Multi FX Pedal Vs Modeling software(laptop) Vs Amp&pedals

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

I am in gear hell! It seems everything I invest in turns out to be the wrong thing. I am looking for the most minimalistic setup, but still want some versatility. What works for you and why? I am assuming these options are all using an audio interface and a computer of some kind for recording. Happy New Year!

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

What have you tried and why wasn't it satisfactory?

FWIW..My practice and recording setups are very different.

I practice with my "gig rig", guitar==>pedal board==> amp.

I record direct guitar==>interface==>DAW/plugins.

ymmv

h
_________________
Howard Parker

03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
Listowner Resoguit-L

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

I was just planning on using GarageBand on an iPad with a cheap Behringer interface, but I was getting frustrated with the limitations of GarageBand pretty quickly. I think with time I can make it work, but time is the ultimate problem. I don't want to invest all the time in something that I will want to change in 6 months.

The iPad is a big limiting factor for DAWs. They have a new version of Logic Pro for iPad, but it is a subscription.. No thank you APPLE.... Wish I would have just bought an actual laptop. I think the cheap interface is fine. When it comes to effects I have a lot to learn and it seems that recording with effects is not the same as jamming etc. It is more, record a good clean signal and add effects later? I could be wrong about that, but there is no way for me to play with digital effects engaged without horrible latency. And with GarageBand there is no way to adjust the buffer parameters to reduce this. I also hate playing with headphones.

I was in the process of assembling an ampless pedalboard that I could use for practicing and recording, but I am tired of fiddling with individual pedals, so now I am onto these multiFX pedals and such, but they are COMPLICATED. I think I might need to lock myself in a room with one for a month before I begin to figure it out. Mostly I want a good looper drum sync setup with a few effects and the ability to play around with some more complicated sounds.

I am your typical late 40's musician who is having trouble with technology!

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I voted old tube amp + pedalboard, which is, more or less, what I do if I'm in an actual studio with a good-sounding room and a good engineer who has and knows how to properly mic the amp.

But I don't always use a tube amp, and I don't always have to be mic'd. At home and sometimes in a studio setting for pedal steel, I often use a pedalboard => Quilter Tone Block 201 (has no reverb) and its XLR DI Out into whatever recording setup is being used. I don't generally use a lot of effects for steel - usually just a little reverb and delay. For my Clinesmith lap/console steels, one of my favorite amps is this little Peavey Backstage that cost $50 or 75 - I have two. Sounds screwy, but that amp sounds great to me with those guitars. A number of skeptics were convinced after they heard it.

At home, I usually record using a fairly recent 24-track TASCAM machine. Interface => DAW is OK, I've have used a few, I even have one set up. But to me, they are a PITA for home recording. I don't record that often, so when I do, I always have to go in and fix something, and it's not hard to introduce latency in the monitoring. I like the simplicity of an old-school multi-track machine. One can get a pretty decent one fairly reasonable, they're portable, and I have found the sound quality good. No, not the level of a high-end professional studio, but far better than whatever a lot of my favorite music was recorded on decades ago.

I prefer to record with whatever effects I'm going to use. For guitar or the occasional case of overdriven steel, it seems pretty ridiculous to me for someone to insist that I don't use, for example, an overdrive pedal - "Hey, we'll take care of that." No - overdrive is part of the fundamental sound, and I think there are other effects for which this is true. I have had people add overdrive/distortion to my stuff, and in every case, I hated it. Of course, if someone asks me to record without reverb or delay, no problem. I'll just give myself some of that in the monitor. I have actually recorded wet on one track, dry on another, and give them both - "this is what I think it ought to sound like, but the dry is there if you disagree."

In most cases, none of this is an issue. A lot of my recording is for bands I'm in. When I do record for someone else, it's generally because they want me to sound like me. I'm not making a living at this, so I am not OK with someone making me sound bad for posterity. I just find that an annoying waste of time.

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

Stew Crookes · From: Paris, France

My philosophy is similar - if I’m being paid full rate, it’s irrelevant whether I’m happy with the final result and all that matters is delivering what makes the client happy. If that’s a dry track with alternate simplified or flashier takes for them to cut in, then that’s what they’re getting. Obviously I’m giving them the best parts executed to the top of my ability and carefully comped every time but I’m not taking ‘liberties’ in this scenario…

But the instant I’m working on a discounted ‘favor’ rate, I’m putting on whatever effects I feel are right, and there’s no alts - they can take or leave anything I played.

The ideal situation of course is the producer / artist that trusts your playing and instincts and will pay full rate while giving carte blanche, and when that happens that’s when everyone involved seems to be the happiest with the end result Smile

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Music mixer, producer and pedal steel guitarist

stewcrookes.com

Brian Spratt · From: Oklahoma, USA

This is what works for me...

Get a pedalboard with your desired effects and an "amp pedal" of some kind. I use a TONEX and I have used an Iridium before. The Sesh 400 looks interesting also. With this pedalboard and your guitar, you have all your tone controls right there at your fingertips and you don't have to muck with a mouse or keyboard to dial in your sound.

Run your pedalboard into your DAW of choice via your audio interface, preferably in stereo.

Use your DAW (or your interface) to monitor your guitar and use the DAW tracks to load whatever you want to play along with (rhythm tracks, songs you're trying to learn/copy, etc.). You're also all set to hit the record button if you want to record yourself.

Monitor it however suits you... silent with headphones or out to powered speakers.

Another benefit of this setup is that you can transition to playing live and you will have very little adjustment to get your dialed-in "studio tone"... just run your pedalboard into the power amp section of your Peavey or into the PA system, etc. A little tweak to your "amp pedal" EQ should accommodate your room and amp speaker.

This setup is primarily geared towards practicing and "personal recording". As others have noted, you'll want to capture a dry track (via DI box splitter before your FX) if you're doing real session work.

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

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