Electric Guitar for Recording?

[wodinlord]

My 2 cents is - guitars are the INSTRUMENT. Get the best you can afford and get as many as you can. A good guitar will sound good through a plug or an amp. A cheap guitar will sound cheap through anything. Good doesn't have to equal expensive, but the sound and the tone comes from the guitar - after that is just amplification. I prefer to have 11 guitars that all sound different (I built about half of them) and use plugins instead of amps. As a recording engineer/producer, I have been known for getting great guitar sounds in a studio by micing and tweaking, but modeling has come so far, it just isn't worth the effort. I can get any sound I want through one of my plugins and one of my guitars in a few minutes in my bedroom studio. But these are all totally personal preferences - to each his own!Wodinlord BTW - you can always re-amp, too. Run the recorded direct signal out and amp and mic that. Cool sometimes too.

[djbobm]

Thanks Erich, Kerry, Steve, John, Mark, elser and billg for the quick replies. What great information and tips. I will do my homework on all your suggested products. This is exactly what I needed.Kerry, you are lucky to have an understanding wife. My wife is also a musician and understands the importance of a new guitar, speaker, keyboard, recording gear etc. versus something like, say a new refrigerator or new washer/dryer. Many wives just don’t understand what it truly important. We are lucky, indeed!I’m going shopping tomorrow. I’m psyched. I’ll keep you posted what I do.Thanks again.Bob

[ernstinen]

Jan 8, 2009, 1:03pm, wodinlord wrote:BTW - you can always re-amp, too. Run the recorded direct signal out and amp and mic that. Cool sometimes too.I had a client bring in some songs to have me re-mix. The guitar sound was, er, terrible. So I ran a direct out of his track into my Soldano, put a couple mics on it, and voila! 1000% better.Great idea, wodinlord! Try it --- you'll like it! Ern

[mojobone]

Paul Reed Smith's SE series also includes a three single coil (strat-style) version, though I can't recommend it if you play and record next to a computer monitor; single coils can pick up hum and noise even from an LCD flatscreen.. The SE series is a cut above most imports, IMO, and seriously rivals some american-built guitars. I take flack from some of my local guitar buddies for using a "computer" amp, but there's also something to be said for recording with a tone that inspires you. The goal for amp modelers is for their system to sound indistinguishable from a real amp miked up in a real room, as heard from the control room, over studio monitors, and IMO, the best of the current generation of modelers do that very well, but they don't feel like a real tube amp from the player's perspective, particularly if that player is used to having his bell bottoms flapping in the breeze from his 4x12 cab.

[feaker]

I have the PRS standard 24. It is a dream to play. I also have a Gibson ES335. It hardly ever gets played. Great sound, but the PRS is just so easy to play. I don't have the experience these guys above have, but i think you would really like the PRS. Paid around 1500 at the guitar center.I don't do any midi. Just the link from the back of the amp to the mixing board.I have a line 6 spider amp that is just so-so. Paul

[djbobm]

Hi Everyone!I spent 3 hours going back and forth over 2 guitars. I finally got the Paul Reed Smith single cutaway with the tobacco sunburst finish. It is a beauty. I haven’t played all that much in the last 10 years (I’m a piano player.) and after 3 hours, my fingers hurt so much that I didn’t get to play with any pedals. I think I’m going to give the guitar simulators in Logic a workout today and go from there. There I was, jamming away, dreaming of my long hair rock and roll days. I thought I heard some guys say, “Wow, it sounds like Slash is in town!” Then I got a rude reality check and realized what they said was, “Damn, I wish this guy would turn down!”Have a nice day everyone and thanks for your help. It is time to rock!Bob