Recording DI guitar for the first time

[gigantorbuzz]

Forgive the noob questions, but I've never recorded DI guitar before, and I want to try it for reamping later. I have a Radial JDI box and the output is Mic level, therefor needing a mic preamp to get a proper level before hitting my Rosetta 200/Digi002rack setup. Isnt the mic pre coloring the guitar signal a bit in this case? Do all DI guitar signals hit a mic pre and im over thinking this?

Recently I had a guy come by my place to record guitars, and he had recorded "DI" guitar by plugging right into his Mbox pre set clean, and when we sent the track to his amp it didnt sound that great. I had a R121/SM57 on the cab and was fighting for a sound. Finally I made him plug his guitar into the amp and BAM there we go, all was good. So whats the proper way to record DI guitar tracks for reamping later?

[Snarl 12/8]

Did you use a reamp to send the signal to the amp?

[gigantorbuzz]

Yea I used the JDI in reverse. It was done correctly and sounded good, just not as good as the guitar right into the amp.

[Babaluma]

yeah a d.i. always converts from instrument level/impedance to mic level/impedance, so you must use some form of mic preamp to get to a line level signal.

some fancy d.i.s, such as the avalon u5 i use, have a built in instrument preamp and a balanced line level out, so when i record d.i guitar i generally go guitar pickup to avalon to a/d converter. later for reamping i go d/a converter (balanced line) to reamp to guitar amp to mic to preamp etc.

some mic pres (such as the chandler tg2) also have built in d.i.s.

[gigantorbuzz]

thanks Babaluma. I have a BAE 312 and UA6176, both have Inst In's but I figured the preamp would be coloring the guitar signal too much.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Don't do it. You're only putting off making a decision on guitar sound. Get some low wattage amps for the studio and do it right the first time.

[palinilap]

I like to split the guitar signal, recording an amp track and a DI track simultaneously. That way you have the option later of keeping the amp track, reamping, or a combination of the two.

[Brett Siler]

I like to split the guitar signal, recording an amp track and a DI track simultaneously. That way you have the option later of keeping the amp track, reamping, or a combination of the two.

Me too. It also helps if you are recording a metal guitarist and he insists on using he Bugera amp with a BBE in the FX loop and it just sounds awful and thin. Reamp the clean guitar performance later and get a much better tone. It never hurts to have a back up.

[jgimbel]

I like to split the guitar signal, recording an amp track and a DI track simultaneously. That way you have the option later of keeping the amp track, reamping, or a combination of the two.

I haven't done too much with splitting/reamping for guitar, mostly because it's way too easy to get too many options, and I'd rather just make a decision and commit to it and let the rest of the song react to it. However right now I'm recording the first record that I've ever done a lot of splitting bass, not so much for reamping but to mix a direct track and amp track (though the options are great too), and geez it's been awesome. I did reamp for one track and it was so nice to be able to do that. Sometimes people can't get their head around the fact that what it sounds like the room isn't always exactly what it's going to sound like recorded, or that what sounds awesome for the live shows isn't always the right sound for recording. So being able to reamp afterward can be a lifesaver. My way of splitting, since I didn't have a DI with two outputs until a week ago, has been plugging into the mono input of my stereo reverb pedal, with one output to the interface and the other to an amp.

[Crocoduck5000]

I'm a bit of a newbie myself, but I have been doing DI guitar with a 1973 Gibson Les Paul Recording which has been a dream (it has a low-impedance option). I still use a ART Pro Channel preamp with Amplitube Fender and it sounds wonderful! Plus you could always reamp later as everyone else has been saying. Some amp simulation is getting better and better

[Crocoduck5000]

I'm a bit of a newbie myself, but I have been doing DI guitar with a 1973 Gibson Les Paul Recording which has been a dream (it has a low-impedance option). I still use a ART Pro Channel preamp with Amplitube Fender and it sounds wonderful! Plus you could always reamp later as everyone else has been saying. Some amp simulation is getting better and better

[Studio2roll]

When I track live the spaces usually aren't big enough to accommodate drums and amps and still get clean signals so I have guitarists/bassists play through POD's and split the signal. One line into the 002 is "naked" unamped (to be used for reamping) and the other is the amp simulator in the POD's for everyone to hear in the headphones.
Then I'll reamp the "naked" signal into their real amp later on so that we get the "live" performance along with their personal amp sound. Many times guitarists are even happy enough with the sounds out of the POD (especially those using the newer X3L model that I have), and sometimes I end up using a blend of both, or one in the left, one in the right.
I've reamped without a "reamp box" by running out of the 002 out into the X3L's line in, setting the X3L to "pass through" (no simulations), switching it's output level for "amp" and then running into a real head. It works well, but there is a difference (not huge but its there) between that and plugging a guitar straight into an amp.