ANY tips regarding mic positioning etc. and processing after recording so that I can make it sound better are really welcome.
How do I record my guitar amp?
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- angelboy
- 4586 posts since 21 Aug, 2001 from Larnaca, Cyprus
I got a Fender Frontman 15R guitar amp some weeks ago and I'm hopeless when it comes to recording it. All the joy goes out of the sound when it goes through the mics and into my soundcard. The mics are pretty good - not the best in the market but pretty good dynamic mics a friend gave me a while ago. The soundcard's a shitty SB PCI128 and I plug the mic straight into its mic [obviously] input. And it sounds, how can I put this mildly, crap.
ANY tips regarding mic positioning etc. and processing after recording so that I can make it sound better are really welcome.
ANY tips regarding mic positioning etc. and processing after recording so that I can make it sound better are really welcome.
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- something special
- 8629 posts since 16 Mar, 2002 from Birmingham, Alabama
oh, I see you are.TristezaOrange wrote: I plug the mic straight into its mic [obviously] input. And it sounds, how can I put this mildly, crap.
pick up one of those cheap little behringer euro mixers and plug your mic into it.
or you might improve the sound by plugging into the line-in of your sound card.
really, you need a mixer or preamp to really get a better signal.
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- angelboy
- Topic Starter
- 4586 posts since 21 Aug, 2001 from Larnaca, Cyprus
Thanks Gary. I guess I can get a decent pre-amp in any music technology store? How much would I have to spend for a respectable one? Would 70-80 euros/dollars do the job?
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- angelboy
- Topic Starter
- 4586 posts since 21 Aug, 2001 from Larnaca, Cyprus
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fishbowl.tucson.az fishbowl.tucson.az https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=45536
- KVRist
- 415 posts since 23 Oct, 2004
Yes, the preamp on your sound card is absolute, utter crap. You shouldn't be using it for anything. Fill it with epoxy so you won't be tempted to use itTristezaOrange wrote:The soundcard's a shitty SB PCI128 and I plug the mic straight into its mic [obviously] input. And it sounds, how can I put this mildly, crap.
You need a preamp. One of the preamp channels on the small mixer that you don't have should do the trick nicely.
Now, the amp you're trying to record isn't really anything special. You'd probably get really good results from modelling.
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
You asked for any tip? Well here's mine, but I suspect its far above your budget. Maybe somebody else watching this topic will benefit.
I use a Koch loadbox. You connect it to the amp instead of the speaker cabinet. You can connect the cabinet to the loadbox (at various attennuation levels actually) but you don't need to. Other outputs of the loadbox are mic level (with ground lift option,) line level and headphone.
You can record the amp while its driven at the top, but without awakening the neighbours or hassle with placing mics. You get the pure sound of the amp.
I use a Koch loadbox. You connect it to the amp instead of the speaker cabinet. You can connect the cabinet to the loadbox (at various attennuation levels actually) but you don't need to. Other outputs of the loadbox are mic level (with ground lift option,) line level and headphone.
You can record the amp while its driven at the top, but without awakening the neighbours or hassle with placing mics. You get the pure sound of the amp.
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- KVRAF
- 3299 posts since 7 May, 2004 from Athens, Greece
As I replied in many similar threads I use the M-Audio audiobuddy preamp (~80$) straight to my audiophile 2496 with very nice results. You will definately need a preamp or a mixer with preamps.
BTW Are you from Greece? Cyprus maybe? Because if you leave in Athens you can check my setup.
Cheers
BTW Are you from Greece? Cyprus maybe? Because if you leave in Athens you can check my setup.
Cheers
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- KVRAF
- 7217 posts since 21 Aug, 2004 from Trondheim, Norway
THIS is a long long thread (many pages) from a ProSoundWeb forum, where an innocent question about recording guitar caused the great Slipperman to post one of the most amazing tutorials on anything I've ever read.
The fun starts on page two, where Slipperman starts his legendary rant about capturing that chugga-chugga they all want...
It's not completely relevant to recording at home onto your computer, but it certainly explains what you have to think about and why it's DIFFICULT to record guitar.
Apologies if this is old news, but I suppose this thread can't be read too many times anyway.
It's a bit of a hassle to go through all those pages, but it's certainly worth it.
Oh, and there's a LOT of colourful language, so if four-letter words offend you, leave it alone.
Happy reading
Cheers
The fun starts on page two, where Slipperman starts his legendary rant about capturing that chugga-chugga they all want...
It's not completely relevant to recording at home onto your computer, but it certainly explains what you have to think about and why it's DIFFICULT to record guitar.
Apologies if this is old news, but I suppose this thread can't be read too many times anyway.
It's a bit of a hassle to go through all those pages, but it's certainly worth it.
Oh, and there's a LOT of colourful language, so if four-letter words offend you, leave it alone.
Happy reading
Cheers
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- Professional KVR Browser
- 55 posts since 7 Aug, 2002 from London
Another vote for the Audiobuddy. Been using it for quite a few years now and it does the job damn well - great VFM!
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- KVRist
- 107 posts since 17 May, 2004 from Oulu, Finland
Hi,
if you're on a budget - how about a DI box? Behringer's Ultra-G allows you to use the speaker output of your amp; it has -20 and -40 dB pads so you can quite crank it. There's also a VERY decent speaker sim --> you won't need to worry about a microphone, placement etc.
Alex
if you're on a budget - how about a DI box? Behringer's Ultra-G allows you to use the speaker output of your amp; it has -20 and -40 dB pads so you can quite crank it. There's also a VERY decent speaker sim --> you won't need to worry about a microphone, placement etc.
Alex
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
Wow, that's a great post indeed... and its exactly why I got the loadbox insteadHovmod wrote:THIS is a long long thread (many pages) from a ProSoundWeb forum, where an innocent question about recording guitar caused the great Slipperman to post one of the most amazing tutorials on anything I've ever read.
