16brae


Hello,
I am looking for some advice. My  setup is basic and includes the following, Boss Gt-6 guitar fx, Focusrite Saffire 6 usb, Behringer mxb1002 mixer, two alesis M1 MK2 active monitor speakers, and Sonar X1 producer. My problem is no matter what settings I make to the boss or the mixer, I cannot get a good quality guitar sound through my speakers. I am looking for the same sound quality as I would get plugging my guitar into a guitar amp. I  would appreciate any advice anyone could give me in achieving this. Perhaps different settings, additional software or a new external guitar fx. Thank you.

     In the last sentence pay attention to "perhaps different settings additional software or a new external guitar fx".



     I don't mean to get off on a rant, but...............



     With all due respect to some of the other posts, I don't feel that you will get a great sound through the gear being used.  The first problem is that the GT-6 is older tech and has a lot of noise floor.   The Focusrite is a pretty nice interface and will not only record the 'wanted' guitar parts but the GT-6's noise floor and probably enhance it.  That is going direct from the GT-6 to the Focusrite.  The GT-6 still sounds great and noise-manageable through an amp rig.



     That being said, the one thing your post fails to mention is "What style of music and what style of guitar work?".



     If you're doing clean-to-bitey or acoustic guitar stuff, you could probably use a cab-sim and get an acceptable sound, assuming a moderately low number of tracks.  However, if you are wanting to shred, as soon as you get the volume loud enough to get your sound to "play" with your guitar body's harmonics (i.e. feedback/resonance/sustain), you are more likely to blow the horns on the Alesis monitors (been there, done that on two KRK V8's and repairing them cost 2 SM57's) or at the very least have your neighbors or house mates looking to strangle you every time you record.



     The other and IMHO the biggest problem (from my experience) with Amp/Cab sims is latency.  In order to use the amp sim properly you need to play 'live' through the amp sim to get it sounding how you want.  However, sometimes (in my case always) the time between plucking a string and hearing the output can be delayed enough that the music just doesn't feel right and you have to start playing with sliding the track back and forth till it sits in the mix, timing wise.  Though with low latency (128 or less) you can get close but you really need a latency setting of 32 or less.   With my gear (Quad-Core CPU, 8gigs RAM, Win7-64, Sonar X2-64 and no other software than is required for recording/mixing, 3-motu 2408mk3s and a motu 24/io, 4-UAD1 cards in a magma chassis) by the time I get to the guitar tracks there is already 30 tracks cranking and cannot get the latency low enough to be really usable.  Perhaps a flaw in my gear, but I don't think so.  As you can see, I spent a lot of money in my quest and the point of my other post is that mic'ing a real cab with a low cost mic gave me the sound I wanted.

     To put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, here is a track I'm working on.  The guitars are the first run, proof of concept, and the vocals are a real rough and no harmonies yet but there is enough to give you an idea where I'm coming from.  The tune is currently occupying 52 tracks with 24 dedicated to drums (again not where I want but enough to test).  The drums are a customized BFD kit utilizing all 6 Toms from the Lucite kit and a few other tweaks coming in digitally from a second machine whose only task in life is Soft-Synths.  There are some not-yet-rerecorded percussion parts missing currently.  The tune uses Sonar's SI-Bass instrument (will be replaced with a "real" bass track), trumpet and trombone from a Roland XV-5050 Rack and the other instruments (Strings, DX Piano, Whirly Piano, B3 Organ) are from MOTU's MachFive.  One thing to note, the timing issues between the harmony guitars on the "Old Mix" which were in-time when I actually played them.

                                  Latest Test Mix: http://www.musicpreview.com/mp3/ChuckFletcher_NightsLikeThis_MixTest.mp3

           Old Mix from DSP Factory days: http://www.musicpreview.com/mp3/ChuckFletcher_NightsLikeThis.mp3

     As always, I love constructive critique.



     I guess the real point of my post is that if you've got tons of time on your hands, by all means try out what came with Sonar.  You might be happier than I.  But if you would really like to get to the record-your-music phase, you'll spend a lot less time and probably money figuring correct mic placement to capture a sound that you probably are already happy with from your live gear.



     Keep shredding.



Best,
Guitardood


EDIT: Here's a link to an interesting article at SoundOnSound about recording some of  Derek & The Dominoes' guitar tracks: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/classictracks_0906.htm.  Fender Champs with a SM57 and an EV635.  Cool!

SvenArne


I'll have to disagree with some of the posters here. A 57 in front of whatever cab available IS NOT A MAGIC BULLET. Even with a decent cab you gotta experiment with mic placement and the tone ctrls of the amp, and even then it can be hit or miss. Getting a "real" guitar recording to sit in a mix can be just as much work as a digital emulation. 

Getting electric guitar to sound nice is hard work!

When I record an amp I always split the signal so I get both the mic and DI signals. Often I find that the "real" signal don't work in the mix so then I can dial in a tone that works with Guitar Rig or whatever.

Lastly, I will say that I hate the SM57 as well. Try the Sennheiser E906. Much more forgiving IMO! If you have to use a 57, at least set up a second mic (even if that too is a 57) in a different spot so you have some tonal options!

Sven

Sven, 

I don't know who said anything about a magic bullet. I certainly emphasized mic placement in my post, and I said that it could be done "even" with an SM57. I don't use an SM57 these days - more likely a Mojave Audio M101fet up close with a large diaphragm condenser a few feet away - but I've made many good recordings with a single SM57. If I had a good ribbon mic I'd use that for guitar cabs (maybe someday).

What I wanted to convey was that you can make a good recording very simply using a low wattage amp and a dynamic mic. Of course that's not all there is to it, nor is that the ultimate technique. But it's often less work and a better result than all kinds of plug-ins and simulators.