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Guitar gear demos:
Gibson Les Paul solo
Using Digitech Whammy Wah, Mesa V-Twin tube (valve) preamp
On this excerpt I am playing a guitar solo in D Dorian mode. I also used an EBow plus at one point, for a brief effect, simulating harmonic feedback.
Guitar gear I used on this demo:
1997 Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus guitar
Mesa V-Twin tube (valve) preamp
Digitech whammy wah - used only for the wah function
EBow Plus - used at around 4:00 to 4:20 to simulate harmonic feedback
Guitar on this track was recorded DI'd (plugged straight in to mixer)
Yes. I think DI-ing worked well on this track. But I'd want to say the following about recording rock guitar tones:
"How should I record an electric guitar?"
Generally, to record a good rock guitar sound, I'd recommend the following:
The guitar sound needs to be good to start with - this means using a good instrument, with good pickups, and, in my opinion, a quality tube (valve) amp, into a good speaker cabinet. My first choice is a Marshall Super Lead valve head into a Marshall 4x12 cabinet, which is loaded with Celestion speakers. But Mesa make some nice valve amps too. Although they'd call them tubes, not valves. It's a different sound from a Marshall, but I like their Dual Rectifier head.
Close mic the speaker cabinet - I really like close mic-ing guitar cabinets with a Shure SM57. I'd place the mic about six inches from the speaker cone, at 90 degrees to the speaker, pointing towards not the centre of the cone but half way between the centre of the speaker and the edge
Capture room ambience by distance mic-ing too - or you could just rely on adding digital reverb for this
Marshall JTM45, Celestion loaded cab, and a Strat
On the right is a really old gig photo of me with a Fender '57 reissue Strat. My backline at that time was a Marshall JTM45 valve head into a Celestion loaded cab, which was close mic-ed with a Shure SM57.
Amp modelling in software has come a long way, but to my ears you still can't beat valves/tubes for that classic rock guitar sound.
However...
It's sometimes possible to get good rock guitar tones even by DI-ing - as long as you're using tubes/valves for the distortion. On this track, I used a Mesa V-Twin tube (valve) preamp. I DI-d the Mesa V-Twin's output straight into the mixer. I then applied very extreme EQ settings to simulate the way a guitar speaker cabinet would shape the sound. And then added reverb when mixing down.
Mesa V-Twin tube preamp (now discontinued)
Mesa no longer make the V-Twin, but it's a great piece of kit to have (if you can still find one).
Powered by two 12AX7 tubes (valves), it can give you Mesa tube tones with different amp/speaker rigs. Mesa themselves said of the V-Twin on their website: "Engineers and producers alike are shocked when they push up the faders and hear how well it goes direct-to-tape." Often, when manufacturers make claims for a product the reality may differ from the advertising hype. But in the case of the Mesa V-Twin, I'd concur entirely - with some careful EQ to simulate a guitar speaker cabinet, it can sound great even DI-d. It's just a shame you can't buy them anymore.
'EBow plus' used to simulate harmonic feedback
One of the great things about playing a good guitar through a quality tube/valve amp/speaker stack at high volumes is the way harmonic feedback can be induced. Unlike microphonic feedback, which is a very unpleasant and random squeal, harmonic feedback is where the feedback occurs in a musically useful way. A note can be played, and then feedback induced whereby the feedback occurs in unison with the played note, or at a variety of different intervals such as thirds, fifths, octaves, etc.
Inducing harmonic feedback in this way requires a good guitar, good amp, good speakers - and high volumes.
On this track, as I was DI-ing the guitar, inducing harmonic feedback was obviously not an option. So, to simulate the effect, towards the end of the solo I grabbed the EBow plus and used it to produce the sound you hear at around 4:00 - 4:20 on the video clip above.
Joe Satriani - 'Flying in a Blue Dream'
There's a great example of a guitar player inducing harmonic feedback on the Joe Satriani instrumental guitar track, 'Flying in a Blue Dream'. Listen to the short clip below and you'll hear what I mean:
The original recording of this track is protected by copyright. An excerpt from it is allowed to be made available here under the 'fair use' provisions of intellectual property law, for the purpose of review/criticism. If you like this excerpt, please consider buying the full track. USA link here | UK link here
On the right is a really old gig photo of me with a Fender '57 reissue Strat. My backline at that time was a Marshall JTM45 valve head into a Celestion loaded cab, which was close mic-ed with a Shure SM57.
Mesa no longer make the V-Twin, but it's a great piece of kit to have (if you can still find one).
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