Recording Electric Guitar

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Susanstunes
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Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Susanstunes » Sun May 29, 2022 9:02 am

Hi 'all
Is it an acceptable sound if you record an electric guitar directly into your DAW?
I am probably going to purchase a Fender Strat on sale at Guitar Center. But buying an amp could cause some issues in my house.

Does anyone have experience recording this way?
Any problems, comments, suggestions?

Thanks
Susan Hillman

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by gitanosoy » Sun May 29, 2022 9:21 am

Hi Susan,
Yes it is acceptable. I don't know which DAW or audio interface you are using. Most audio interfaces have a preamp built in and any effects can be added after for which ever sound you are going for. There are also amp stimulators that can be purchased if you are not satisfied with what your DAW offers...i.e Waves PRS supermodels.

As far as guitars if you need advice I can also help you if you tell me exactly which series of Fender you are planning to but and where it is made.

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Telefunkin » Sun May 29, 2022 10:11 am

Hi Susan,
You could spend weeks trawling Youtube for info on this :)
Here's a start though..
https://musicianshq.com/how-to-record-g ... ete-guide/

Options include:
- just plug in to your interface and capture your DI signal, and if the sound is a bit plain without an amp but you can cope with that, then fine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaj8Pgj0oM
- Use an amplifier that has a silent recording option (and you might plug that into your interface or go into your computer via USB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISieaO4xwM
- get an amp/cab/mic simulator box (or multifx pedal that does the same) and plug it into your interface (or a Kemper profiler if money is no object :shock: :) )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD1X2323WxI
- get an interface that has guitar preamps built in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duk61l_hkh8
- just plug in and record your DI signal, but then use an amp/cab/mic sim plugin (there's loads)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVaJs4h7MjU

There are advantages/disadvantages to each option (eg cost, monitoring, latency, ability to modify the tone after recording, etc).

After a short time spent down the Youtube rabbit hole you'll soon get the impression that everything is aimed at making heavily distorted sounds. IMHO that's where all the gadgets excel, but cleaner tones that sound like a genuine amp just starting to fatten up nicely without sounding distorted is where they are less convincing without some work to tune them a bit. Nevertheless, its worth exploring to see whether you can find what you like. The easiest/cheapest things are plain DI with no frills, or plain DI plus free amp sim plugin. Everything else will start to add cost and might still not be exactly what you want. Only you will be able to decide what works for you though.

I hope some of this helps. Best of luck Susan on this perilous journey :).
Last edited by Telefunkin on Tue May 31, 2022 11:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Susanstunes » Sun May 29, 2022 1:24 pm

gitanosoy wrote:
Sun May 29, 2022 9:21 am
Hi Susan,
Yes it is acceptable. I don't know which DAW or audio interface you are using. Most audio interfaces have a preamp built in and any effects can be added after for which ever sound you are going for. There are also amp stimulators that can be purchased if you are not satisfied with what your DAW offers...i.e Waves PRS supermodels.

As far as guitars if you need advice I can also help you if you tell me exactly which series of Fender you are planning to but and where it is made.

Thanks Andre! I use Presonus Studio One DAW and interface. I do have a nice amp plug in which comes with Studio One. Went and tried out a few guitars and bought a Player Series gorgeous sounding and looking Strat.

Excited!

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Susanstunes » Sun May 29, 2022 1:27 pm

Thanks Graham
I did buy a Player series today. It's gorgeous!! Sounds wonderful too-wow!
I will checkout those links you put up as I get started on my new adventure.

All the best, Susan

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sun May 29, 2022 3:36 pm

You can also get isoloation boxes if you want to record a real amp without annoying the neighbours

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Telefunkin » Sun May 29, 2022 4:07 pm

cosmicdolphin wrote:
Sun May 29, 2022 3:36 pm
You can also get isoloation boxes if you want to record a real amp without annoying the neighbours
Yes, that's another option, but they're not silent, cost a lot for the lined box, plus your choice of speaker(s), plus your choice of mics, then you still need an amp to drive them, and they can take up a fair amount of space. Some say its worth it because you record moving air like you would when mic'ing a cab normally, but others say the small enclosed boxes never sound the same. Better still, you can build a totally (as far as possible) sound-proofed room and put a 4x12 cab in it with a couple of correctly phase-aligned mics, and run it flat out but that's a luxury few can run to..... although Tim Pierce can, and he says he runs it 'jet-engine loud' :).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiWnpBuFkX0

Anyone using an isolation box?
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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by melodea » Mon May 30, 2022 1:58 am

I've been recording for years with AXE FX II directly to DAW (no amp no cab) and was quite happy except the clean sounds were lacking of definition and natural attack. When I saw the interview with the guitar recording guy on Taxi TV I changed my approach. He suggests running an amp really soft and mic it with an SM57. No bother for the family and neighbors! I tried it and really loved it! I finally have the natural-sounding attack and definition combined with the amp sim (I run the signal thru a split box to have two signals, one going directly to DAW through the AXE).
[glow][/glow]Melodea a.k.a. Chris Moser

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Ted » Thu Jun 02, 2022 8:17 pm

Susan, congrats on the Strat. I have so many guitars but only got my first Stratocaster a couple of years ago ( a Player Series also-- the only thing I didn't like about it was that it had some fret sprout and I had to get the fret edges filed down a bit). I also find the bridge single coil on a Strat doesn't really do it for me on distorted power chords, but I have other guitars that fill that role better. But there are so many things that a Strat is so great at tonally--especially clean stuff.

Since I started recording stuff in the past few years, I only really use amp simulator plugins-- even when I'm just practicing, writing or noodling. Initially I used the stock amps in Logic Pro X but had issues with noise that I couldn't sort out so I started turning to 3rd party amp plugins and they're all I use now. I mostly use Amplitube 5 from IK Multimedia or some of the amps from Neural DSP. I also use some others like Native Instruments Guitar Rig etc. At this point, I can't see myself recording with a real amp. Doing it "dry" with amp plugins gives you the option to go back later and change any amp parameter you want and even to "re-amp" your already recorded guitar parts by running them out into a real amp and then mic'ing them and recording them. I haven't actually done that yet, but I know I can always do it in the future. And I don't have to commit to a particular setup when tracking guitars.

Most of the time when I'm playing but not recording I use these amp plugins in "standalone"mode on my computer without going through my DAW.

I don't know what kind of music you play but you can do some free trials of the Neural DSP plugins-- and if you like them wait for them to go on sale (they're usually half price on Black Friday). I think you can do a trial of Amplitube too.

I don't even like using real amps anymore. I have some big loud tube amps but I never play them. I was using a small Yamaha THR10 for several years and it's a great amp. Last year my brother got me a small 1-watt Supro Delta King tube amp. Even at 1-watt it can get pretty loud for my place. It's a fun amp though.


Good luck!

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Re: Recording Electric Guitar

Post by Kolstad » Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:41 am

Yes, recording guitar direct is perfectly viable. Many funk guitar sounds was recorded direct in the 1970s. Of course now you have amp.sims. I would suggest to listen to some guitar centric reference tracks in the genres you plan to record to get an idea of what tones to go for. And in the ampsim, make sure to control the top end by dialing it quite a bit down. That is often the source of the thin, hard, cardboard sound they are crititizised for. For genres like blues, folk, classic rock and country, you may eventually want an amp, but for everything else DI can work. Check out the Neural DSP amps, they are the current bizzbuzz. Happy playing with the new start, its such nice guitars!
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