I didin't read most of the responses here, so this may have been mentioned already.....

Your axe is going to play an important part of your sound, but one thing many people overlook is the player itself.

Two capable guitar players can play the same thing on the same equipment and sound different. There's a lot to be said for technique. A not so good guitar player might sound pretty bad, and all the equipment in the world will NOT help. Practice will.

I'm not suggesting you need practice as I've never heard you play...you might be a guitar god.....but thought I'd bring this bit up. Your fingers and what you do with them matters a lot. Beyond that, define "professional sounding" guitar. Does the guitar on Led Zep's "Communication Breakdown" sound professional?? It sounds like a tiny little 6" speaker. Definitely no hi-fi polish there. BUT....the player/performance was there, and in the end it fit the song. It never stopped that song from being as popular as it is/was.

ORIGINAL: pisquano

can I ask something? how important is to use a DI box if you already have a good sound card?
I use a Saffire LE and connect my guitar straight into that but some dude told me I should first go into a DI box which has a balanced out, then go into the balanced input of the Saffire....

any idea? do I really need DI box?

It looks like your Saffire has an instrument level (DI) input, so you have a decent starting point.

However, not all DIs are created equally, there are active and passive and different impedances.

If yours is working and you're happy with the sound and performance, you're done. If you're still curious, you can try dedicated DI boxes to see if you can hear any difference and if it's worth spending more money.

Very good post. The problem is that most have not played outside or in a large venue with a tube amp cranked to wake the dead to enjoy the characteristics of this. When you do for less than this then you are already compromising.

With reasonable volumes that will not incur the wrath of my family, there is so little difference it is really pointless to argue about it. Even when they leave and I crank it my room is not designed for this the reflections and resulting distortion ruins it. To have fun I need to take it outside and THEN I can get it going My neighbors are tolerant of this extremely occasional outburst (think 4th of July/ New Years)

Modeling technology has made some huge strides and picking it out in a recording is just about impossible.

AXE

ORIGINAL: pisquano

can I ask something? how important is to use a DI box if you already have a good sound card?
I use a Saffire LE and connect my guitar straight into that but some dude told me I should first go into a DI box which has a balanced out, then go into the balanced input of the Saffire....

any idea? do I really need DI box?

The Focusrite site doesn't offer the specification for the impedance of the inputs so even if you tell us what kind of guitar pickup you are using it will be difficult to tell you much about your situation.

read this webpage: http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/tips/guitar_cords/ It's got solid info in an easy to undersatnd explanation. If you understand what they are talking about you will begin to understand why you want a direct box... you want to get from a hi-z circuit to a low-z circuit and you want to do it with the frequency response that a guitar to dedicated guitar amp connection provides. The term "unbalanced instrument input" is too vauge and you must imediately assume that the input impedance is not the ideal *very*hi-z for guitar but more of a general mid-hi so as too accomodate other connections (think keyboards, rack effects, acoustic guitar pickups etc).

Now if any of that made sense you can begin to appreciate why some (particularly the latest models) electric guitar fanatic direct boxes are designed especially to get a clean tone frequency response that is simlar to a guitar/amp combo. Other direct boxes are more generic like the "unbalanced instrument input" described above.

If you have some kind of acoustic-electric pickup system (piezo, condensor mic, etc) then you want a different direct box than someone with traditional coil wound pickups. That's why guitar stores have "acoustic guitar" amps... it's not just that they are colored brown... they have input impedances designed to match popular acoustic guitar pickups. So you get the frequency response the pickup designers hoped you would enjoy.

best regards,
mike

Go here and listen to their samples. Listen through a good system and turn it up.

http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=guitarcombos_us

Awsome strat. those sound nice. I wish i didnt have enough toys already, Maybee i can squeeze one more in...He he he

CJ

Ok, I just listened to all the tracks and thru my MOTU Traveler and JBL LSR 6328P speakers it sounds like a real good guitarist. The tones they are getting are pretty close to what I would consider production tracks for something like a TV commercial.

I am familiar with and a fan of most of the source material the guitarist is quoting and none of it sounds like it has the fast transients of the original recordings of real speakers being spanked by a tube amp. I know many of the samples feature compression but there is a sparkle missing to my ear. No Sparkle = no excitement... its just commercial grade sound. Some of the stereo effect and creative panning made it more enjoyable.

For examples:

Plexi Metal track: it sounds thick and juicily compressed but in a dead sort of way. A well recorded Marshall has a shimmer that serves as a foil to the squash.

Twang Blues? Compare it too the Stevie Ray record... this guitarist is hitting the licks like a real pro but there is none of the low end excitement that exists in the original recording

AC Box Jazz... ok got me there, it sounds pretty authentic and the finger note solo do have a nice attack.

AC Box Country: Flat like cowpie

Plexi Rock Riff: Go listen to the ACDC version... once again the copy is just kinda flat.


I'd say a general lack of quick transients would be my chief comment. They sounded less unlifelike on my laptops speakers.

But I could see how something like this could be useful if you were compelled to fill up some space on your next recording.

There is a reason electric guitar conquered the world. Even when it was squashed into a small AM radio speaker it could reach thru and give you a case of the willies. I don't think these sounds are of that caliber. Specifically none of them convey a sense of control vs recklessness held in balance by the sheer wizardry of the player. The guitarist is ceratinly hitting the notes and pushing the rythym but the visceral effect is still flat.



best regards,
mike

So much has been written but e. gtr is probably the most simple instrument to record. If you have a good sound put a mic in front of it and that's about it. If you don't have a good sound to begin with then start hanging around with people you think sound good. Figure out what they're doing and apply it to your situation. If they use tube amps then so should you. If they don't use the latest multi FX box then set yours aside. Figure out their sound and then make your own.

There are lots of bedroom warriors who have killer bedroom tone and will tell you how great their sound is and that it's just like this or that. Those are not the guys to get tips from. Find some guy who plays clubs all the time and always sounds good no matter where he is. This is the person who knows something. THat something might only be one thing but it's worth knowing.

If you have a sound that you think is good but when you mic it up it doesn't sound that way it means one of two things: It actually isn't a good sound or you don't know what a good guitar sound is like coming from studio monitors. The former is key to operating amp modlers. Pete Anderson is an amp farm guy but he's also spent years recording killer sounds from killer amps. If you know what it should sound like then you're half way there.

Everyone is welcome to disagree with what I've said.

Good sound + good performance = Great recording. It dows not matter how you get it, as long as you get it. so if an amp works for you, use it. If a processor works for you, use it. I try to use both ways in my songs. One on each track and then i ajust the levels of the tracks till im satified.
Again, there is no right or wrong or better way. just as long as it sounds good

CJ

What Mike said is exactly how I felt it too....just sounds flat. It sounds good though but it's like its missing something, like warmth. I've tried almost all the amp sim plugs out there and, for me, they just didn't cut it. I think the closest to a metal sound was GreenMachine II and it still sounded dull compared to my Mesa/Boogie going direct (not even with a mic). The jazz sounds were good, but nothing compared to a Polytone amp. But like I said before, if you're happy with it then cool .