General Questions about amp settings

[MaKoRancid]

Even before recording to disk i have some general questions pertaining to the set up of of a guitar/bass amp. I know everyone has their 'own sounds' but how do i explain to my clients that bass boost at 10 on theit guitar amp will make the mix sound muddy when the bassist does not want a stringy bass sound?

What is your approach to getting general amp sounds? For guitars do you usually cut out the bass and add mids, and do the reverse for bass guitar? This is what i've been doing so far but i could use some help. I know alot of it has to do with a good guitar and amp, but I want to make sure the sounds im getting arent 'fighting' eachother before going to tape.

[Greg M]

MaKoRancid,

I can tell you what I do, but it may or may not work for you. First, getting guitar sounds: The amp settings as an absolute are not as important as the combination of guitar and amp/settings. For example, on my Marshall JCM 800, I use very different settings when using my Les Paul vs. my Strat. In fact, the bass setting is usually on 10 with the Strat, but rarely above 4 with the LP. Another thing that can affect the mic'd cabinet is the proximity effect. An SM57 sitting on the grill cloth of a Marshall with the volume on 10 will seem bassier. If your client just won't record heeding the advice you give them, just make sure you have all of the frequencies covered because you can eq frequencies out, but you can't put them in if they were never there. I do understand your issue completely. Especially with some of the less experienced guitar players. The reality is that they never really hear their guitar sound in a mix until they start recording. Even if you play live, unless you have an exceptional monitoring system, your perception of how the band sounds is pretty narrow - and usually depends on where you are standing. They are really influenced a lot by only hearing themselves practice in the basement or bedroom.

I think the middle ground is for you to ask the guitar player to record their tracks twice - once with their settings and once with yours. This might mess up your work flow some, but at least you will have some well tracked material. Once, I recorded a band (it was their fist recording experience) and the guitar player set his amp for extremely scooped mids (mids were gone). I told him that some scooping is O.K. but too much won't sound good or be salvageable. After he heard the result, he wasn't happy. The next time I recorded this band, we worked "together" to get his tones.

As far as mixing goes (and again, I'm no expert), I usually do filter off the low end of the guitar to make room for the bass. As far as the bass, it really depends on what kind of sound the bass player is after. As you know, it can run the gammut from piano type sounds to a "kick drum with pitch variation". The bass may need work to fit with both the kick drum and guitars.

Hope this helps,

Greg

[QuikDraw]

I'm no professional, but here's what I do...

If the guitarist will not listen to my suggestions, (and even if he will) I let him have it his way. I also split the signal out of the guitar with a direct box. I run the direct signal from the guitar into another track in Pro Tools that I keep muted. And I record the amped guitar the way the guitarist wants it.

If the amped signal works in the mix, great! If not, I have the raw performance straight out of the guitar. I can re-amp that performance through the POD or any guitar amp that I can find to get a sound later on that does work.

Interestingly, even if the amped signal does work, sometimes adding the clean direct signal in addition to the amped track can add dimension and clarity to the mix. It depends on what sound you're going for, but I love having that clean track around to play with!

This has saved quite a few mixes for me!

Mike

[badperson]

I find a lot of it for me depends upon the arrangement of the song. (I record only myself at home)

My standby is a 57 angled a about an inch from the grill of my fender super reverb.

But if I'm using a lot of interlocking guitar parts, I will try to decrease the low end, pull the mic back further, and often use my ntk.

A standard two mic technique I use is the 57 like a just mentioned, and the ntk about 18" back from another speaker in the cab. That works pretty well.

But my tele thru that amp has this fantastic, rich sound in my bedroom that I have never been ever to capture on a recording. I'll let you know when I do.

bp

[will the moor]

you need to spend some time with this one but it's worth it.

http://recpit.prosoundweb.com/viewto...rder=&start=15

you're not likely to find a more comprehensive post on the internet about recording electric guitar, particularly heavy ones. after reading the first entry, just browse/search through the thread for the rest of slipperman's posts.

[Matt Whritenour]

with my mesa dual rect i cut the bass all the way down, for both recording and when my guitar player uses it for band pratice and i add mid's, also make sure not to use too much gain or that just makes everything sound like crap. the guitar is less deffined and is not as punchy, also using 2 mic's is good to mess around with, i'll always use a SM57 then depending on how many tracks the band is using i'll also use a MD421 or a LD condensor on the cab also and blend them together.