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Originally Posted by deaddeaddead
i keep hearing things about recording with small amps sounding bigger than if you were to play through, say, two 4x12"s... is this true? is everyone in agreement on this, or it just a rumour? what did i miss? whats the science behind that?
Obviously the amp, room and mic placement are important variables in a guitar sound. In my experience, the actual player is the most important variable as they will make an amp sing regardless of size. For example, Clapton on the John Mayall's Bluesbreaker album used a Les Paul Standard through a fifty watt Marshall combo; then on Cream's Disraeli Gears he used a 335 or SG through full 100 watt stacks; and then on Derek & the Dominoes he primarily used Blackie, the nearly $1,000,000 mongrel Strat through a Fender Tweed Champ. While different in tone, the same player created huge sounds on pretty different amps with different guitars. Who knows how many different amps & guitars Hendrix or Page used in the studio(BTW after Zeppelin II, Page pretty much used a 100 watt half stack for the rest of the Zeppelin's recording career. I believe a Fender Telecaster & a Supro Thunderbolt wer used on Zeppelin 1. The Supro is a 30 watt amplifier with a 15" speaker-not exactly that tiny of an amp).
With that being said, small combos offer more options with mic placement. In a medium sized room, a 15 watt amp can cause less bleed into other microphones. A single speaker combo amp has less mud than a 4x12 closed back cab-an open backed combo will typically cut through a mix better due to this lack of mud. To get a huge guitar sound, you need to use whatever works. All you can do is experiment with your options. What amps are you using? How big is your room or wherever you record? The guitar pickup type, humbucker vs single coil, also has a huge influence on how the amp will react as well. Good luck on your search for tone.
Audible