It really depends on the sound you are going for and how you go about it bud. I years ago I used to play a sort of mid-cut sound and it A) never recorded right for me B) sits lousy in most mixes for me. Distorted Rock guitar is some low end (rolling out rumble below around 80hz, maybe a little bump for some oomph around 240-250hz), Steady mids as this is the meat and potatoes of your sound, and I often find myself curbing out a lot of the highs with a LPF from idunno 15k or at times down to 10k to get rid of the fizz. You tend to thing that that high end range is your presence... it's not. It's annoying fuzz that has been cut out of all your favorite records. Play around with this and see if it helps. Yes, planting an SM57 in front of even a practice amp does wonders but you should be able to get a decent tone with what you have if you know how to shape it. Even with a 57, I generally go throu to make sure (roughly) that the above is all inline.

tbosco


Well, those of you who have read my suggestions before know I'm a true non-conformist...so this may sound crazy to a lot of folks... but have you tried just recording a clean guitar part, then running that track through your guitar processor(s) to get the sound you are looking for?  I do this quite a bit, successfully.  A side benefit is you can try out all the processor sounds and not be "glued" to just one.
Guitar Rig 4/5 works really well this way, as does some of the many free amp sim plugs like Voxengo's Boogex.
And of course, you can use any combination of FX you desire on the clean guitar track.

Just trying to come up with another solution when all else has failed you...

Good luck!

IMO, that's not a "method", really, and there's nothing crazy, because that's how SONAR works. Whatever amp sim you use you're in the exact same situation. SONAR always records only the clean signal. You can then try whatever FX you wish on that clean signal. You can't get yourself glued to one guitar sound even if you wanted to (except for via specific routings).

  WOW 16 Brae, talk about the blind leading the blind! Put it quite simply, you'll never get a decent guitar sound using modelers of any kind, even the fanciest, most expensive modelers will only give you head aches in the end. What you need is a decent tube amp through a decent cab mic'ed up, THERE IS REALLY NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT, please just trust me on this one. I have used modelers from Line6, BOSS, and AXE FX; Some of those will give you a pretty decent sound while being heard soloed, but the instant you start trying to mix the song they just never sit right, no matter what you do. You see, the problem with modelers, yes even AXE FX, is that they try to replicate what your ears hear, some better than others, the problem is that is not what the amp is putting out, there are tons of frequencies, mostly in the very low and very high end, that your ears don't notice per se, but put the sound in a mix and suddenly you can't make the guitar find its place without it. That's to say nothing of overtones and harmonic content that only a tube provides, EXACTLY BECAUSE THEY ARE FLAWED! Nobody quite knows why, but those "flaws" are very musical to us. Do yourself a huge favor, and I don't know what kind of music you play, but there are tube amps for all types of music out there for real cheap man, and they are really pretty good amps, they'll certainly be light years away from any modelers, and at the other side of the universe from what you have :) Search craigs list, actually I've been finding, believe it or not, that Guitar center's online used gear has always the best prices. For crying out loud, if you were a hard rock/blues rock guy, they have, right now, a Peavey windsor for $200 and some cabs for $100, put another $50 for an SM57, and you have yourself a very nice rig to record, and play live, for $350, that's just insane man. Don't buy into the myth that you need 200 different amp sounds and endless stomp box combinations to make your sound, that's what the modeling companies want you to believe because that's the only way they can justify you buying one of their products, all you need is one good drive sound, one good clean sound, and that's it man, then, as you progress and want to expand your palette a little you can buy a stomp box here and there, maybe an amp or two, but you'll be much better served by starting wit one good sound and building from there. I run a studio in the Boston area, and even I only have 6 amps, and about 20 stomp boxes, I can make absolutely any guitar tone with those, from the most compressed recto sound to the loosest class A you ever heard, if I was to believe the modeling companies I would have to have every amp/stomp box ever made to accomplish that. :) Sorry, didn't mean to go on a rant, just wanted to save you a lot of time+effort going down a path that will never yield the results you want

I usually use Mix IR 2 and Red Wirez impulses. 

It allows you to load a variety of mic/cab impulses as well as room impulses, which does a lot for that "moving air" sound. 

Of course, if you have the tube amp and you can play it loud enough to get a decent sound whenever inspiration hits, then by all mean, you should probably record that.
 

I agree with Marvio! I have been playing guitar for over 45 years and recording for almost 40. All these years I have amassed tons of guitars, amps, and FX. Together with a huge collection of mics and preamps. When it comes right down to it you only need a good clean sound, a good crunch sound, and a good full blown out distortion sound. Any other flavoring is always adding some sort of FX, reverb, delay, chorus, whatever. The crucial thing is to get the guitar sound out of the amp as close to what you want and record that with no FX. Add the FX plugins in the track afterwards.
I see you are in a small room. Do you have closet space to put a small combo amp in there and shut the door? Closets make great off the cuff isolation booths. If not that, how about micing a small amp and throwing a very thick packing blanket over it. This has been done with great results for many years. I actually saw a video, I believe on MixCoach.com where they placed an amp in the back of an SUV and ran a mic out to it! Make sure all the windows are UP! LOL!
There are many alternatives to using an amp sim. I have used amp sims when the amp I used on sessions just wasn't cutting it. I still use amp sims in pre-production. Rest assured, if you take the cabinet and the real mic out of the equation it will never sound right to your ears. The imperfections of the speaker, cab, and mic working together determines the quality of the sound.
Every guitar player I know, including myself, is always chasing the holy grail of guitar tones. Trust me, it is unattainable! What sounds great to us today sounds like crap tomorrow. Just try to find something that is functional and as versatile as possble amp-wise. REMEMBER, You want an amp that delivers good tone with no FX turned on in the amp. In all my years of recording very seldom have I seen anyone record tracks with the FX running thru the amp. Other than compression or an overdrive pedal of some sort. All other FX, reverbs,delays,flanging, etc. is all added at the console or as plugins on the track or buss. I wish you luck!

What sounds great to us today sounds like crap tomorrow.

Ah yes, the "bad tone day". I know it very well.

 In all my years of recording very seldom have I seen anyone record tracks with the FX running thru the amp.

That surprises me, but maybe I'm old fashioned about these things.

The result of putting e.g. an analogue flanger or vibe in front of an amp is completely different to putting it afterwards. One way round, the amp reacts to the fx in an organic way, the other way round there's no interaction at all. A big problem I have with digital emulators is that they don't handle that interaction anything like as well as an amp, or even an analogue Sansamp.

Fx into amp can also save on post-tracking eq-ing as the limited frequency range of the guitar speakers removes most of the objectionable frequencies generated by the fx for you.

Kenneth


  What you are probably lacking is a good cab simulation, it's the most important part, which is looks like the boss thingy doesn't do., amp sims and pedals without a cab sim at the end sounds absolutely terrible.

For starters, you could download and install the free amplitube3 "shop" version, it comes with a few amps and some cabs which are free, you can also try out cabs and amps from the shop for free for 2 days I think it is.

That way you can get an idea of what a cab will do for your sound without to much hassle.

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitubecs/

There's also many free amp/cab sims, but they can be a little more tricky to get going.

I'd second this. Get some AMP SIM software and you should be good. Just use the Amp/Cab sims and your effects from your GT6 should sound a lot better. I have an old Korg A3 effects unit that was designed to be played through amps and recorded - not really a DI unit w/ Amp & Cab sims. The POD was the ice breaker for integrated Amp/Cab sims in a direct recording effects box. 


You can hear a bunch of my stuff here, may or may not be your bag... 
http://gearandguitars.blo...playlist-oct-2012.html


 

ALSO TRY THIS: 
http://www.recabi.net/

I reckon "good tone", much like beauty, is in the ears of the beholder.  I have gotten many "good tones" in my 47 years of playing guitar...many of them using just a processor into the board.  And that was back in the 80s and 90s!  Gear is so much improved now.

While I agree that nothing quite compares with a wonderful tube amp (if that's your thing), I can't honestly say that getting a "good tone" is impossible any other way either.  A lot of it has to with knowing what good tone is, first of all, and knowing how to wring the most out of what you've got to work with secondly.  I used to work in a music store with a fellow guitar player who had a great Les Paul and a Marshall tube amp, and the poor boy couldn't coax a decent tone out of his rig if his life depended on it.  Go figure!

I rather enjoy finding new/different ways to accomplish what I hear in my head.  :-)

If you can afford a small (like 5 watt) tube amp and a microphone (even a $100 SM57), you'll get a good recorded sound by micing the speaker in the amp.

But remember that mic placement is everything. If you point it right at the speaker cone (center), it will be very trebly. Right at the edge of the speaker, it will probably be muddy.

The reasoning behind tracking the raw guitar sound then adding the FX at the board is the same as any DAW. It brings more definition and clarity to the FX. This technique allows you to experiment with any kind of reverb or delay or chorus, etc, settings you want without having to re-cut that perfect guitar take that had a reverb that just won't fit the mix. If ever you work in high dollar studios with a producer breathing down your neck, you don't want to back track and re-record a track because the effect you were using on a specific take is NOT what he wanted. Most of the music that comes out of my area is very old school stuff anyway. Guitar, straight in the amp,PERIOD! I have always carried the flag high for effect pedals and processors. Everyone thought I was crazy when I came to play or sit in and all I brought was one of my guitars and a Pod 2.0 with the pedal controller and plug straight in the board.A lot of the producers and artists I work with still prefer for you to use amps and mics. So much so that I have lost work because I would prefer to use plugins or processors.
I love using Amplitube 3 in my own place but I still find myself defending the use of it to other musicians and producers in this area. I have to say there is a character that you just can not get with a plugin in a lot of cases involving tracking guitars.
It also depend on how guitar heavy the song is. If it is just one or two guitar tracks mixed in to a 48 track pop synth tune I really don't think it is that critical. On the other hand, if it's an old school Zep-Cream-Hendrix vibe, the voice of that guitar is everything! I wish you luck in your quest and hope that some of what I contributed is helpful farther on down the line. LOL