Consistent guitar sound

[logic]

Does any one else have a problem with recording two different guitar parts at different times with different rigs, and making them not sound like two different songs? I hear bands that have recorded (especially with Poor Tools) over the period of six months or a year but the guitar tones sound similar enough not to notice….Compression, EQ,….

[dtobocman]

Logic -- I can't follow your question. Are your guitar sounds too similar between songs? Are they not similar enough? Please restate....

[ixnys]

He's saying when he records different songs by the same band, the guitars end up sounding different while many other bands who do the same keep a consistent guitar tone throughout their songs.

Well if you are changing the guitars and amps throughout songs, yeah you're gonna have different sounding guitars for each song.

[Jason Poulin]

write down settings, mic placements, etc...

Make sure that every element used to capture that sound source is well documented so that you can take from where you left off.

A digital camera is always mice for keeping track of mic placements.

good luck!

Jason

[dtobocman]

Okay, then let me add ....

Mic placement on a close-mic'd guitar amp has a HUGE EFFECT. You can move a mic an inch and have a totally different sound (off axis coloration, cone vs. center, proximity effect). It's sort of like looking across the room with binoculars -- an inch puts you on a different continent.

It would be VERY DIFFICULT to try to punch into an existing guitar track on a different day with the same equipment if everything has been torn down and set up again. Near impossible without an assistant moving the mic on the amp. Matching sounds between songs is more possible, but not easy.

Bear in mind also that little unthinkable things like string gauge, newness & manufacturer and pick type make a profound impact on the sound. That's right, THE PICK MATTERS (thanks, Slipperman).

Strings have a big impact too.

BTW, I hate it when the guitar sound is the same through a whole album. Yuck. How ****ing mechanized and boring.

[logic]

Sorry,
What I meant was I recorded a “verse” using a ADA-MP1 direct, months later I recorded the “chorus” for the song with a VHT Pitbull and a Marshall cab. I don’t mind that each guitar tone is totally different, but the issue is that the direct tone is upfront and in your face and the amp tone is more distant. I am simply trying to use both tones in the song with out such a huge dimensional drop.

I am having problems getting things to just constantly “sit in the mix”. Thanks .........