Adventures in LOUD amp recording

[suppositron]

Curiously though, a doubling in power (watts) only equals approximately 3db increase in volume....so it really shouldn't be much louder than a 100 watt at all..at full power. Attenuated he's not even using a lot of that power... So while it's undoubtedly a loud amp, cranked it wouldn't be substantially louder than a cranked 50 or 100 watt...

Another thing you have to think about is "How much power is put out at three and how much more if you really crank it up?" That can vary from amp to amp. Then as mentioned above speaker sensitivity and cab design plays a huge roll.

[gtr_joe]

Loud amps also create sympathetic frequencies that feedback (think Hendrix). I've got an early 60's univox with a 12" Jensen. Probably about a 10 watter. But I dime it then play a cranked early 70's SG so the humbuckers are right in front of the speaker, just behind the mike. (I raise the cabinet.) The guitar litterally comes alive with sustain and harmonic overtones, verge of meltdown. I monitor through isolation headphones.

Try it!

[permanent hearing damage]

this sounds completely strange to me - with the distortion from multiple mics on the amp even a few feet away. i've recorded more than my share of loud guitar bands and never had problems like that except for one time when i foolishly placed a ribbon right on the grill of a 4x12 fed by a sunn concert lead with everything on 10 and a distortion pedal and a guitar with active pickups in front of it to boot.

seriously, a d112, re20, etc and many large diaphragm moving coil mics can handle being immediately in front of a beater inside a bass drum or in front of an 8x10 being pushed by a tube svt, could the math be there to get you more dB SPL in front of a guitar amp than either of those things?

that said, is it possible the distortion could be elsewhere in your signal chain? i feel like if all those mics are breaking up like that, it might be elsewhere.

if it really is causing the mics to break up like this, maybe he should invest in a hot plate?

[vvv]

... except for one time when i foolishly placed a ribbon right on the grill of a 4x12 fed by a sunn concert lead with everything on 10 and a distortion pedal and a guitar with active pickups in front of it to boot.

I would like to hear this.

[gustavobill]

Dude, is your ribbon ok?

300W valve amp... Why jesus, why?

[permanent hearing damage]

now that (many years later) i've had it reribboned, i think it was a bit messed up to begin with. but after that day, it never was quite the same. very low end stuff definitely broke up a bit.

i didn't leave it there for very long. maybe 10 seconds of playing made me realize it was a bad move.

also, not that it matters all that much but concert leads are only 100 watts. granted, they can be stupidly loud.

[losthighway]

this sounds completely strange to me - with the distortion from multiple mics on the amp even a few feet away. i've recorded more than my share of loud guitar bands and never had problems like that except for one time when i foolishly placed a ribbon right on the grill of a 4x12 fed by a sunn concert lead with everything on 10 and a distortion pedal and a guitar with active pickups in front of it to boot.

seriously, a d112, re20, etc and many large diaphragm moving coil mics can handle being immediately in front of a beater inside a bass drum or in front of an 8x10 being pushed by a tube svt, could the math be there to get you more dB SPL in front of a guitar amp than either of those things?

that said, is it possible the distortion could be elsewhere in your signal chain? i feel like if all those mics are breaking up like that, it might be elsewhere.

if it really is causing the mics to break up like this, maybe he should invest in a hot plate?

Yeah, we're not talking fragile ribbon here, I heard an SM7 choking on the SPL. This damn amp was so loud that you couldn't even hear a kick drum while it was playing. I've recorded Ampeg SVT's cranked pretty high, louder Orange heads through 4x12's nothing sounded like this damn amp. It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole. Ended up sounding kinda cool though even with the mics five feet away.

[centurymantra]

... except for one time when i foolishly placed a ribbon right on the grill of a 4x12 fed by a sunn concert lead with everything on 10 and a distortion pedal and a guitar with active pickups in front of it to boot.

I would like to hear this.

...and thus, his username was born

[vvv]

[juliakmartine]

It's very nice information provide by you but i have one doubt as per my view I can get the more sound from the guitar

[Nick Sevilla]

Yeah, we're not talking fragile ribbon here, I heard an SM7 choking on the SPL. This damn amp was so loud that you couldn't even hear a kick drum while it was playing. I've recorded Ampeg SVT's cranked pretty high, louder Orange heads through 4x12's nothing sounded like this damn amp. It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole. Ended up sounding kinda cool though even with the mics five feet away.

"It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole."

new sig. thanks

[centurymantra]

Yeah, we're not talking fragile ribbon here, I heard an SM7 choking on the SPL. This damn amp was so loud that you couldn't even hear a kick drum while it was playing. I've recorded Ampeg SVT's cranked pretty high, louder Orange heads through 4x12's nothing sounded like this damn amp. It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole. Ended up sounding kinda cool though even with the mics five feet away.

"It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole."

new sig. thanks

Agreed...that is an awesome quote. Makes me think about a friend of mine who was telling me about a former band member turning to their guitarist at one session and asking them "to turn the war down".

[jgimbel]

Yeah, we're not talking fragile ribbon here, I heard an SM7 choking on the SPL. This damn amp was so loud that you couldn't even hear a kick drum while it was playing. I've recorded Ampeg SVT's cranked pretty high, louder Orange heads through 4x12's nothing sounded like this damn amp. It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole. Ended up sounding kinda cool though even with the mics five feet away.

"It was trying to destroy our world and leave a black hole."

new sig. thanks

Agreed...that is an awesome quote. Makes me think about a friend of mine who was telling me about a former band member turning to their guitarist at one session and asking them "to turn the war down".

Love it.

[nzkobc]

No doubt...in my personal experience I get better sounding heavy guitar results out of stuff like a Peavey Classic 30 and Fender Tweed Bassman than I get out of a Triple Recto or whatever... But whatever works for them I guess..

Yeah, Some of my biggest guitar tones recorded have come from a blues jr, and a single SDC an inch away. How you handle stereo space is way more important, I always fake it.

[losthighway]

Agreed...that is an awesome quote. Makes me think about a friend of mine who was telling me about a former band member turning to their guitarist at one session and asking them "to turn the war down".

Oh man, that's the best laugh I've gotten around here in a while. Someone needs to tell half the rock bands in my town to turn the war down. Sometimes I wonder if passive pickups and a small clean combo amp would stimulate some crazy creativity in some of these guys that they've never accessed before. "Oh wow, you can play a lot of different chords on a guitar! Cool!"