I'm struggling to record high gain guitar at low volume

axisus

Anyone getting a good lead guitar sound recording at home?

I quite like the sound that I get out of my amps when playing at low volumes (Blackstar ID60, H&K switchblade, Axe fx mk1), but they never sound as good recorded. I’ve tried a (not particularly amazing) mic and it wasn’t great.

Tried Guitar rig (way too hissy)

Tried axe fx direct into computer, probably best of the lot, but still not exactly what I wanted. I have no footswitch, so no way to switch sounds.

Tried Blackstar direct into computer and it’s lacking something.

What works for you guys?

Fretwired

Guitar Rig has a noise gate which should help with the fizzy tones. I have a Line 6 POD which does high gain pretty well.

Check out this guys vids ..







Get a second hand POD.

ecc83

If you like the "in the room" sound of the ID60 then that is probably the way to go.

The goto mic for guitar cabs is the SM57 which can hardly be described as "amazing" !

From what I read about micc'ing up cabs. peeps tend to be a bit too loud and a bit too distorted.

Spend Sat' reading THE best treatise thus far on recording electric guitar in Sound on Sound Aug 07.

But! You have to know that this is always going to be tricky!

Dave.

Fretwired

ecc83 said:

If you like the "in the room" sound of the ID60 then that is probably the way to go.

The goto mic for guitar cabs is the SM57 which can hardly be described as "amazing" !

From what I read about micc'ing up cabs. peeps tend to be a bit too loud and a bit too distorted.

Spend Sat' reading THE best treatise thus far on recording electric guitar in Sound on Sound Aug 07.

But! You have to know that this is always going to be tricky!

Dave.

One of the best videos I saw on recording a guitar amp used a Fender Pro Junior which was lifted off the floor and mic'd with a '57 in the middle of a speaker cone and then two room mics were put around the room and the three were then mixed down into the final tone which sounded huge.

You do have to get a decent volume for a '57 to be effective.

PolarityMan

I cant help but feel that given that you have what is largely the most critically aclaimed amp modelling and recording tool in the world that it's a tweaking issue rather than a gear issue.

axisus

PolarityMan said:

I cant help but feel that given that you have what is largely the most critically aclaimed amp modelling and recording tool in the world that it's a tweaking issue rather than a gear issue.

Haha! Yeah, you are probably right! TBH I found the axe fx a bit of a pain to edit, small window, pretty confusing. Maybe I'll give it another shot. No switching is a bit of a dealbreaker at the moment, I need to get a cheap switch of some sort. I've only really used the Blackstar since I bought it so I've TOTALLY forgotten how to do axe fx editing

Fretwired

axisus said:

PolarityMan said:

I cant help but feel that given that you have what is largely the most critically aclaimed amp modelling and recording tool in the world that it's a tweaking issue rather than a gear issue.

Haha! Yeah, you are probably right! TBH I found the axe fx a bit of a pain to edit, small window, pretty confusing. Maybe I'll give it another shot. No switching is a bit of a dealbreaker at the moment, I need to get a cheap switch of some sort. I've only really used the Blackstar since I bought it so I've TOTALLY forgotten how to do axe fx editing

I missed the fact you had an Axe FX ..... go here for loads of patches  .. http://axechange.fractalaudio.com/

Ché

Smaller wattage amp, more power amp juice than pre amp gives you a fuller sound as its pushing the speaker more. More signal means more power for the speaker to output a decent bass response.

Listen with headphones or put the cabinet in another room and listen to what the mic is hearing. Move it around before touching an eq. Closer mic night need a bit of reverb to bring the sound to life, depends if your room sound is okay. Little bit of 300ms delay can work wonders.

Snap

Pod hd, solved!