direct rec'ding w/guitar pedals... which?

[jacktorn]

My big question for the forum is something I don't think I've seen discussed in much detail. That is: who thinks they get a better sound (and less hassle) from a guitar pedal going direct into a mic-pre, or mic'ing an amp? As good as some of these pedal sounds seem, they sometimes sound a bit too much like.... a direct pedal, if you know what I mean. The distortion doesn't quite match an amp distortion, etc. (your basic Digitech pedal and so on). Sometimes the sound turns out great, with just the right mix. I like being able to just get a guitar sound through a piece of outboard gear, without always having to mess with a software effect onto a dry guitar track. But of course then you're stuck with the pedal sound you put in. Any recommendations on pedals to use, for flexibility and amp-sound realism? Tell me yer stories. Thanx, jt

[jeffe]

The guy that produced the Coldplay album 'Parachutes' came up with a solution that satisfied him and the guitarist.The guitarist wanted to hear his own effects back, but the producer wanted a drier sound for the recording, so that he could get the right effects for the mix. So he split the outputs. Sending a dry version to the recording equipment. The second output is what the guitarist wanted to hear while he was playing, and that was sent to his P.A.So you can have the best of both worlds, but generally, a producer will want to record it relatively dry.

[gitarrero]

hi,currently I'm mostly micing my amps, but that needs the proper environment (quality of amps, guitars, mics, room, etc).I used line6 pod 2 for quite a while when I had a much lower budget - I'm still using the unit for pilot tracks or sometimes for a special sound that the pod does great.in my ears the pod XT sounds harsh in the highs in distortion mode, so I really would recommend pod 2 if that is an option for you.besides that, the right guitar (if you want to have distorted, fat tracks, you need a humbucker in bridge position) as well as the playing chops are two more very important factors. you may post an example of your work here so we might can give suggestions how you can improve your sound.PS: here are some examples of some of my work completely done with emulators:hard metal track:http://www.martytone.ch/songbase/stream ... ile=39solo over technotrack:http://www.martytone.ch/songbase/streamit.php?file=38as you hear, it's a lot possible even with a simple setup.hope that helps,cheers,martin

[yod]

I've got the Roland VG8 and love it!For home recording it is fantastic. I've used it in nicer studios and no one can tell that it is "memorex". For live gigs its the best thing going because you can even set it for alternate tunings and what comes out of your amp with the push of a button is amazing.It simply has the best overall tone and more options to manipulate the signal and will model more guitars/amps/pickups/mics than any other guitar pedal.they are much cheaper these days than when I got mine..about $350-500 I think?

[gitarrero]

Quote:I've got the Roland VG8 and love it!For home recording it is fantastic. I've used it in nicer studios and no one can tell that it is "memorex". For live gigs its the best thing going because you can even set it for alternate tunings and what comes out of your amp with the push of a button is amazing.It simply has the best overall tone and more options to manipulate the signal and will model more guitars/amps/pickups/mics than any other guitar pedal.they are much cheaper these days than when I got mine..about $350-500 I think?opinions do vary, and here I have to disagree. I owned the vg-88 and I found the amp models terrible, especially the ones with distortion.I mainly used the guitar models from it over other amp-simulators such as pod2 - of course the versetaility is an advantage, but in the studio the "real" guitars beat the vg ones in my ears & experience.as I said, opinions do vary - so if it works for you & you're happy with it, that's great. I just don't share that point of view.my 2 cents;)martin

[yod]

Quote:Quote:I've got the Roland VG8 and love it!For home recording it is fantastic. I've used it in nicer studios and no one can tell that it is "memorex". For live gigs its the best thing going because you can even set it for alternate tunings and what comes out of your amp with the push of a button is amazing.It simply has the best overall tone and more options to manipulate the signal and will model more guitars/amps/pickups/mics than any other guitar pedal.they are much cheaper these days than when I got mine..about $350-500 I think?opinions do vary, and here I have to disagree. I owned the vg-88 and I found the amp models terrible, especially the ones with distortion.I mainly used the guitar models from it over other amp-simulators such as pod2 - of course the versetaility is an advantage, but in the studio the "real" guitars beat the vg ones in my ears & experience.as I said, opinions do vary - so if it works for you & you're happy with it, that's great. I just don't share that point of view.my 2 cents;)martinspoken like a purist and I totally respect that When the kids and wife are asleep, I can be playing a Les Paul through a stack of Marshalls without waking them up. I can switch to a dobro or a twelve string SG without dragging out gear in a few seconds. For that application, nothing beats the VG8I use it exclusively in my little home demo workshop but when I go to a "real" studio, I use a "real" ampHowever I have used it on a couple of occasions in the studio and no one has ever been able to tell the difference...so it's great in a pinch. In a previous band, there was a song we did that required 4 verrry different tones with a couple of strange tunings. That song was impossible without the VG8The VG88 is different. The updated models of the VG8 weren't as good as the original, imo, but most of what I use it for is rhythm guitars on the fly.

[mazz]

Radial Engineering makes really great interface boxes, I have a stereo passive DI from them that "sounds" fabulous. I record my keys through it to a tube pre and it warms things up nicely.They have a couple of boxes that may address your needs and issues. The build quality is excellent on these things, they'll last a lifetime, and they use top quality components. Worth a look:http://www.radialeng.com/re-jdx.htmhttp ... .htmMazzPS: I almost always recommend recording a dry guitar track in addition to an effected track. You may or may not use it but it may save your bacon one time when your effect cuts out on an otherwise genius take!

[gitarrero]

Quote:spoken like a purist and I totally respect that When the kids and wife are asleep, I can be playing a Les Paul through a stack of Marshalls without waking them up. I can switch to a dobro or a twelve string SG without dragging out gear in a few seconds. For that application, nothing beats the VG8I use it exclusively in my little home demo workshop but when I go to a "real" studio, I use a "real" ampHowever I have used it on a couple of occasions in the studio and no one has ever been able to tell the difference...so it's great in a pinch. In a previous band, there was a song we did that required 4 verrry different tones with a couple of strange tunings. That song was impossible without the VG8The VG88 is different. The updated models of the VG8 weren't as good as the original, imo, but most of what I use it for is rhythm guitars on the fly.hey yod,it would be very interesting for me (as well as for other users I guess) to hear some samples from the vg 8 you refer to (i.e. snippets of productions with the vg 8, maybe a single track of a guitar-simulation, etc). I'm always open to learn new things and views and maybe revise my opinion.as I said, I used the vg 88 and wasn't satisfied - is the vg 8 diffrent?thanks,martin

[ddusty]

I play live more then i do in the studio, so i have a good feeling for my amps and pedals. If you know what sound you are going to want before hand, I think it's best to mic the amp with your pedals and sounds set. I know that is counter intuitive to our producer side, but I was a guitar player long before i was trying to record this stuff.That said i like the idea of running the 2 tracks, one clean and one effected. There is also the "re-amping" method, where you record it clean, then if you want, run that signal through an amp w/ effects and record it to another channel. I haven't messes with this too much but i know that some people do it.Rob

[ernstinen]

Quote:I play live more then i do in the studio, so i have a good feeling for my amps and pedals. If you know what sound you are going to want before hand, I think it's best to mic the amp with your pedals and sounds set. I know that is counter intuitive to our producer side, but I was a guitar player long before i was trying to record this stuff.That said i like the idea of running the 2 tracks, one clean and one effected. There is also the "re-amping" method, where you record it clean, then if you want, run that signal through an amp w/ effects and record it to another channel. I haven't messes with this too much but i know that some people do it.RobGood points. I think that if you have a good guitar/amp/effects sound, it's a far superior sound to mic the amp. That said, I often record(ed) my guitar in stereo with the amp sound on one track and a direct Rockman sound on a second track. Worked great. This was through a Boss stereo chorus, with just a little bit of effect dialed in.As a producer, I've done the "re-amping" technique before when I got a project to re-mix a rock band. The guitar sound was, er, terrible, so I ran the track into my prized Soldano half stack, put a 57 on the cabinet and a condenser catching the reflection off the wall of my iso booth (checking for phase problems), and VOILA!, Seymour Butts sounded like Eric Clapton! Ern