Slipperman's Recording Distorted Guitars Thread From Hell

[Jamie]

I was searching for a thread about EQ & distortion for somebody and found this gem in my old bookmarks.

I thought you guys might find this fun and informative.

Especially: "The sound does not come from the player".

And I quote:

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On 18 Jan 2003 13:25 fletcher wrote: Quote: The sound comes from the player, not the equipment. You can get a wonderfully heavy guitar tone with a Telecaster and a Twin Reverb... it's all in how you approach it, and how the player handles it.

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Not at the gain structures my clients use. HOHOHO.

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Check the thread out here:

http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

[bammbamm]

he brings up a GREAT point about the cabinet's and speakers' involvement. I was pushing a 4x12 with G12-85 Celestions using a Mesa 20:20 power amp. Sounded ok, but when i upgraded, it was the 1st time I'd EVER heard my cab breathe and come to life, I really heard and felt the difference. It was an epiphany. There is a lot to what 'Slipperman' says in this article, despite his loathing of guitarists.

[Jamie]

Been waiting for somebody to reach the end of this epic. Hell, I am about 20% of the way through on my re-read.

He doesn't actually hate guitarists: well, no more than he appears to whale on everybody. In fact, did you read:

as much as I bust balls on musicians in my posts, the better ones REALLY CAN 'feel' the differences in these little details, and often 'get naked' and REALLY bummed out if you alter the 'window' they talk to/with the instrument through.

I think he is trying to communicate that very few guitarists have any appreciation of the fact that what they think they hear coming from the cab, and what they latterly expect to hear within the mix, are completely different sounds, with audible and inaudible differences.

Shoulda probly put a NSFW on this one.

[bammbamm]

Have you read (I'm assuming you did) the Mixerman Diaries?

[Andelusion]

Wow, great link, gonna make me some coffee and start ploughing through that!

[Jamie]

And yeah Bamm I haven't read all of em, but I have read em.

Second your point about the cabs.

I always keep an eye on evilbay and when I see empty 1,2,4x12/10 cabs for kinda the sub £50 mark, or broken ones, they get bought.

They look awesome in the rehearsal rooms and get everything to eye-level, and then I buy Vintage 30s, Emeninces in bulk from France, any kinda of spare, special speaker I can.

Then when it comes to recording time, I usually fire one of those behind the 4x12, facing 12 inches of basstrap, or in another room. A 1x12 or 2x12 loaded with 30s and tracked "as a 2nd track to fatten things up" has saved my ass on numerous occasions when the guitarist has insisted the 4x12 is used and won't try anything else. I'll chuck the 4x12 track where the speakers weren't being pushed and use the 1x12 where it was, more often than not.

I think Jimmy Page used a 1x10 a lot of the time.

Its probly a good point that the guitarist plays better with a 4x12 in front of him.

[bammbamm]

I have a 2x12 that does well in that application, I like the idea, I should nab a 1x12 cab. I actually have had luck with an 8" before, so I will agree that you don't always have to push 103+db to get your sound. Of course if you're using feedback and the SPL's to drive your guitar's tone, sometimes it's the only way.

[Dino]

Interesting.

[IbanezFreak777]

A good guitarist will pick up a guitar and play for a moment and hear what it sounds like and change his style to fit the equipment he is using.

[bammbamm]

Did anyone listen to the mp3?
THe DI stuff just stinks.

[Jamie]

Yar, its a shame that he didn't end up with something worthwhile out of that.

To start off with the premise that anybody can get a good DI'd sound out of a head and end without proving it is somewhat meh.

On a sidenote, I do remember once reading a trick, that when you are tracking guitar, especially rhythm, you should take a DI and commit that to tape too.

Then when you finalise your mix, you can compress the hell out of it, and use it low in the mix as a 'pad'.

I actually did this on a session which I have never mixed as the band failed miserably in a massive battle of the bands competition at the last hurdle. It was so demoralising for them that they split. I might dig it out and have a play. Unfortunately from memory they were more rolling counterpoint style rhythm guitar so not really pad material.