Home Studio Guitar Amp Suggestions

[Giosmetal]

Hi

Ive been doing some guitar recordings with a fender hotrod deluxe and a distortion pedal
the results have been very unsatisfactory

I play metal and hard rock.. (I like palming muting) Im looking for modern high gain sound, not too thrashy and annoying, but tight + warm with a bit of bite

In a perfect world where my credit was unlimited and I never needed to pay it off.. Id have a big sound proof room with a mesaboogie or marshall cab.. but unfortunately.. lol.. in reality im poor as hell and live in a small room

Ive been recommened by a professional to get an old fender champ on ebay (1960s or 70s) and overdrive it.. Im seriously thinking about it, but Id like to hear it first.

Anyways, to get to the point.. all Im asking is if anyone has any cool ideas for me to look into.. I would imagine a lot of hobbyists are in the same situation as I am, so Id really like to hear how others have solved this dilemma!

Thanks

[Killvehicle]

Look at Peavey Amps. Always good prices and they have a ton of amps to choose from. YOu could try an all tube Peavey Bravo, can do HIgh gain and everything in between. You will have to find it in the Pawn Shops or Ebay, but they rock for a little combo, or go solid state.. I wouldnt go for a Fender Champ and overdrive it. While this is a nice crunch sound, it is not NEAR close to high gain and it won't be tight at all. I dont know why one would recommend that for high gain tight metal sound. It really aint gonna happen with that method... If you want a plain jane amp, then go for the Epiphone Valve Junior and get a EQ pedal. ou can drive one of those pretty hard and get some decent sounds with a nice OD, but again its not very tight.. FOr a tight metal, sound Peavey will get you there best and most reasonably priced..

[RichLum]

I have a little behringer 15w amp I use to practice at home (an apartment) but for recording I record dry and then use an amp sim plugin and fx to get a sound.

You can monitor and record using the amp sim but you may get latency (depending on your soundcard and system) if latency is an issue, get a DI box, plug the dry DI signal into your soundcard and the thru signal from the DI to your practice amp and use the amp for monitoring your distorted sound (doesn't have to be all that good as you're not recording it) and just record the dry signal.

The free guitarsuite JCM amp sim is great for free.
Combine that with their tube screamer pedal plugin and you can get a great sound.

There are heaps of other free amp sims out there too.

A lot more versatile recording dry and then tweaking the sound later in the mix with everything else. Plus micing up an amp might not get you as good a sound as a plugin depending on your recording environment...

Rich
Rich

[Deric]

I have a Fender Champ (an early seventies Silverface) and whilst it's a neat little amp I wouldn't recommend it for you're stated music style - plus it's a loud as hell too!

RichLum's free VSTs suggestion is a good one - especially if you don't want to spend too much money (you don't need to spend out TBH) and also looks out for Voxengo's Boogex (also free).

Do a search here for free VSTs for guitar amp sims and FX and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how good a sound you can actually get out of free VSTs - especially if you're into metal and/or heavier rock etc.

If you want a 'real' amp and don't want to spend much check out the Roland Micro Cube - it's got a line out for recording or headphones, can go MUCH louder than you'd imagine possible from such a small box, can run on batteries (if you want to tae it out somewhere), and has some FX built in. Dead cheap too and great value.

Basically old Champs have gained a certain 'collector status' now so you'll be paying quite a lot of money for something that TBH doesn't sound like it'll be that useful to you.

The problem is a lot of people think the hype and folk-lore is actually true... it's often just bullshit.

The Champ is a great little 'one trick pony' amp and is good as a small blues amp etc - but I wouldn't waste your money if I were you.

Try the free VSTs first, if they (really) aren't good enough for you or you want an amp go get one with a line out on it so that you can record it without having the neighbours coming around and trying to kill you!

[Giosmetal]

Yeah, when I was talking to the pro I was afraid I didnt make myself clear enough when mentioning what sound I was going for... the champ definitely sounds out now

That peavey sounds perfect.. I did a quick ebay search and theres only one. Im going to go check out my local shop, maybe I'll get lucky and a used one will be waiting for me (fate).

The amp sims seem to be a popular solution, no doubt...
I own a Line6 Toneport and have fooled around forever with its software and line-in recordings.. I even downloaded the trial version of Izotopes Trash and still couldn't get my recordings to sound 'tight'. The high gain sim was far worse than my distortion pedal recordings. Ive actually read alot of the subject and apparently micing an amp is the only way to go (at least right now) for high gain stuff. I have an SM57 so I'll just mic it really close to eliminate the sound of my room.

But.. You guys have convinced me to give it another go, I'll try out the guitarsuite JCM and tube screamer right now

aww, that Roland Micro Cube is a cute little thing.. lol.. I check out its sound when I go to the shop. Somehow I have a bad feeling about it though.. Im a bit of an audiophile, thats why Im looking for tube solutions. Thanks tho, still appreciate the recommendation

[BertKoor]

Ive actually read alot of the subject and apparently micing an amp is the only way to go (at least right now) for high gain stuff. I have an SM57 so I'll just mic it really close to eliminate the sound of my room.

This calls for the SlipperMan "chugga-chugga" thread:
http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

Have fun reading it

[Killvehicle]

That peavey sounds perfect.. I did a quick ebay search and theres only one. Im going to go check out my local shop, maybe I'll get lucky and a used one will be waiting for me (fate).

Yeah I have YET to go wrong with Peavey. Especially the high gain stuff, they just do it rigth IMO. And Peavey has a great and very informative forum, which has even helped out me on a few occasions and I think I know everything. haha

Also Yes man, Mic them amps, I am 100% for mic'ing and I believe you will be able to get some Great recorded sounds from an SM57 and all tube combo like the Bravo..

[Giosmetal]

haha, BertKoor, Slipperman is a god in my books.. haven't read that piece in a long while though... and I dont even think I finished it :/

I was much more interested in his narratives ..