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View Full Version : Making POD (or other DI) Guitars Sound More Real


rockrev
05-22-2006, 07:06 AM
I recently discoverd this on the McDSP website and it works rather well. If you have Analog Channel, try this on any POD, Amplitube, and/or any other DI recorded electric guitar track:

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The AC2 Plug-In can further the pursuits of THE guitar tone with the playback head section. Insert the AC2 Plug-In on a guitar track (distorted or clean). Starting with the factory default setting, select the 'USA-M' playback head. Using a Freq control value of 100 Hz and a Bump of 100 (6 dB), a subjectively pleasing EQ curve is setup. Over-biasing at 15 ips (even 7.5 ips) will give a tone closer to that of many guitar amplifiers and speakers. Use a Release control time of at least 1.0 seconds to avoid any pumping effects (unless desired).

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Also, an old fav trick of mine for spicing up these same types of tracks is to bypass the verb on your POD (actually, the PODxt verb sounds pretty good - this tip is more for the POD 2 and/or early versions of Amplitube) . . . anyway bypass the verb on the POD 2 (or whatever), setup a stereo Aux and insert Waves TrueVerb, choose the "Guitar Room" preset, and finally, send the guitar signal to the verb aux in subtle (or not) amounts. Much more of a realistic sound (unless you're going for the springy verb vibe).

rockrev

ondruspat
05-22-2006, 07:59 AM
I definitley agree with ditching the reverb on most the simulations. I like to make my recordings as "dry" as possible and tweak them later anyway. I've also found that using multiple amp sims and mixing them can greatly improve the tone. I usually record to an audio track and have the output bussed to two or three aux tracks with Amplitude on them. I have different tones set on each instance of the plug-in and tweak and mix them until I like it.

davemc
05-22-2006, 08:03 AM
If I have to pod it. I will go through my API pre into my Neve 2254 compressors for color. Although I normally prefer to use a amp. Depends on what sound they want.

rockrev
05-22-2006, 08:15 AM
You are right - amps are best; however, if you're mixing a project with a POD, etc. track on it, the AC2 trick really helps to smooth things out with a warm and subtle saturation.

rockrev

Matthew Skinner
05-30-2006, 12:19 AM
The waves http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=1684 GTR bundle is also a great way to get a more realistic guitar amp sound.