Recording guitar with an amp in between?

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Level 1

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Recording guitar with an amp in between?

Alright heres the thing. I need to record some stuff on the guitar and I'd like to use my Marshall amp because of its sound. In the Mac i have one of these: http://www.woodbrass.com/images/woodbrass/PRESONUSINSPIRE+INTERFACEFIREWIRE.JPG not exactly this model but similar.

the amp is a marshall valvestate 100. In the back theres one 100W output (4 ohm). Theres another output which is an "emulated" output.

If it works simply by connecting the output from the amp to the input, is there anything special I should do with the software? How do I make sure all the added effects from GarageBand are off? Oh, and how should I set the volumes to get best quality without breaking my hardware?

Posted on Oct 3, 2007 8:46 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 3, 2007 12:50 PM in response to Talihintti

DON'T SEND 100 WATTS INTO YOUR COMPUTER!! Or into an interface, for that part. You will fry it.

I don't think those Marshalls have a line-out (which would be the correct way to connect your computer) - and anyway, that sound you like so much is created by the tubes of the amp plus the speakers, so you'll want to pick up the sound with a microphone positioned in front of the speakers. People recommend the Shure SM-57 for that purpose - a not too expensive, but kind of industry standard microphone.

The Presonus Inspire is a good interface, I'm using it myself.

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Answer 2

Talihintti Author

Level 1

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Oct 4, 2007 8:39 AM in response to Christoph Drösser

yea 100W to a little box might be stupid indeed. whats left there is 'headphones', 'fx loop send' and 'return' and the emulated output.

the thing is that i only have basic singing microphones to record the actual sound coming out of the amp. its the tubes mainly that give the nice sound, the element in the amp isn't that great so it would make sense to at least try record it. i'll have to see if it works, i have to wait till tuesday to get to record anything though.

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Answer 3

HangTime

Level 9

53,853 points

Oct 4, 2007 8:45 AM in response to Talihintti

if it were me, i'd try the effect send first, monitoring from the computer, before using the headphone-out.

A note on phone-outs:

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html#recordfromheadphone

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Answer 4

isteveus

Level 5

4,340 points

Oct 4, 2007 10:29 AM in response to HangTime

Check the marshall site but I believe the Emulated out is a DI that emulates a speaker cabinet. If this is the case that is exactly what you want to use.

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Answer 5

Golias

Level 1

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Oct 4, 2007 1:15 PM in response to isteveus

Exactly. Emulation mode or else mic the cabinet. The speaker's coloration is an important part of the "Marshall sound", even if it's really just the cheap Valvestate combo.

That said, if you REALLY want the true squeal of a Marshall, and have the resources to do so, borrow or rent an actual tube head with an 8x12 stack and point a mic at it. That's how most of the great Guitar Gods were recorded back in the day.

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