctrs and I help there when I can)

Since I cannot at the moment see and hear the review I do not know what is said. Just because the people doing the tests know 'Jack Shit' about electronics does NOT stop them in my experience coming up with completely wrong conclusions as to how things work and can give false impressions.

At another forum I infest the moderators are very careful to stop any unfounded adverse comment to be made that could have seriously adverse commercial consequences to what are often quite small businesses.

I am sure HR mods are no less vigilant?

Dave.
 
Gonzo_X had been using the Strymon Iridium for some of his recent recordings. It sounds really good.

Check this thread along with his song Center of Everywhere. He gives a quick description of each different guitar setting.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/equip...strymon-iridium-demo-center-everywhere-403112


If I do any direct recording, I've got an old Line 6 Pod XT that I can use. A friend up in Canada that I know does a lot of clean work, and he uses a Digitech GNX4. He doesn't use any crunch or distortion settings tho. His stuff is more easy listening jazz based, with some "swirly" effects (chorus, etc).
 
The DS1 is a pretty decent distortion pedal, but it is of course meant to feed and amp. It also works fine to connect a passive guitar to most low-Z line inputs even when it’s bypassed.

It’s pretty obvious you don’t actually want a distortion pedal but rather an amp sim.

Have you considered VST amp sims? With the plethora of free and cheap plugins out there now, you could have a whole range of sounds without spending near as much as some of the above suggestions.
 
I probably mentioned it here before but I liked the Tech21 (SansAmp) "Character Series" pedals for that purpose. Looks like they've been largely dropped - maybe out of business, but the Joyo clones (for like 1/4 the Sansamp price) work just as well. They have, roughly, Fender, Vox and Marshal tones and you can control drive and output, as well as the "character" (lower case 'c') to cover the range of models, more or less. Very useful. (I've given mine away, along with electrics.)
 
Thanks to everyone who responded. I will look into the suggestions. All I care about is that I can plug in direct from guitar to pedal to Audio Interface (like the old Rockman of the 1980s). I do not want to use DI boxes and Re-amps. This should not be too difficult.

I do not want to use plugins while I am playing. I want to record the sound I am getting before it hits the DAW. I play differently when I have a clean direct sound than when the distortion is on. I imagine that if I am using a plugin, I would need to play clean (live) and add the plugin later. That would affect my playing. But thanks for the suggestion.
 
trusso11783 said:
....
I do not want to use plugins while I am playing. I want to record the sound I am getting before it hits the DAW. I play differently when I have a clean direct sound than when the distortion is on. I imagine that if I am using a plugin, I would need to play clean (live) and add the plugin later. That would affect my playing. But thanks for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
If you have low enough latency in your system, an amp plugin should be Ok to record and monitor your playing, but going in will allow you to have direct monitoring. You still won't have effects like reverb and tremolo unless you get some more pedals, and at some point it's going to be as (or more) cumbersome as a good modeler board IME.

You might consider using a DI to take a low/mic-level direct signal and record that dry while you get enough pedal effect(s) to let you play comfortably. Then you can still play around with some of the (pretty good) sims out there and possibly add those to one or the other tracks and even mix them.

Good luck!
 
Yeah I record through plugins all the time. Heck I play live through plugins. Most reasonably modern machines should be able to handle it.
 
trusso11783 said:
I currently record my guitar direct through a Steinberg UR44C interface. I have used a Line 6 Plus pedal board plugged in directly but I do not need anything as elaborate as this. I just want a single pedal that I could use to give my guitar a good Distortion sound when needed. I bought a BOSS DS-1X Distortion Pedal for $150. It gets rave reviews everywhere I looked. I plugged it in and the sound was so shrill. I do. It wish to use an amp.

What are you all doing to record your guitars direct? I can process the signal after it is recorded but I don’t want to play totally clean direct in without a pedal. I play rock but not metal.back in the 80s, I used a Rockman. Sounded great and easy to use but it would be dated now. I need a modern equivalent cersion of the Rockman. Anyone?
Click to expand...

The SansAmp classic stompbox seems to work wonders for this kind od things. Also the Radial JDX Direct Drive does a good job.

...but you could also use HP- and LP-filters for cab simulation. Just Cut everything below 100Hz and everything above 6kHz and you’re good to go ?
 
I have the old SansAmp GT2. It sounds pretty good. You can select from 3different types of amps; California, British and Tweed. Their basically replicating Boogie, Marshall and Fender amps. You can also select amount of gain or go clean. You can use it for mic too.
 
The Behringer clone of the SansAmp GT2 sounds identical to the original and is practically free in comparison.
 
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