Pure heart stopping distortion.
Those were the words used in a guitar player magazine advert for the Art sgx 2000 that first caught my attention. The most important thing I learned from owning one was how to eq my sound to get great guitar tone.
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I know that sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet, and everybody has their own idea of what a good guitar sound is, so let's just say I've learned a few things that hopefully you may find useful.
When it comes to direct recording, I've all the time tried to emulate the sound one hears when standing a fair length away from the speakers, as opposed to the gritty sound one gets when the amplifier speaker is facing you directly.
Simple Eq guidelines.
I practically all the time end up adding more bass to my guitar sound. Not too much, but just sufficient to round out the sound. A guitar sound can legitimately cope quite a fair estimate of extra bass before it gets overbearing.
The trick here is to offset it with the right estimate of upper midrange. The frequency I ordinarily like to use is 4 khz.
For bass, 100 Hz is usually fine, but it depends on the amplifier and speaker being modelled as well.
Guitar effects processors and amplifier modellers I've used successfully in the studio.
- The Art Sgx 2000 (No longer made). This had a valve preamp section which was configured in distinct ways to yield assorted sounds, as well as a solid state distortion. This had exquisite effects and eq options. The closest thing available nowadays is the Rocktron Prophecy 2 and the Rocktron voodoo valve.
- The Sansamp classic. This in blend with the Art Sgx 2000 gave me one of the most awesome rock guitar sounds. This is simply an amplifier simulator and has no extra effects like reverb, delay etc.
- The Roland Gp 100. The first guitar effects processor from Roland to feature their "Composite Object Sound Modelling", or Cosm for short. This was a totally digital unit, and even though the effects where good, the amp models left a lot to be desired. The latest Cosm guitar preamps are mostly made by Boss, a subsiduary of Roland.
- The Behringer V-Amp. This exiguous unit surprised me with the capability of some of its tones, especially for direct recording and live level into the mixing desk. The trick was to use the right speaker cabinet model, as only a few where good. Behringer is now up to the V-Amp 3.
- The Boss Gt-6. This multi-effects processor initially dissappointed me, but after legitimately diving in and exploring every choice available, I was eventually able to emulate a wide range of guitar amps quite convincingly as well as find a guitar sound to call my own. If you've got one, the trick is to use the booster pedal corollary to alter the tone of some amps as well as not be afraid to eq the hell out of it if you have to.
- The Boss Gt-Pro. This, along with the Gt 10 floor unit is the latest Cosm processor, and is a rackmountable guitar rig for the recording studio.
While I've used other guitar processors than the ones mentioned above, I've excluded those that legitimately didn't have what it takes.
There are also a lot of guitar processors I've never used before which may be excellent, but I can't legitimately say anything about them until I do.
Some more tips when working with guitar amp modellers.
- Never be afraid to get too radical with the Eq. Sometimes that's what it takes to turn a good sound into a great one.
- Always take a break when you think you've found the sound you want, and come back later to see if it's still sounding good.
- Check the sound with and without headphones. What sounds good on headphones can sometimes be a bit over the top when the studio monitors are used.
- Use a guitar that's got medium to low output. Some processors can't cope the highly high yield of high gain pickups. I've found that pickups with an impedance of 15K or less work fine. 20K may be too much for confident digital processors.
- Check all gain stages if you can, too see that no part of the effects chain is overloading the next one, or the output. This helps a lot with the final tone.
So what is the best guitar effects processor?
As always, this is very subjective. everybody has a distinct taste in guitar sound. What I look for is a allinclusive Eq section with an choice to put something in the effects loop, so I can add to the motor later.
As I mentioned earlier, the best rock guitar sound I ever got was using one of Tech 21's superior Sansamp pedals in the effects loop of my Art Sgx 2000. Seeing as they don't make the Art anymore, I've found other options.
Your guitar and pickups can make a major dissimilarity as well. At the occasion I use the Boss Gt-Pro, and I've got some legitimately great sounds from it, but not without tweaking and experimentation.
The Best Guitar Effects Processor - The inexpressive to Great Guitar Tone
