Electric Lead Help - With audio example

[jwnc]

Hi Guys,

I need some words of wisdom on this please. I have this instrumental song that I wrote and recorded. I just am not happy with the lead tone. I have tried my amp sims, amps, etc and still can't seem to get it to sound really good. Here is the tone I ended up with.

Guitar > MI Audio Crunch box > Germino Club 40 > Rivera 1x12-V30 - Audix I5 and Sm57. I am trying to fit the lead into the song but I cant seem to get it to sound great. Its mid/nasal and when I pull that out, it still doesn't sound great. Its kinda generic and loses its personality of the amp, etc. Below is an excerpt of the song with the lead, etc. This was a reamp so I am not afraid to redo it since I can do it fairly easily. I have even tried my Lonestar and kinda get the same thing. I think more then anything I am losing the amps personality and gets kinda generic sounded.

http://soundcloud.com/caravansun/stars
Sorry I can't get it to embed the player for some reason.

Thanks for any ideas.
Jason

[kslight]

What happens when you are only single miking it? I think I hear the muddy/nasally thing you are talking about. I'm assuming you've futzed with the EQ settings on the amp/etc? Maybe suck some of that mid honk out and bring out a little more presence? I'm not really sure what tone you're going for but that's what I hear... Do you have any other mics to try?

[Gregg Juke]

Huh. Sounds pretty good to me. But, if it's not what you're going for, what are you going for? Where are the Audix and the 57 placed? Are they the same distance from the amp? Is there a possibility that phase cancellation is cheesing your sound?

GJ

[Snarl 12/8]

I think it sounds pretty good. Very generic to me. Maybe a little treble boost would give it more detail?

But I'm wondering if you can ever really get what you want via reamping. What I think would bring this sound to life would be some interaction between the pickups/strings and a loud amp in the room. Maybe not feedback per se, but some sustain and harmonic enhancing interplay between instrument and amp. Is there a way to get that somehow when reamping that I can't think of? That's always seemed like the weakness of the reamp strategy to me, but I'm a heavy advocate for guitar tone that's on the verge of chaos.
_________________
Carl Keil

[Nick Sevilla]

Ask yourself :

What is missing?
To me, that is ambience.
The solo guitar is like, pasted on top of another song.
It does not fit, because it does not live in the same space with the rest of the instruments.

As to the tone of the guitar, only you can find what makes you happy.

Play with your hardware signal chain until you get it right. then use as clean a microphone / DI to capture that tone.

Cheers
_________________
The Song. Nothing else really matters.

[jwnc]

Thanks everyone.

The mics are in phase for sure, they are about 4-6 inches from the speaker. I am going to try to go to 1 mic and retweak the amp settings, to see if I can get it closer.

With the signal chain I have I should be able to capture a better tone for sure. I am going to try another amp also. I know there is a missing piece or something that is going to help this and make it fall into place.

Thanks and keep the ideas coming.
Jason

[vvv]

FWIW, I found the arrangement very busy.

That said, consider getting some bleed in the re-amp track (toward Mr. Sevilla's ambience), mebbe with a room mic.
_________________
vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

[jwnc]

VVV: Thanks, but this is not the final mix.

[drumsound]

That tone is almost exactly what I'd expect in a tune like this. I think it just needs a touch of ambience/short delay, whichever works best in the tune.
_________________
Tony
Oxide Lounge Recording
Follow me on TWITTER!

WWRTBD?

[drumsound]

That tone is almost exactly what I'd expect in a tune like this. I think it just needs a touch of ambience/short delay, whichever works best in the tune.
_________________
Tony
Oxide Lounge Recording
Follow me on TWITTER!

WWRTBD?

[jwnc]

Thanks.. but there is a hall and ping pong delay on the tone already. I have done a new mix with the tone less shreddy and more straty sounding I like it better. I wasn't going or a shred tone but still need it to have overdrive and sustain and was going for more a creamier sound. Will post new mix soon.

[GooberNumber9]

I see you've re-recorded it. If you're still getting the nasal/weird midrange problem, then you might check on the room and the cabinet in the room. If it's not a phase difference between the two mics, then it might be sound reflected from a wall behind the cabinet (I'm guessing a Rivera 1x12 cabinet is open-backed) and coming back a bit out of phase. It could even be bouncing off the floor. I would try deadening the immediate area around the cabinet or trying to find a larger room if it still sounds like that while only listening to one of the mics.

Or... is there any chance the delay time on the ping-pong is so short that it's sounding a little phasey?

[Corey Y]

The tone works for the style. I'd say just a touch of very short stereo delay would probably do the trick. It seems apparently the track I'm listening to is already something new from what you originally posted? I don't know if you still have the same concerns, but I wouldn't over think it too much, seems you've got it pretty close.

[jwnc]

Thanks everyone, here is the newest mix with a different and mix.

http://soundcloud.com/caravansun/stars-hollow-mix10#play