I have 2 options for recording guitars...

I am about to spend some money, and I want to know which route to go.

I am considering purchasing a DI box to run my Epiphone Valve Jr through so I can record it direct, without mic/speakers.  Is this possible with a DI box?  Whether I use my Valve Jr or not, is it possible with tube amps to record them direct?  Solid state?  All I have is a Speaker Output, 16, 8 and 4 ohms.  No Line Out.

OR I could buy an amp modeler...I had the POD with the 2.0 upgrade, which is basically an artifact now I assume.  I also inherited my dads old Boss ME-5 which is just ancient, still has some awesome 80s sounds.  But anyway, if I went the amp modeler route, like a V-Amp, would I also need a good preamp?  I have an Edirol UA-25EX which has mic preamps, but IDK if this improves the guitar sound.

If anyone can answer any of my questions or give any advice on any of this, thank you in advance!

A direct box is but one way to get a guitar into the mix.   It is a workable method.

I have avoided a DI on my guitar since I feel that a speaker is an important part of the signal. A speaker can make the guitar sound good whereas a different brand will sound totally different..... and you loose that speaker connection with a DI. A DI can sound stiff and artificial if you are not careful. Proper use of reverb FX can help in that area greatly.

Having said that, I generally use a POD2 (the red kidney bean) for recording my guitars. I bought it used on Ebay for about $140. It has an "air" switch that supposedly emulates the speakers and the room sound for a "more realistic" guitar sound. Pretty much ALL my guitar tracking on all my songs on my soundclick site are done with the POD.

Another nice thing about the POD2.... I can record with cans and no one hears my noise.

I also have, but tend not to use very often, the software modelers. I simply plug the guitar directly into the Saffire interface and run the modeler in an audio channel. The ones I have (2 different modelers) are pretty resource heavy..... they sound pretty good, but so far I have just experimented with them. When I have music to record, I know what settings on the POD2 will get the sound I like..... and it's really easy to use.....plus it sounds pretty decent.  No one has ever complained about my tone....and if I like it and it works for me...... who cares?

Another option is a mic. A guitar amp properly miked with a nice mic is a hard combination to beat.


 Think about it, and then choose your path.

Heres a link to some V-Amp Pro demos(very much demo)........

Same guitar 3 different tones............

http://www.4shared.com/u/...l?sId=HJNNjTilyNF224JL


Open My Shared  "Music"Folder to right of page and download or stream mp3.

Thank you this has been helpful!

Embryo


Whether I use my Valve Jr or not, is it possible with tube amps to record them direct?  Solid state?  All I have is a Speaker Output, 16, 8 and 4 ohms.  No Line Out.

 

I'm surprised nobody jumped on that part.  Not to insult your intelligence, but I hope you know you can't use your speaker outs into a DI box unless it's designed for it, and without driving a speaker cabinet too.  I used to use a DI Box religiously (Behringer GI100), and pretty much loved the sound over any mic'd sound I could achieve, although much of that was lack of engineering talent on my part.  Nevertheless, the DI box had a "direct link" output so that if you used your "speaker out" signal instead of your "line out" signal into the DI, you could run a cable to your speaker cabinet because your amp needs the load - especially tube amps. 
 
Luckily mine had a line out and I would just unplug my speaker cab to get perfectly quiet recording.  You don't have a line out, so I'm pretty sure you're going to need to send your speaker out to the DI box, and then from the direct link output to a speaker cabinet or load of some kind.  Of course there's the regular line level output from the DI to your audio interface for your recording. 
 
Anybody, please berate me if I'm mistaken, I just hate to see somebody fry their stuff. 

I was aware I couldn't go speaker out - line in.  I meant was it possible to record a tube amp direct using a preamp.  So there are indeed preamps that I can just connect the speaker output to the DI input and then to the audio interface?  And do the Palmer and the H&K Redbox do this?  It doesn't specify in any reviews I read whether it does tube amps.

Bats Brew would be a member to get some good info from..............

He is using a Palmer  in his set up, with some tube amps ........

He gets very quality tone on his recordings.........

Since I got my Pod, the only thing I've had to mic up guitar wise is when trying to get that metal "chugg" rhythm sound.

Everything else the Pod can do, from clean, through bluesy/break up etc.

I've also got a Bass V-Amp  which is superb for Bass tones. The bets piece of kit Behringer have ever made, IMHO

The bets piece of kit Behringer have ever made, IMHO

Hey B.J......................


Its funny how we all hear different things.....................


I have owned several modelers and lots of Behringer gear.


I used a Bas V-Amp Pro for quite a while and feel like it is one of Behringers most lack luster products....ever.


Now I love the V-Amp Pro as a budget piece........




Glad you've had better luck than me though........


Maybe I missed something..........