Re-amp service

[Schneider]

I searched for a similar thread but couldn't find one. Hope this is in the right place.

I am considering setting up a Re-amp service.
As far as im aware many studios are offering re-amping as part of their studio business model, but i want to offer a more flexible, detailed service.

The goal is to make our service a little unique in that clients can pick and choose the entire recording chain. Starting with all the popular tubescreamer and big muff models as well as other famous pedals (rangemasters etc.). A number of great heads and a few cabs with different speaker specs. But also a good choice in mics and eventually even pres and compressors.

I have a few unique pieces already, but i would expand to offer a range of modern amps and older marshall heads/fender combos.

My hope is that gearslutz like us will enjoy putting together their favourite pedal/head/cab/mic combinations and have access to great tone at a reasonable price.

My questions to you guys is; is this a service you think there is a market for?
Which amps/gear would be essential to a project like this?

[oscar gamble]

I dunno, man. I think most engineers that don't already have access to the good gear and all the usual suspects for pedals and etc. might just default to using Amplitube or whatnot.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work but it would really rely on a few factors; price and the ability to get the tone desired in a quick fashion (turn around time). There are just so many variables; mic's, mic placement, preamps, etc.

That being said, I'm curious to see how it would work for you. My hope is that you don't get your time wasted by having to constantly 'tweak' your tracks to please the client.



I would imagine essential amps:

Fender Twin Reverb
JCM 800
(not me but maybe..) Mesa Single Rectifier

pedals?

Big Muff
old RAT
Memory Man
MXR Phase
...man there are too many. Another reason it could get time consuming when it comes time to getting a clients 'dream' tone.

[Schneider]

Quick response Oscar!

Originally Posted by oscar gamble

I dunno, man. I think most engineers that don't already have access to the good gear and all the usual suspects for pedals and etc. might just default to using Amplitube or whatnot.

I think the target demographic would in fact be amp sim users, who would prefer/benefit from real amps, as well as those who don't have the space or funds to invest in high quality pieces.

Originally Posted by oscar gamble

I would imagine essential amps:

Fender Twin Reverb
JCM 800
(not me but maybe..) Mesa Single Rectifier

pedals?

Big Muff
old RAT
Memory Man
MXR Phase
...man there are too many. Another reason it could get time consuming when it comes time to getting a clients 'dream' tone.

Good call on the twin, already have access to a great JCM 800 and i was thinking of a Diezel for the high gain stuff! Im planning on collecting a range of big muffs (civil war/american/russian) and tubescreamers but the RAT slipped my mind!

One thing i will avoid though are reverb, phase, and delay pedals as they are subjective to the song and would be really difficult to get just right for each client.

Thanks for your help!

[oscar gamble]

Originally Posted by Schneider

One thing i will avoid though are reverb, phase, and delay pedals as they are subjective to the song and would be really difficult to get just right for each client.

Yeah, that was the real 'time eater' I saw in the idea of the enterprise. Unless someone is sending you specific instructions for one, 'dialing it in' for someone would be a nightmare!

Good call on the Tube Screamer. I recorded one of the greatest sounding bass sounds by using only a T69 on a DI. Sounded superb; real Chicago-sound, AmpRep, Shellac, etc.

But yeah, I think just three amps to start would be perfect. I'd use a cab with v30's, personally but some of those higher gain amps like Mesa or Diezel, I'd go with those C75's. They're loud but they can really tighten up those high gain amps real nice. Those V30's can be tricky with those type amps.

Good luck!

[rcb4t2]

Just curious how much you think you might charge for this service? If too much, why wouldn't I just go to my local well-equipped super-studio and do it all myself. If too little, how will you afford the endeavor?

To me there's a lot of subjectivity to dialing in someone else's tone. It needs to fit the song, engineer, and original player's specs to pass. To compound the problem there's the fact that the engineer might not give you specific instructions to follow, in which case you're left completely to your own devices - basically guessing (even if it's an educated guess). Or, they may have super specific instructions, which might lead to recall hell. Or they may have super specific instructions that achieve the *wrong* tone, in which case no one's happy.

I see a lot of tedious revisions in this plan, maybe it's just me...

[Schneider]

Originally Posted by rcb4t2

Just curious how much you think you might charge for this service? If too much, why wouldn't I just go to my local well-equipped super-studio and do it all myself. If too little, how will you afford the endeavor?

Im reluctant to go into specifics about pricing as my thoughts could change later, but it would be a very reasonable fee considering there are little to no overheads, with only a small initial investment. I am also in a very fortunate position as alot of the gear i had in mind is already at my disposal, and this would only be a secondary source of income.

Another reason i can keep costs low, is that the amps and gear in mind retain value very well. So if in X months or years down the line i decide the arrangement isn't working, not all of the investment is lost.

Originally Posted by rcb4t2

To me there's a lot of subjectivity to dialing in someone else's tone. It needs to fit the song, engineer, and original player's specs to pass. To compound the problem there's the fact that the engineer might not give you specific instructions to follow, in which case you're left completely to your own devices - basically guessing (even if it's an educated guess). Or, they may have super specific instructions, which might lead to recall hell. Or they may have super specific instructions that achieve the *wrong* tone, in which case no one's happy.

Your right in that the context of the guitars in the song is very important, as part of the selection of which pedals/amps/cabs/mics the client would like, there would ideally be an opportunity to describe what they want to hear. This could help troubleshoot these issues, but undoubtedly there could be some revisions needed in particular cases. Ive thought about providing 'gain up' and 'gain down' versions, just like 'vocal up' and 'vocal down' mixes.

Thanks for your input!

[Musiclab]

There are a few people who do it, I don't think anyone is making any real money from this. I don't think there is that much of a demand, but maybe I'm wrong.

[johnnyc]

I think there is definitely a market, just not a very profitable one imo.

If you are gonna do it think it makes sense to buy gear that will be useful in other ways as well. Get good gear used at good prices so you can re-sell for minimal to no loss if it doesn't work out. Are you targeting online or in person? Online probably more of a pain, less profitable. In person would be more streamlined and you could charge by hour so if client wants to tinker it's fine. It could be a viable business model to help keep client costs down. Have them come in first to get a feel for the tone they want, then they can go home and do as many takes as they want to get it right, then come back and re-amp.

Some gear suggestions (to start):

Amps:
Marshall Plexi
Marshall JCM800
Fender Twin Reverb
Mesa Dual Rectifier
Fender Champ or other small combo

Cabs:
Good 4x12 with V30 and GB speakers
1x12 or 2x12 open back cab with good Alnico speakers

Mics:
SM57, MD421, R121

Pres:
Neve type and API type

Pedals:
Tube Screamer
Fuzz Face
Tube Overdrive

Can do a lot with this setup

[Schneider]

Originally Posted by johnnyc

If you are gonna do it think it makes sense to buy gear that will be useful in other ways as well. Get good gear used at good prices so you can re-sell for minimal to no loss if it doesn't work out. Are you targeting online or in person? Online probably more of a pain, less profitable. In person would be more streamlined and you could charge by hour so if client wants to tinker it's fine. It could be a viable business model to help keep client costs down. Have them come in first to get a feel for the tone they want, then they can go home and do as many takes as they want to get it right, then come back and re-amp.

There will only be a few items that would be bought new, ill be looking at private sellers mostly and classic stuff that should retain its value well.

I hadn't considered offering the service 'in person', a primarily online service will bring in a much larger customer base overseas (I am UK based), but it's an interesting option. I intend to send a few initial versions to help prevent the tinkering problem, and maybe even a 24/48 hour window for the client to request changes before i put the gear away.

Originally Posted by johnnyc

Some gear suggestions (to start):

Amps:
Marshall Plexi
Marshall JCM800
Fender Twin Reverb
Mesa Dual Rectifier
Fender Champ or other small combo

Cabs:
Good 4x12 with V30 and GB speakers
1x12 or 2x12 open back cab with good Alnico speakers

Mics:
SM57, MD421, R121

Pres:
Neve type and API type

Pedals:
Tube Screamer
Fuzz Face
Tube Overdrive

Can do a lot with this setup

Your list is scarily similiar to mine! I think we have the right idea

[morrock]

Sign me up. I've totally converted to software because of the versatility and overall great tone, but I can still hear the difference a real amp and cab cranked up would make. The rates would be the dealmaker here, but I can't see them being too high...right?

Seems like a good idea, and nice source of some spare change, I don't see this plan as going to make you enough money to quit your dayjob, but I'm sure you don't either.

Until I can buy myself an Axe-FX, I wouldn't mind paying to hear my guitar through a real Mesa Recto and a beefy 4x12 (Orange is my preferred taste, but I wouldn't complain as long as it's a high-end cab).

[dabigfrog]

what do you think the price of such a service might fetch?

if you could do this at an affordable price, i think ppl would use the service...we're talking about it right now.... ftp or usendit

client could skype in live to tweak / get the prefered sound / tone / growl / breakup / feedback etc.....

that way there would be no need for re-tweaks.

we would still need a few essential amps / pedals to be able to do it all...but we have a good start.

our amp selection:

custom Kelemen 30w Dumble clone + 2x12 custom Kelemen cab
3 x custom Brett Davis amps
ampeg b18x
ampeg b18n
ampeg b15n
airline 60's tube spring reverb tank
airline 1950 - 8500
airline 1950 - 8502 (2)
epiphone valve jr custom mods
fender 61 princeton brown
fender 62 bassman blonde modded 80 watt
fender 65 bandmaster blackface
fender 65 tube reverb RI
fender 77 twin
fender 82 super champ
fender RI/mod champ 600
fender 63 reverb 90s ri
2x12 fender cabs vint utc
2x12 fender cabs jensen mods
2x12 celestion greenbacks
1x12 50's wolverine silvertone
55 gretsch electromatic deluxe
marshall 1960 4x12 cab
marshall 4x12 cab newer
marshall jcm 800 50w
national valco 1956
oahu lap steel amp 1940's
silvertone 1330
silvertone 1331
silvertone 1332
silvertone 1336 all tube head
silvertone 1484 tube head 50w
univox 1969 model 1031 tube head 100w
vox 66 all tube cambrige v103/v3

effects:
pioneer SR-202 reverb
mutronics mutator
maestro phase shifter
7 knob howie
sexdrive
bixonic expandora
fuzz face
trainwreck airbrake
Dod OD