Do you record guitars DI or mic an amp up?

[mickanos]

Hello

I was thinking today how awesome it would be to have a bass cabinet and guitar cabinet
to mic up for all my guitar and bass tracking, at the moment I go (dry) direct in to a valve preamp
and then get the sounds from a guitar amp modelling plugin

Just wondering if the DI route is what the majority of others do too?

If you were to mic up a guitar amp, would you record it dry and then get the sounds
ie, distortion etc, from a plugin? Or would that be totally defeating the purpose?

[cardell]

Hi, I DI.

I go through:

1. my Compressor/Limiter pedal (and sometimes my Chorus/Delay pedal) then into
2. my analogue mixing desk, then into
3. the computer....then through
4. Waves' CLA guitars plugins! Wow...

Stuart

[mickanos]

Hey

Yeh I just got the CLA series, it was you who led me to them actually, thanks again mate,
such a great plugin

At the moment I go
1: DI into a presonus preamp
2: the Presonus is connected to a BOSS 16 track digital portable console where the track gets laid
3: I then transfer the wav files from the BOSS to my PC
4: Then import them into my Cockos Reaper project file where the CLA awesomeness awaits!!

Do you think that awesomeness would be made even more awesomeness if I miced
clean guitar from an amp and then added the CLA plugin to that sound?

[cardell]

4: Then import them into my Cockos Reaper project file where the CLA awesomeness awaits!!

..love that! Yes 100% true...

Do you think that awesomeness would be made even more awesomeness if I miced
clean guitar from an amp and then added the CLA plugin to that sound?

I guess you could try the amped version with the re-amping setting (in CLA guitars) off. It's kinda a constant quest for the ultimate guitar sound...
...(as you know doubt realize)...

Stuart

[jazzstan]

In order of frequency that I use (caveat: most of my stuff is pretty "clean", tho') for electric:

1) the direct/line output from a Pod Pro ... in essence a DI. I'll add reverb & compression via plugins.. sometimes some distortion via my Sonar X1's channel strip
2) An Art tube preamp (with a single 12ax7) .. if I want just a bit of grit and tube compression before going to the DAW
3) A 3-watt Blackheart Tube amp (two 12ax7's) thru a THC hotplate direct to DAW.
4) Same as #3 but thru a 12" Eminance Greenback in a openback cab, and Mic'd.
5) Finally, if I really want to p*ssoff my neighbors, then thru my refurbished 100-watt 1970 Twin Reverb.

I've AB'd the ProPro direct with the ART pre-amp, and there is slightly warmer mid-range tone with the ART.

[gtrmann]

I am a old guy ( if you consider 50s old ), so I mic a amp......

I plug into my pedalboard which consists of several overdrive / distortion pedals, a compressor, and a delay

into something like a Fender Super Reverb, a Marshall 1987, or a Roland JC120 ...

I typically mic the amp with something like a Shure SM-57, a Royer R-121, or maybe Sennheiser MD-421

I typically use either a GAP73 Pre or a channel on my old Soundcraft 800B into my DAW...

My garage home studio is fairly insulated, so volume is not usually a problem

This works for me.... but again, I am old.....

[mojobone]

I was miking my 12" speaker with a Shure SM57, until I realized that I could not tell the difference between tracks recorded in this fashion and those I'd done direct through my POD X3L's XLR outputs, (with speaker and on-axis SM57 simulation engaged) so now I just use the POD X3L direct, unless I want natural feedback or to feel the breeze from my 4X10' cab flapping my bell bottoms. I can get just a smidge more punch and presence from my VHT Special Six for parts that are exposed and need a bit of grit and sparkle, but I don't often need that in a busy mix with drums, keys and whatnot.

I think for younger guitarists, it's probably best to get a really great tone happening in the room to help inspire the playing, but it can be tricky to translate the room sound to hard disk. When I record other guitarists, I'll often take a clean DI in addition to whatever's being amped; I can reamp later if someone changes their mind, but for myself, I almost always know exactly what I want to hear going in.

[Kolstad]

Most often I record electric guitars with a DI, or even just through the preamps in the external interface (when they don't need to stand out). And then process the signal in the box with an ampsim plug-in, mostly Amplitube and Waves GTR.

But if I'm doing sessions for others (I want to provide something others can't) or want a more pleasing tone (in the room, as Mojo says), I use my tube amp with my TC Electronic Nova System. I run the Nova into the amp, and use the line out, so I don't have to mic it. I've found that the direct out sounds really good on the Fender.

So, I think it's about having some options. I like the tone better when I'm not DI'ing, and it's also faster to dial in.

[playagibson]

I've been using Amplitube and guitar rig for the most part. This has to do with convenience more than anything else.
I'm a purist at heart and the best sounds come from micing an amp. In my case the amp needs to be played loud to get the tones I like. I also find when the mic is set for a loud amp it doesn't pick up as much hiss etc... The down side is you need a studio setup which is conducive to this recording environment and you need a variety of mic's to capture the sound your after.
If you can mic, do it. If not, today's plugins sound darn good.
Either way, don't sweat it.

Rich.

[fullbirdmusic]

Guitar Rig is the best-sounding plugin I've used. I will probably never be able to duplicate the sounds I can get from that plug simply because I don't have that many amp/mic combinations available. And I don't have an awesome-sounding room. There's plenty can be done with plugins nowadays - on the cheap.
For inspiring playing and creating new sounds, an amp is always better for me. But if I know what I want to track and how I want it to sound, it's going into Guitar Rig. It's just that easy. HTH