Readin Miles and Ethan Winer's

[simpleman3441]

These are some deep cats! Makes me wish I'd been an engineer or something. I've spent hours reading their websites and barely have scratched the surface. Admittedly, if my comprehension of what I read were better I may have felt a little different! I'm lookin for some feedback from you guys on two different topics.

 

First: As guitarists what have been your experiences with acoustics and recording amps? Have you experienced anything worth mentioning? Clearly mic choice and placement have a great affect on tone, but has anyone found knowledge of room modes or treatment to be extremely helpful? I believe it to be extremely helpful with drums, vox and other things, but wonder if it's worth worrying about with electric guitar amplification.

 

Next: I've managed to get a basic feel for what Celestion and Jensen have to offer, but what can you suggest as far as Eminence and/or general speaker info?

[simpleman3441]

And when I ask about experience with acoustics I should clarify I don't mean acoustic guitars!

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I've been recording since the 1960s. I count Ethan not only as a great resource but as a good friend. There are two sides to the coin... the science and the art. If we only do what the science guys tell us, we might never have a Hendrix. If we only do what the artists want, what we end up with will be self-indulgent bullshit that is likely unlistenable.

 

As an artist, you should get 'your' sound. That is step one. THEN, let a tech guy capture it for you. If he nails it, well and good. If he doesn't, there are many options to try.

 

The idea that you can buy A + B + C and get X is not supportable. You may indeed NEED A + B + C to eventually GET to X... the $1.98 clone of A may never get you there. But there is always more to the story than just the depth of your pockets.

 

Most of the classic guitar amps used cheap speakers. Utah, CTS, Emminence, Celestion, etc were all pretty much low end players. Rock/pop guitar does not rely upon perfect pristine reproduction, the guitarist is always looking for some sort of edge or flavor to his rig. (Unfortunately today everyone wants to copy everyone else, but when I got into the game the idea was to get your own signature sound.)

 

We've done every imaginable thing to get cool guitar sounds, including facing them to the wall and micing the bounce, putting two different amps facing each other and varying the mic distance towards one or the other... one time I even left an amp out in the weather (including rain) for a couple of weeks to get it some tone as it was too clean to start with.

 

The physics of acoustics is way too big to be handled in a single post, knowing mic technique as well as what mic to use where and why .... these are thing that people try to tell you how to do, but it is really a life-long learning experience, the reasons to make one choice over another are many and varied, and there is no cookie-cutter answer that will provide the BEST solution in all situations.

 

I've shown these pictures many times: this was the Wall 'O Amps in the studio for recording guitars, after I got rid of the big touring amps and cabinets.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/ampleft2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/ampcenter3.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/ampright4-1.jpg

 

 

If you look you will see a lot of old classic low wattage amps, which record like monsters. I ended up replacing most of this wall with a THD UniValve and a Reverend Goblin, but I don't have a studio anymore, so I don't need the variety. But I still have a 60s Vox Cambridge Reverb and a 60s Kensington bass amp, and 1940s Valco/Silvertone Model 1300.

 

I have something over 50 microphones, some of which are:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/smallmic8.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/ribbon6.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/21b.jpg

 

and my current effects rack:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/BillPark/studio%20pics/stompbox.jpg

 

The studio was treated acoustically by traps based on Ethans designs, using SMAART to read the room and treat it properly. My writing room has a Real Traps room kit.

 

The studio had over 36 different microphone preamps to provide flavor... Midas, Great River, John Hardy, JBL, Oram, ATI, True Systems....

 

So take baby steps, take your time, and if you are really serious about learning all that you can learn, start from the premise that you'll never learn all there is to know, and keep trying. Just when I thinkt hat I'bve got something all sussed out I'll sit in a room with guys like George Massenhberg, Ethan, Bil Vorndick, Dan Kennedy,... and realise that I know nothing at all.

[simpleman3441]

As always, I can't believe how useful your advice is. Thank you.

 

I'm very interested in collecting small low watt amps for a variety of tones to use. I have a very small budget right now as I've recently upgraded all my software and I'm looking at treating my room. I was looking at a Kustom amp that had an Eminence speaker and before I drove out to play one I wanted to get an idea of what it may sound like. Seems like it's comparable to a Celest then? It might be worth the trip.

 

As far as mic techniques are concerned I think I'm gonna stick with straight on the horn with a 57 for the amps right now. I may get experimental with it later. Just wondered whether I should be worried about the acoustics of the room. I have a very small area that I can afford to treat and the drums will be set up there. Didn't want to worry about pullin the kit out to get some amps in there if I could get away with it. So unless I have trouble gettin what I want to hear from them, I'm not gonna worry about it.

 

Thanks again and if anyone else has any experiences to share I would still love to hear them.