community.pirate.com

Recording guitar

Production and recording
#1

Hi all,

Would like to hear your thoughts on recording guitar at home. Basically recording an amp at home is not an option for me. I use a focusrite scarlett & abelton and usually record my guitar in dry and then use vsts like guitar rig or amplitube (applying fx after). Its kinda boring recording with a dry sound and it is a low volume but if I use the vst guitar amp while recording I get some latency while recording.

I am interested to hear what people here are using for this situation, the line 6 helix is out of my budget and thought the two notes cab m looked nice but is this the same results as using vst amps like line 6 helix vst??

#2

I’m going into a Behringer UMC404 and then into Logic and using either Guitar Rig or the inbuilt Logic pedalboard and effects. The latency isn’t too bad, but I don’t tend to find myself using the guitar in really busy projects too much so that may be a factor. It’s more just something I play alongside for fun, but definitely keen to use it in tunes more this year.

I also always find myself adding some extra effects on top of everything though. Usually one of the Valhalla Supermassive reverb presets tweaked so it’s quite subtle gives that final 5% of atmos. Although this can send you down the path of sounding like a knockoff Edge quite quickly. That and sending to some Logic chorus and roto cab (thanks to Disclosure for this tip!).

That Line 6 Helix looks like a beast! Adding that to my wishlist if I win the lottery.

1 Like
#3

Hi, the cab-m or other cab simulators are a good compromise, you can use your pedalboard or a pedal preamp in front of it and you don’t need loud amps.

I have a Scarlett 2i4 and I’m currently using a Tech21 FlyRig which is pretty good and cheaper than the Helix. I also duplicate the signal through a DI box so that I have the dry version that I can process with BIAS Amp (or Amplitube, etc) and blend with the other track. I was able to record a full guitar-heavy album with that setup :slight_smile:

Hope that helps

Vito

#4

Hey @NeighbourhoodStereo - hope you’re doing well. I know guitar purists will hate this, but I just plug straight into my Focusrite and use the native amps and pedalboards on Logic. I do spend a lot of time tinkering with settings (particularly on the pedalboard) and I find if you spend enough time with it, you can actually get to some really interesting sounds that don’t sound too out-of-the-box.

#5

I back everything people are saying about software amps - unless you’re working on very old hardware, you can get usually the latency down to playable levels with a little bit of tinkering. If it’s not loud enough to be fun, then you need to turn your speakers up (or possibly invest in some speakers - bouncing between headphones and monitors will help your production in more ways than just amplifying your guitar!).

I know what you mean though, I spent a fair while recording like that and feeling kind of meh about it and wanted to play through a proper amp instead. Eventually I carried on like that for so long that I just kind of gave up the amp hunt and now I play exclusively on software - and I don’t feel like I miss it. I’ve since invested in an amp for live stuff (bad timing…!) but for studio stuff, it’s all DIs and VSTs

#6

thanks for this guys, @Diane_Pirate I think you are right and it is just the volume of an amp I am missing more than anything, I have to use headphones at home and I can get by with the latency thing. You cant beat going down to Pirate and playing loud with a nice amp though and I reckon it does affect the way you play too. I’ve been seriously considering purchasing the cab m but I could use that money to buy a drum machine or synth which maybe even more fun. I was just curious about people here and it seems vsts are a standard for home recording

#7

oh ya also, @Pirate_Gareth linked me to a useful article earlier

#8

Yeah definitely. I solved the volume problem by getting some cheap monitors - it’s not the same thing, but it’ll get your production setup further up the ladder and help you out in several more ways than just a guitar amp, since you can A/B mixes between monitors and headphones to boot.

Obviously my situation isn’t the same as yours, so don’t take that path as gospel!