Any downsides to Reamp and similar?

[Tibbon]

Are there any downsides sonically to reamping guitar amps, etc..?

We have quite a few nice amps, but we've had stuff like tubes blow, etc and it would be more convient to track the guitar, and choose the amp later at times.


Does it degrade the sound any (or enough to be noticble rather...)?

[Mystr Tiger]

I'm wondering about this too. Seems to me that there would be little or no discernible sonic degradation, and a lot to gain in flexibility. But, will the vibe be the same if you track without performing in front of the amp? Might miss those nice sympathetic/feedback nuances.

[bassmac]

REAMP works great, but personally, I still like playing *into* the amp better - especially for lead gtr. I still use a DI and Amp Farm for writing, but I usually end up rerecording all the parts with an amp - instead of reamping them.

If I were tracking bands, I'd definately run a saftey DI to have the reamping option available.

[joeq]

I always take a DI on guitars to be ready for possible reamping- it can be a mix saver. sometimes I even blend in a bit of the DI signal itself.

Getting the sound on the way in is of course always best because the player is responding to what he hears, but sometimes as the song "evolves" you decide you need a different sound.

As far as sonic degradation- I suppose there is that extra D-A/A-D conversion- but you are sending stuff into a guitar amp to get all crunchy and distorted so what the hey.

A good reamp box is supposed to present the same load to the amplifier that a guitar would but I have known guitar players who say that there are some differences in the way the amp responds.

[Jason Poulin]

I'm farely new to the re-amping process although I think it's the best option to use.

I would never track without driving an amp though, it would just take away from the performance.

Run a line into your DAW, then pass the other signal to your amp. After it's recorded, pass the recorded clean line through something like Reamp box or little labs IBP, or little labs Redeye. It will take your +4 signal and bring it to -14dB guitar level therefore losing no sonic quality.

Great option!! No more need to have 5 amps running at once.

Jason

[LTA]

The only major problem with reamping is that the guitarist doesn't have the ability to interact with the amp itself. Good amps almost play themselves. Its a bigger deal on "feel-based" playing, such as leads, funky rhythm playing, and blues.

The only other big issue is easy enough to overcome. A little bit of feedback at the tail end of notes clearly suggests the guitar player is in the same room as the amp, and it is loud. Reamping (or just recording in the control room) can't do that. Set up a little practice amp near the player to get the strings to feed back, but don't record the amp.

I don't deal with many uber-pro musicians, so usually if they change their mind concerning the sound, they can probably play the part better at a later time anyway. Running a secondary DI just isn't worth the 5 minutes or the channel it takes up. I use reamping mostly for those late night location songwriting sessions with easily annoyed neighbors, but that isn't exactly a studio environment. I've also been having a bandmember (that lives about 1k miles away, and doesn't have the means to do good guitar recordings at his apartment) send me DI tracks, and then I can reamp and mic them here. Beats listening to a peavey bandit miced with an sm48.