Recording Guitars

Q: Should I use large amps or small amps in the studio?

A: If it sounds good, use it! Having said that, large amps can easily overpower a room. I find myself gravitating toward small amps as these can get great tone without overpowering most rooms. However, nothing beats a Fender Bassman or Twin Reverb cranked up to 11! One of my favorite amps is an old Gibson BR-6 that was made in 1946. It’s a small amp with only one control - volume. But this amp warms up any guitar. Another pair of amps I like are the old Sears-Roebuck Silvertone LA-15 amps. These have a speaker tremolo, and having two of them allows you to have a nice stereo effect.

Q: I’m constantly reconfiguring my pedalboard, and my pedalboard collection is constantly growing. What’s the best way for me to keep these organized?
A: My favorite pedalboard is the Holeyboard Pedalboard. They make an expandable guitar effects pedalboard that allows you to use zip ties to hold your pedals in place. Best of all, it’s modular, so it’s easy to add more space as your pedal collection grows.

Q: What kind of microphones work best?
A: There’s no one microphone that “fits all sizes”. My favorite go-to microphones include the AEA R92 Ribbon microphone, the Sennheiser e906, and an old PL5 made by Electrovoice. The AEA has a very smooth sound that allow a crunchy electric guitar to sit in the mix without trampling on the vocal. The PL5 has a great midrange tone - it’s an omni directional dynamic mic that was popular in the 1970’s and ‘80’s for tv and radio interviews. It handles loud sounds really well, and gives great bite. It’s an excellent complement to the AEA R92 as it helps you bring edge back in.

Q: When I run through my effects, my guitar sounded duller. What causes this, and how can this be fixed?

A: When you run long cables (more than 20 feet) or run through a large number of effects, the high end of your guitar will drop significantly. Using a buffer prevents this from happening. I use single coil guitars (Fender Strats), and a buffer keeps the tone nice and sharp all the way through the signal chain. I use a Friedman Buffer Bay Buffer & Junction Box. This device has a buffer, plus 5 thru jacks which helps keep your pedal connections clean.

Q: My pedals add noise to my guitar tone. What’s the best way to get rid of this unwanted noise?

A: Power supplies play a pivotal role in reducing or increasing the noise level in your signal when you’re going through effects. There are two types that I’ve used; the first is a transformer based one, and the other is a digital switch-based one. The transformer models tend to be cheaper. However, the transformers also amplify any noise that may be present around the signals. I’ve found digital models, such as the Strymon Zuma and Friedman Power Grid 10 to be very effective at reducing the noise level, especially for recording.

Disclaimer: I’m not sponsored by any of these companies, These are just my observations based on a lot of experimenting with sounds in the studio.