The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 4 of 4 FirstFirst ... 234
Posts 76 to 82 of 82
  1. #76

    User Info Menu

    guava quote
    “– I may not hear as well as I did 20 years ago, but IMHO the analog sims like the American True Tone are just as good for clean tones. BTW – for a clean tone keep the "voice" control low.”

    thanks man , I will try that
    I can’t seem to get happy with my
    HB American TT

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #77

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by guavajelly
    I understand. I also go with the flow of the band – e.g. in our funk band I use a fly rig direct into the mixer as we do in-ear monitoring anyway. Nice solution for me cause I use public transportation or my bike (fiets) to travel to gigs whenever I can and my entire rig fits into the gigbag. The guitar is one of eight instruments here so I wonder if I would hear a difference if I'd use an amp or a more expensive solution. The band agreed that the guitar sound is good – so I'm set.
    OTOH in our organ trio (drums, organ, guitar) I use a tube amp because it gives me "the" tone and feel. As one of three instruments the guitar should sound the best it can. Our organ player insists that I use an actual amp here – not only for the tone but for the looks. It's also the most pragmatic solution in that context as we often gig without PA, so I have to bring some kind of "powered speaker" anyway – so why not the vibrolux.
    BTW: I also had the american sound, but our bass player "stole" it from me – actually he borrowed it and eventually paid for it. I just ordered a second one for myself because it's a great emergency backup. IMHO the fly rig or Harley Benton American True Tone do an excellent job.
    But I didn't try digital hardware (multieffects) on stage since selling my Boss GT-5 like 20 years ago. I tried the Kemper in a Music Store with headphones though and didn't think it was worth it – neither the extra size nor the investment. I also played around with the amp sims in logic – I may not hear as well as I did 20 years ago, but IMHO the analog sims like the American True Tone are just as good for clean tones. BTW – for a clean tone keep the "voice" control low.
    The Kemper and the amp sims in Logic still felt different than an actual amp. In theory it came a long way with the impulse responses since I last had a digital unit – but honestly to me it didn't seem better or worse than what I already have.

    I understand that you can't use your rig in the context. Honestly I have the impression that the drummer doesn't know much about recording a jazz ensemble if he insists on you going direct. It also seems kind of very selfish – does he use drum sound simulations?
    But if you want to do as he requires you'll have to find a DI solution you like. I can't understand why monitoring through amp sims in the DAW is not an option – very, very old computer? If you can't find your tone with either a plugin in the DAW or the American True Tone you'll have to invest in something else (the UAD pedals seem to be the latest craze btw.) BUT I wonder if (1) you'll be more satisfied and (2) if your investment will pay eventually.
    Tough call.
    Actually, it’s for the non-jazz recordings (pop, funk, blues) we are working this out for. And he has been checking and probably getting a processed sound back on the headphones will be perfectly possible, so maybe the ToneBlock purchase wasn’t necessary at all Recording in the studio without an amp (going direct) Very happy with it though, just for late night headphone practice alone it’s already worth it’s price… and I think it’s even a better back up solution for a failing tube amp than the Joyo American Sound I think, because I can just hook it to the speaker of the amp, so it’s also a good backup solution in situations where there’s no PA available (In the past 30 years I have had my tube amps fail on me during a gig only 3 times, but still….)
    Last edited by Little Jay; 11-01-2022 at 04:21 PM.

  4. #78

    User Info Menu

    I was lucky enough to never have a tube amp (or any other amp) fail at me in 40 years of gigging. The only time I witnessed a failing amp was when the solid state amp of a fellow guitarist quit working. He bought it because he thought ist was more reliable than a tube a tube amp. I could avoid to let him see my evil smile.

  5. #79

    User Info Menu

    Little Jay, if you can process your tone in the DAW that will be great. Most DAWs come with amp sims or you can buy plugins you like for little money.
    One more thing I noticed: Make sure that the input of the audio interface likes guitars. I always thought the amps in Logic sound like **** until I tried them while my guitar ran through the fly rig (everything off) into my MOTU 8pre. All of a sudden they were good. It has something to do with input impedance – but don't quote me on that, I just found out by chance.
    My explanation is that the input in the MOTU likes microphones, synthesizers etc. but not the output of passive guitar pickups. The buffer in the fly rig seems to convert my signal to something the preamp can process better. Some interfaces have inputs designed for guitars (called Hi-Z or something like that) some not. A buffer (like in a lot of tuner pedals or other pedals that are NOT "true bypass" – so the buffer is active even when the pedal is switched off) helps.

  6. #80

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by guavajelly
    One more thing I noticed: Make sure that the input of the audio interface likes guitars. I always thought the amps in Logic sound like **** until I tried them while my guitar ran through the fly rig (everything off) into my MOTU 8pre. All of a sudden they were good. It has something to do with input impedance – but don't quote me on that, I just found out by chance.
    My explanation is that the input in the MOTU likes microphones, synthesizers etc. but not the output of passive guitar pickups. The buffer in the fly rig seems to convert my signal to something the preamp can process better. Some interfaces have inputs designed for guitars (called Hi-Z or something like that) some not. A buffer (like in a lot of tuner pedals or other pedals that are NOT "true bypass" – so the buffer is active even when the pedal is switched off) helps.
    I had this exact same realization, but with a MOTU 828 MkII. Guitar direct in always sounded crappy. Once I started using a direct box it sounded much better. I now use a RME Fireface, and the first two inputs have a selector for hi/low/instrument impedence builtin.

  7. #81

    User Info Menu

    I wrote about "NI Guitar Rig" earlier in this thread. That no longer applies since I have completely uninstalled Guitar Rig.

    Among other things, because the software is buggy (save preset unreliable), but also because of the sound.

    Everything is always kind of overdone. When you try it out you think, cool! But if you want to record for real, you realize, it doesn't sound good, it's artificial, over-the-top....

    Apart from that there runs so much software in the background that I don't want. Download was 1.3 GB with the installer.
    To quote the Doc Brown: "One point three giga byte?"
    I mean, come on NI ... it's a simple amplifier simulation....

    At this moment I use a free software from a company called Blue Cat Audio. Very lightweight, three basic amplifiers, even has speaker sim, all you need are some IRs.

    Am very happy with it!


    Blue Cat's Freeware Plug-ins Pack II - Download Freeware Audio Plugins (VST, VST3, AAX, Audio Unit) (Freeware)


    EDIT: There is another free amp out there called "LePou456" it's a 4 channel simulation of an Engl 645 valve amp. The clean channel is very usable (the drive too but probably not for most of the Jazz guys here I guess). Be sure to put a cab sim after the amp in you FX chain as Le456 has none. The maker of this little gem seems to be no longer active, so you'll have to look at the typical places to get a copy e.g. here:

    Download Free Guitar preamp simulator plugin: Le456 by LePou
    Last edited by DonEsteban; 11-26-2022 at 08:59 PM.

  8. #82

    User Info Menu

    RME BBF audio interface (or other good interface that should be in the studio) + toneX (they have a free version). I bet it sounds a lot better than old these DI's, Sansamps, preamps. I don't think that toneX provides me the same euphoria like I have playing in front of mine Princeton Reverb combo but it's really good on recordings