Recording Guitar in Ctrl Rm. Guitar - Amp Question

[brad.bjmmusic]

I want to be able to record a guitar in my control room, to an amp in an iso booth say 50 ft away. What is the best way to connect the guitar to the amp? A Passive or Active DI? Signal Booster (sound coloration issues)? a heavily sheilded 50' instrument cable?

[jamsmith]

A think good chord would work just fine. You might use a line driver. :The old MXR noise gate had a balanced line driver built in. If you are using effects, that may well drive the line just fine. Have you considered other alternative such as putting the amp closer in the main studio and using gobos or using a modeling system (I have been getting great results)?

One of the best results I ever had in the control room was with my amp right there. I had a Fender Super Reverb. Rather then micing, I used Peavey EDI (or use Hughes and Kettnor Red Box if you like) between the amp and the speaker. This has a balanced line out. You need to roll of above 6-8K with a shelving EQ.

Judge for yourself (listen to the lead, not the rhythm):

http://www.jamsmith.com/mp3/Its_Like_That.m3u

[LewisWu]

radial makes a device just for this setup... Radial SGI sudio guitar interface

[Musiclab]

If it's a head and cab, get a long speaker cable and keep the head in the control room.
If it's a combo, get an extension cab. 1. It will sound better, 2. You can make adjustments in the control room to what you're hearing coming from the speakers, a much better way to get your tone right

[jamsmith]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

If it's a head and cab, get a long speaker cable and keep the head in the control room.
If it's a combo, get an extension cab. 1. It will sound better, 2. You can make adjustments in the control room to what you're hearing coming from the speakers, a much better way to get your tone right

Damn! I can't believe I ever thought about that. The problem being that I don't think I would want to send all that voltage down a the internal wiring. If I ever build another studio, I will defintely run speaker cables to my iso booths!

[Myriad_Rocker]

I just use a long run of speaker cable. Works great for me.

[LewisWu]

i have run 20 foot speaker cables from my guitar amp... 15 foot had better high end response. like instrument cables, i don't trust speaker cables past 20 feet.. balanced lines are different, but for balanced speaker cables you need an amp with ballanced speaker output, and a balanced speaker... is there a manufacturer of balanced speakers?

[stellar]

long speaker cable = best option... but just as good would be a pair of passive DI's..one at the guitar to balance the signal, one at the amp to unbalance it.

[Roc Mixwell]

What about the Little Labs STD "Signal Transmission Device"?

It converts HI-Z to LOW-Z for a long cable run to the amplifier and cabinet. Simply use a tie line in the control room with the special purple 1/4' to XLR cable that has a transistor with a unity gain buffer to then connect a simple XLR run to the receiver box that will connect to the INST input on the amp.

It doesn't roll off the high end and maintains tone that would be other wise lost from long cable runs.

peace
mixwell

[LewisWu]

Originally Posted by stellar

long speaker cable = best option... but just as good would be a pair of passive DI's..one at the guitar to balance the signal, one at the amp to unbalance it.

no... a long speaker cable is the least expensive option... and while passive DI's do work backwards, they effect the tone too much to be considered a truly viable option. otherwise there wouldn't be reamping devices.

[Jason Poulin]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

If it's a head and cab, get a long speaker cable and keep the head in the control room.
If it's a combo, get an extension cab. 1. It will sound better, 2. You can make adjustments in the control room to what you're hearing coming from the speakers, a much better way to get your tone right

I think combo speakers are just fine and a lot of times better than a boxy cab and adjusting the amp in the control room is the last thing I like to do. I try to stay away from that.

I rather get the tone right on the money in the room and then work the mic rather than the knobs...

But yea, minor adjustments may be needed on the amp but most of the time not in my experience.


Just my opinion



J.

[stellar]

Originally Posted by LewisWu

no... a long speaker cable is the least expensive option... and while passive DI's do work backwards, they effect the tone too much to be considered a truly viable option. otherwise there wouldn't be reamping devices.

ehm; sorry. reamping is for going from line level to instrument level. DI's are for going from instrument level to mic level. (and back again) Also, the cost would be dependent on what you already have around the studio. Both options are completely transparent.

[jamsmith]

Or perhaps use a Les Paul Recording which has a balanced, low-z output to begin with. Les Paul himself preferred this model that never really caught on

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Jason Poulin

I think combo speakers are just fine and a lot of times better than a boxy cab and adjusting the amp in the control room is the last thing I like to do. I try to stay away from that.

I rather get the tone right on the money in the room and then work the mic rather than the knobs...

But yea, minor adjustments may be needed on the amp but most of the time not in my experience.


Just my opinion



J.

Well my experience is different than yours. I'd rather make tonal adjustments from the amp than eqing, You can have an open back cab, and I think it's million times better to push from the amp than have to put more in the signal chain than I need.

[jamsmith]

Of course I am sure we will hear from someone telling me horrible his tones are, but Satriana recorded much of Surfing with the Alien using a Tom Sholtz Rockman. There has a been a lot more direct recording than you would think. One thing I will stand by for sure. It's the player more than the equipment. If you think different, re-evaluate your technique.

[ringo.fire]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

If it's a head and cab, get a long speaker cable and keep the head in the control room.
If it's a combo, get an extension cab. 1. It will sound better, 2. You can make adjustments in the control room to what you're hearing coming from the speakers, a much better way to get your tone right

It took me 8 years to install speaker cables under the floor from my controlroom to my recording rooms. it was the best investment this year.

[Jason Poulin]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

Well my experience is different than yours. I'd rather make tonal adjustments from the amp than eqing, You can have an open back cab, and I think it's million times better to push from the amp than have to put more in the signal chain than I need.

Kind of what I said??


But my tonal adjustments mostly come from the mic choice and it's placement.




J.

[arkive1_2]

This system has worked well on sessions in the past.

Smart Research Deluxe D.I. Box | VintageKing.com


- arkive1_2

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by ringo.fire

It took me 8 years to install speaker cables under the floor from my controlroom to my recording rooms. it was the best investment this year.

Do be carefull with the routing. High level amp outputs into unshielded speaker cables can inductivly couple to low level signal lines, like the mic cable running along it for the return. I fixed this once in Peter Frampton's Amek Angela console, the speaker returns were coupling into the tape returns and low level leakage was all over the busses.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[Wes Kuhnley]

I use a Pre/EQ to drive a long XLR into the amp room, then use a homemade reamp box to unbalance the signal again. Works like a charm, and you don't have to run into the amp room to tweak EQ settings!