Recording a guitar amp

mindwalker · #1 10-27-2009, 12:12 PM

Hey,

This has been asked plenty of times but the information is so vast that I found I could ask a little bit about this!

Maybe it's better to first put my restrictions

I live in a flat so I cannot afford to make a lot of noise. Also I might need to rehearse with friends and a drummer so I need some portability and power. On top of this I would like to record to my pc as well. So far the only piece of gear that I have besides my guitar is a Pod X3 live.

I'm looking into buying a guitar amp with tubes for the sake of having real tubes sound and to jam with friends (50watts amp or more)! Out of the guitar tube amps available, there are some that provide a line out speaker emulated out, and some that don't. So what would the options be then:

- Guitar amp with line out and speaker emulation, just connect straight to recording interface. Does this sound good at all ?
- Guitar amp with a mic, connected to a mixer or recording interface. Seems to be the best approach but requires the amplifier to be turned out loud which can be a problem for me (and maybe a dedicated recording room)
- Connect amps fx out into the POD, and record from the POD bypassing pre-amp and using a speaker and mic simulation. Will this work good enough ? I would still need to crank my amp I believe, as you can't just mute it

I've seen a lot of videos on youtube that sound like crap so I'm assuming those are recorded with a laptop's internal mic..

Thanks for any hints guys!

nato101010 · #2 10-27-2009, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindwalker

I live in a flat so I cannot afford to make a lot of noise.

I'm looking into buying a guitar amp with tubes for the sake of having real tubes sound and to jam with friends (50watts amp or more)!

- Guitar amp with line out and speaker emulation, just connect straight to recording interface. Does this sound good at all ?
- Guitar amp with a mic, connected to a mixer or recording interface. Seems to be the best approach but requires the amplifier to be turned out loud which can be a problem for me (and maybe a dedicated recording room)
- Connect amps fx out into the POD, and record from the POD bypassing pre-amp and using a speaker and mic simulation. Will this work good enough ? I would still need to crank my amp I believe, as you can't just mute it

Well, since you said you can't make a lot of noise, and i know no one that plays with a band with even 1/3 of 50 watts when jamming! And its tube power at that! Try like 15- maybe 20 watts.

And, guitar amp with mic is best sounding idea.

Hub · #3 10-27-2009, 06:07 PM

+1

And if you have like a closet or something in your apartment you can soundproof that and put the amp in there. Add an sm57 and a preamp and your done.

Cam-Vai · #4 10-28-2009, 02:17 AM

id get a krank krankenstein j or rev jr or even a rev pro jr

these have awesome blues channels and can play almost any type of metal

or by a carvin legacy 2 combo of **** (carvin scratch and dent)
they have watt switching from 100-5o-25

plus isnt the preamp in the amp? or do you mean to plug the mic into? i know nothing of recording pretty much:S

have fun!

cam-vai

mindwalker · #5 10-28-2009, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hub

+1

And if you have like a closet or something in your apartment you can soundproof that and put the amp in there. Add an sm57 and a preamp and your done.

How does this affect the sound of the amp as opposed to mic'ing it in an open room ? I would imagine it to sound much fatter.. muffled ? Dunno.. I have no real hands on experience

GuitarGuru · #6 10-28-2009, 09:44 AM

You can record direct and use amp simulation software. It's not that bad, you would be surprised. Amp Farm. Get Pro Tools with it. http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?itemid=1001

Hub · #7 10-28-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindwalker

How does this affect the sound of the amp as opposed to mic'ing it in an open room ? I would imagine it to sound much fatter.. muffled ? Dunno.. I have no real hands on experience

It really doesn't change the recorded sound all that much since the amp is close miced right on the speaker, but it does remove those loud nasty low frequency thumps caused by your neighbors trying to break through your floor/walls/roof when playing cranked

j.t..i. · #8 11-02-2009, 09:46 PM

recording with a mic'd cab doesn't require high volumes at all. i record at very low volumes.

mindwalker · #9 11-03-2009, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.t..i.

recording with a mic'd cab doesn't require high volumes at all. i record at very low volumes.

But that must require an amp that sounds good at low volumes right ? Cannot be one of those that only screams the juice out when cranked..

humpy · #10 11-04-2009, 04:35 AM

what about an Orange tiny terror combo? Only 7 watts

mindwalker · #11 11-12-2009, 06:59 AM

How can you get and record nice guitar stereo effects (like panning from left to right) or bouncing stereo delays by mic'ing the amp ? If you put your effects pedals before the amp and the mic in the end, then all you'll get is a mono signal into the mixer / PA / recording device. Would you have to post-process this on the computer ? Like adding the delay only in the recording software ?
How are people doing this ? I'm kind on a newbie in this kinda stuff

LonePhantom · #12 11-12-2009, 07:44 PM

Blackstar HT-5, has a speaker emulator for PC recording, and going out to a PA, etc. Plus being 5 watts it sounds good at lower levels. Pair it with the right speaker combo and you'll be right for jams as well.

That's why I got one.

Hub · #13 11-14-2009, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindwalker

How can you get and record nice guitar stereo effects (like panning from left to right) or bouncing stereo delays by mic'ing the amp ? If you put your effects pedals before the amp and the mic in the end, then all you'll get is a mono signal into the mixer / PA / recording device. Would you have to post-process this on the computer ? Like adding the delay only in the recording software ?
How are people doing this ? I'm kind on a newbie in this kinda stuff

Well, you could run your rig in stereo, but that will require two mics when recording also...

**jemaholic** · #14 11-14-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hub

Well, you could run your rig in stereo, but that will require two mics when recording also...

That would technically still be a mono mix as the source is mono. Best way is to record one track panned left and record another of the same thing panned right. A slight change in amp settings would make the seperation much more noticeable too.

As far as a tube amp that sounds good at low volume - make sure it has a master volume control so you can saturate the channel gain and then keep the overall volume down with the master.

You didn't indicate what type of music you play -so I'll assume it's rock: I've had scores of different amps- Fender, Vox, Budda, Dr.Z, Hi-Watt, Peavey, Orange, Line6, H&K, etc.... and for me the best sounding is Marshall. I would suggest you go to a large music store and invest some time playing lots of different amps until you find one that works for you.

Hub · #15 11-14-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jemaholic

That would technically still be a mono mix as the source is mono. Best way is to record one track panned left and record another of the same thing panned right. A slight change in amp settings would make the seperation much more noticeable too.

As far as a tube amp that sounds good at low volume - make sure it has a master volume control so you can saturate the channel gain and then keep the overall volume down with the master.

You didn't indicate what type of music you play -so I'll assume it's rock: I've had scores of different amps- Fender, Vox, Budda, Dr.Z, Hi-Watt, Peavey, Orange, Line6, H&K, etc.... and for me the best sounding is Marshall. I would suggest you go to a large music store and invest some time playing lots of different amps until you find one that works for you.

Yes, you're right, I was merely thinking about the actual delay effect and whatnot