Add more aggression to miced Guitars

[burn4ever]

Hey guys,
I´m usually work with vst plugins for guitars but this time I recorded (reamped) a Mesa amp with an Mesa 4x12 cap, with an SM57 and M160.
The M160 gives me a nice bottom fundament but I don´t like the gain it delivers. Sounds more like an transistor amp imo. In this case the SM57 is my first choice.

At the reamped tracks I´m missing some kind of aggression. Think some missing gain?! Palm mutings are lame and like I said before other parts need more aggression.

So any advice how I can tread the recorded tracks? Or is it
advisable to use the DI with an vst additionally?

 

[J.Lindmann]

Did the DI itself sound good? (compare your miced tracks to ampsimed tracks)
Mic placement was propper?
Amp-EQ was suited?
Post-EQ done if necessary?
Did you try different gain settings (raised, lowered)?
Did you try a tubescreamer?
Maybe you could try some saturation ontop of the miced tracks.

 

[crillemannen]

Rectifiers are so loose it is hopeless to get a tight guitar sound if you don't pick like crazy.

Bass can add some nice grit and attitude to guitars if its played and enginered well.

 

[burn4ever]

Did the DI itself sound good? (compare your miced tracks to ampsimed tracks)
Mic placement was propper?
Amp-EQ was suited?
Post-EQ done if necessary?

Yes I did all of them.

Did you try a tubescreamer?
Maybe you could try some saturation ontop of the miced tracks.

I didn´t us a tube screamer, so I think I try some saturation or use the DI to support the tracks with some heavy ampsim settings.

 

[waav studios]

saturation plugins. sometimes eq's that model old eq hardware, api from waves. i tend to like them on guitars cause it adds some saturation like the hardware would.

sometimes its just adding something like a soundtoys decapitator. you don't have to go insane on the saturation, sometimes a little grit makes guitars get nice and crunchy in the mix.

and yes, mesa amps are too mushy for my taste.

i have definitely used an amp sim with a mic'd cab before just to add the best of both worlds. just be cautious of phase.

 

[ashgallows]

tubescreamer is a must for boogie if you want it really tight and focused, also boosting around 1.5k on the post eq will usually make guitars sound more dominant.

 

[nezvers]

I love Ferric vst on guitars - around -3db on saturation meter. It's free plugin so try it.
If you did reamping did you use reamp box? Some interfaces doesn't have compatible impedance on output.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

We cannot give you real advice unless you post a sample of the track. That will clear up 90% of the questions asked in this thread. With that being said...

If it's a Mesa Rec, they're are super loose by nature. Definitely put a tube screamer behind it to tighten it up a bit. Also, as far as the gain character itself, I've always felt my dual rec is very grainy and open sounding, while my 5150 roars much more and sounds more aggressive. They both have their place, however I've yet to get a good aggressive sound with mine (again, aggressive is subjective until we hear a clip )

 

[Paschalis I.]

Make sure you use a decent guitar with decent pickups and strings.

If the DI track sounds good then you might as well experiment with different amps
and cabs and get the result you're looking for.

Tube screamer can work wonders too prior to your amp head.
I know I love my green pedal ^^