Good Preamp for decent Steel tone with direct recording

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 28 Aug 2013 11:22 am

What would be a real good Preamp for direct recording in an Interface to archieve a decent Pedal Steel tone?
Telonics Pre1000, Revelation or Mesa Boogie Studio or a Guitar Modeler??

Cheers

Guido

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 28 Aug 2013 11:29 am

I've been fairly pleased with my PodXT. The speaker models w/selection of 'mics' and choice of on/off axis and 'air' provides some more....something....between the steel and the interface and helps avoid the sterility that can sometimes be a distraction (for me) with going direct.

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 28 Aug 2013 11:33 am

...i had a Line6 UX 2 and everything spundend the same and i never could get a good Sound from it.
So, i'm not so keen on Pods.

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 28 Aug 2013 12:05 pm

Someone tried the Rectifier Recording Preamp yet??

John RJ Wilson · Post by **John RJ Wilson** » 28 Aug 2013 1:08 pm

Maybe contact this builder from the UK and ask him how he thinks this would do with pedal steel. My son has one of these and it is amazing.Dennis is a genius.

The Acoustic Preamp DI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgB-upQZbcE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvptSe5rKJs
http://dennismarshall.co.uk/

and no mean guitarist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flJcnVzrKjI

I have no afilliation with Dennis apart from as a customer.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 28 Aug 2013 8:44 pm

I have been using Brad Sarno's octal tube preamp for direct input, and it is outstanding...(and compact)...sounds amazing!

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 28 Aug 2013 9:28 pm

I also love the Sarno V8

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 29 Aug 2013 1:33 am

i was listening to the revelation and v8 octal preamp this morning, but for me they sound pretty much equal.
very clear, clean, warm/round.
but sorry for that - but i'm missing a bit roughness, liveliness in it, like the early 60s sounds.
maybe that's the amp -> speaker -> mike -> recording situation which can't be short cutted with one device yet?!?

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 29 Aug 2013 6:22 am

Guido Hausmann wrote:i was listening to the revelation and v8 octal preamp this morning, but for me they sound pretty much equal.
very clear, clean, warm/round.
but sorry for that - but i'm missing a bit roughness, liveliness in it, like the early 60s sounds.
maybe that's the amp -> speaker -> mike -> recording situation which can't be short cutted with one device yet?!?

For me, Avid Eleven Rack does that very well.

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 29 Aug 2013 6:35 am

I've had very good results with the Sarno "Black Box".

h

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 29 Aug 2013 6:46 am

i think i mostly do like the very early sounds played with low wattage tweed amps or maybe the early blackface twins.
maybe the sarnos and telnonics are the wrong devices for that?
i also believe that you miss a bit of feel and personality in the modern guitar modeler. what do you think??
and for high class devices like axe fx, i don't have the bucks!

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 29 Aug 2013 7:05 am

If I'm remote recording for a client they typically want a track "dry" and devoid of a particular amp's personality. Definitely no effects.

The Black Box delivers a tone that pleases me without adding unnecessary characteristics.

Works for me.

h

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 29 Aug 2013 7:51 am

Guido Hausmann wrote:i think i mostly do like the very early sounds played with low wattage tweed amps or maybe the early blackface twins.
maybe the sarnos and telnonics are the wrong devices for that?

Yes, if you want some "hair" on your sound, then the Revelation, or Telonics pre-amps are the wrong devices for that.

Guido Hausmann wrote: i also believe that you miss a bit of feel and personality in the modern guitar modeler. what do you think??

I thought so until I tried Eleven Rack.

Guido Hausmann wrote:and for high class devices like axe fx, i don't have the bucks!

I got Eleven Rack new for $419, without Pro Tools.

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 29 Aug 2013 12:13 pm

...just bought a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp for $430 - seems a cheap deal here in Germany, so I had to grab this!

I'm curious how it will sound direct as the front end preamp into the Steinberg Interface!
Just could'nt resist!!

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 29 Aug 2013 2:26 pm

It doesn't have to be a "pedal steel" preamp. A great preamp will do the job. Neve, Vintech, Millenia, are the kind of preamp they use in pro studios. I use a Vintech 573 and it's great. Plus, you can use it for anything, not just pedal steel. There is no need for any "pedal steel" feature, since you can do all that via plugins in your software. Equally important are your A/D converters i.e. soundcard. I use an Apogee Duet, but anything Apogee or RME is really good.

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 29 Aug 2013 2:53 pm

Think you're right! Now I wonder how I can get the Preamp to sound good into my Steinberg Interface!

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 30 Aug 2013 12:16 am

The Avalon U5 is a nice preamp for recording.

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 30 Aug 2013 3:24 am

Alex Cattaneo wrote:It doesn't have to be a "pedal steel" preamp. A great preamp will do the job. Neve, Vintech, Millenia, are the kind of preamp they use in pro studios. I use a Vintech 573 and it's great. Plus, you can use it for anything, not just pedal steel. There is no need for any "pedal steel" feature, since you can do all that via plugins in your software. Equally important are your A/D converters i.e. soundcard. I use an Apogee Duet, but anything Apogee or RME is really good.

...do you use the preamp outs direct into the interface?
or is there a need for a di box??

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 30 Aug 2013 4:49 pm

The Boogie Studio Pre has been my direct rig for many years and is very good...I did a session earlier this year in Nashville and had my DI rig there (Mesa Studio Pre into a vintage Telefunken V72 preamp and into a UREI LA3A limiter)...Lloyd Green came out one day to play, and he heard my direct rig and asked if he could try it, and really, really liked it--so much that he used it for the whole session and left his rig in the hall....and this is a guy who never goes direct! I think he would have been equally happy with the Sarno pre as well...another great thing about the Sarno is it's way more compact and lighter than the stereo pre....

Guido Hausmann · Post by **Guido Hausmann** » 5 Sep 2013 12:22 am

finally the boogie studio pre arrived today! i'll see how good the recordings outs are direkt into the steinberg ur22 interface.
for now i will leave out a speaker simulator. seems that mostly all of them try to emulate a 4x12 more or less good - think no steeler needs that for recording...!

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 26 Sep 2013 8:16 pm

I love Brad's V8 more every day...he sent me a demo to try out, and I could not bear to send it back, so I bought it...

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 26 Sep 2013 8:18 pm

I love Brad's V8 more every day...he sent me a demo to try out, and I could not bear to send it back, so I bought it...

Daryl Thisdelle · Post by **Daryl Thisdelle** » 29 Sep 2013 4:53 am

First I think you should ask yourself what you really want and need. Your pieces of gear you have mentioned are not just a direct into a recording program. The steel guitar has many tones and frequencies and you should be looking at a DI and a DI only that has very high over head. That acoustic Di Box from Denis in the UK is an EQ and an effex unit and a DI box. Spend the money in getting the best DI box you can afford. Leave the effex and eq to a later buy. Skimping on the money at this stage of the game is not what you want to do. The pod is definitely not a di box you want to record a steel guitar with. I have my own very high end recoding studio in my home and if you want to chat send me an e-mail.

Daryl

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Good Preamp for decent Steel tone with direct recording

Good Preamp for decent Steel tone with direct recording

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