Well, last spring I got my Marshall Super Lead fixed

[jhale667]

Very Max Norman of you, HR!

If you're recording with that set-up (which is kinda like Max Norman did with Rhoads..), you could try sticking the mic closer to a cone, and add another mic a few feet out in the hall for ambient sounds on a separate track...could be cool...

Just asking.

(It looks like a midget on top of that cab... :D )

True... But that is why they used to call them (and the combo version) "giant killers"...

[Coyote]

True... But that is why they used to call them (and the combo version) "giant killers"...

Say no more...

[jacksmar]

I've had 3 Marshall heads do the same thing. The tube heads just burn everything in their wake. JCM 2000's. Anyway, went to the DFX 250 to run through the JCM 900 cab and it roars. Hasn't failed but it did require a repair and some preventive maintenance. http://www.triodeamplification.com/

Looking forward to playing tonight.

Your rig looks sweet. Do you have shows lined up?

[Hardrock69]

I have no shows scheduled in the near future. Doing some writing/recording here and there. Though in a year or so I may put a project together to go out and play my stuff live. Plenty of mercenaries in this neck of the woods. :D

Here is my current quandary. So last night I try to lay down some guitar tracks. Can't do it, as the sound was wrong. Had everything set exactly the same as the night before, but the sound I wanted was not there.

I guarantee you that I am gonna plug into my rig tomorrow night (Have to do some work this evening for dollars. Currency even.) and it will sound amazing.

I mean, so many variables. Temperature, humidity, your frame of mind, how tired your ears are, the elctromagnetohallucinogenical vibratory waves mannnn....drooooooool.....

Really weird. Then there is the usual thing of, how many takes of something before giving up? I will sometimes spend many hours trying to get the performance that kicks my ass.

That's another problem....we get jaded...and even to ourselves we say: I MUST play something that kicks MY ass!! But I DIGRESS.....

So then you get into the psychology of recording something. Say you have to do 24 bars of fast riffing, which, may be a simple riff, until you realize you have to play like this for several minutes, and play it perfectly. Ask the guys in Iron Maiden about that aspect of it lol. Sometimes I do enough takes my hands begin to wear out, so of course a physically demanding tune is gonna be a challenge.

That is the thing about heavy music, you can stand there and stare at your shoes if you want, but so many of us get blown away by the music we play, we cannot stand still. For the seriously heavy bands, you have to be in great physical shape.

The future is listening...meaning you will have to listen to it for the rest of your fucking life, so you better get it RIGHT!!!. I can understand people like Mutt Lange requiring 100 vocal tracks or some such rubbish, but I do not take it to that extreme. Heck, and we are talking finished tracks, so god knows how many takes the guys in Prep Leppie had to try.

I get pissed off when I record a guitar solo that has an amazing amount of spirit and energy, but has enough glitches and irrelevant mung that it is unusable for a finished take.....the positive side is that a solo that comes out of nowhere like that can be replicated to get the performance better, but then you also have to consider the various ways in which we inspire ourselves to do better in the studio. Usually brute force and vicious concentration will do the trick, though there are times I will get ripped in various fashions solely for the purpose of playing that way. I haveta examine all avenues of approach ya know. :D

And of course playing a solo I am happy with is tough, as listening to all the other guitarists out there kick my ass all of my life, I am jaded. Technique-wise I am not a shredder. Blues-based metal guitarist, but I found my own voice years ago, and it just keeps getting better.

And back to the psychology of recording shit, sometimes your mind fucks with you. You are on the 16th bar of some riff, and you have spent a lot of time trying to nail the perfect take. You get close to the end of the take, and suddenly a random thought pops into your head about the possibility of fucking up this take as well...and you have to try to ignore the random thoughts about life in general and focus solely on the task at hand. Though sometimes the best happy accidents happen when your mind is wandering out there in lala land while recording.....you know the kinda philosophy of "You get more accomplished if you work less"....like suddenly you realize the take is going extremely well and you have played amazingly....and if you can make it all the way to the end and get that finished take, it can be quite exhilerating.

I had a friend back in the 90s who was amazing. A friend loaned us an 8-track recorder mixer (Tascam 688) (we were roommates). He was one of those guys who nails it first take 99% of the time, no matter what the song, track or instrument.

While I program drum machines for songwriting, he would just peck it out live on the pads while recording. Then he would do a single take of bass, however many guitar parts, vocals, etc. and would knock out a song in 2 hours. Not greatest quality, but the perfection at which he could do a take, make it sound amazing, and do it one time only was something worth witnessing lol.

I get my share of first takes, but a lot of times, it takes awhile to nail it.

I mean there is the infamous tale of Jim Morrison being blown while he was doing some vocal tracks! :D

Oh yeah and another aspect which can affect your perception of your guitar tone at any particular moment would probably be how much you got laid in the previous 24 hours, which may be directly correlated with how much your old lady bitched at you....or vice-versa for you ladies out dere who play as well.

Blah blah blah...yadda yadda yadda.....I has some stuff tuh do.
Thus endeth my mindless drivel about my opinions and observations of the recording process......

:D

[jhale667]

Tube Gremlins!!!!!

Same settings and the sound was noticeably different? Yeah, the tube gremlins got you. :D

And you're right; it's not even about shredding (though it is cool to have to whip out...lol) it's about finding one's own voice, and running with that!
I've been recording a lot lately as well, but have been so PODfarm'ed out, (and learning Pro Tools), have yet to slam down anything with my 'real' amp...interested to see how it turns out...

[GAR]

Same settings and the sound was noticeably different? Yeah, the tube gremlins got you. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics

[Hardrock69]

Yeah that.
:D

[kentuckyklira]

[GAR]

Umm..

I'll just take the four small-logoe'd boxes off your hands if you don't mind. As you can see, they don't quite match your newer 800's and don't sound anything like them.

Thanks. I'll just pick em up Sunday, have these ready for me will ya?

[GAR]

They probably are nasty-smelling, and reek of cigarettes and dust.

You don't need this in the house, it's unhealthy. You'll thank me later!

[kentuckyklira]

They probably are nasty-smelling, and reek of cigarettes and dust.

You don't need this in the house, it's unhealthy. You'll thank me later!

Anyone who owns one of those and sells it is either desperate or insane!

[GAR]

No really, I can help!

I want to help. Help me, to help you, help yourself.

It is no trouble, at all.

[Hardrock69]

Someday I wanna re-tolex the head.

Part of me sez no.....leave it original....but with 2 layers of paint on it, it just kinda looks like crap. I want it to look as nice as it sounds.

Ah well. Someday.

I did not buy it to look good. I bought it to destroy with it.....