Blending Reamps

[NattyJ.]

So, I've got D.I's of double tracked guitar + leads for an EP that I'm wanting to reamp through my axe fx II.

I was planning to try to blend characteristics of different amps (e.g. bite of marshall and the sag of a 5150 for example).

Has anyone done this\can advise me on good ways to achieve balance with this method of blending?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Firaxis]

It's done all the time, typically a dual rectifier and 5150 fit well together. There is no right and wrong, it depends what you want it to sound like, just experiment!

 

[xTomx]

I've done it with mixed results - if you send the same D.I.'s through different amps then you have to play around with the phase a bit.
Whereas if you send different takes the phase is less of an issue but it sounds less tight.

 

[Bay Studio]

Just try it out, you´ll see that you´ll hit some bumps on the road trying to get a nice mix of blended amps, but a real cool technique is (i use it on all my productions):
For e.g.: Choose your "main-tone", a 5150 let´s say. No gain heaven here, maybe the Pre at around 6 (with tubescreamer in the signal-chain). Once you got that nice 5150 tone you´re looking for, go on to a different amp, for e.g. a dual-recto or a marshall. This setting is supposed to have less "balls" than your main tone, so go for less gain etc, fool around with the settings a bit.. Then mix the high gain sound with the low gain sound. Keep on tweaking to your liking... The whole idea behind this is to give the guitars more clarity, especially when fast picking is involved and you want every note to be audible. This technique has worked quite well for me, but it takes alot of experementing, and time, ofcourse.
I might have not "helped" you out here, but.. I thought i´d just through in this nice piece of advice, maybe you´ll come up with some cool stuff!
Have a go at it, peace!

 

[Mago]

yeah it's done quite a bit, but I don't think it's done as often as you would think.
If you just change the head and leave the mic position and cab the same then you'll have to worry less about the phase, obivously.
I think it has a similar effect to using a 2nd mic on a different position. Sometimes you gotta watch out for strong mids, if some areas of the amps
overlap a lot then you can end up with a really "choked" sounding blend.

 

[NattyJ.]

Thanks so much for the responses guys!

I was really considering the low gain\high gain split for clarity and definition, and also I guess the added benefit of that spongy low end from, say, a recto, when I want it in specific sections. But there are some good ideas there

How do you guys approach leveling of the tones in this situation?
I'd assume there would be some slight automation of volume to accentuate certain qualities of the tone for certain sections, so how would you ensure you've got the right gain structuring (for example a limiter on the end of the guitar chain) between sections? Are there any tips\tricks, or is it just tons of tinkering and fooling around?

Thanks again for the responses guys!

 

[TRUIE]

I do it sometimes, and when I do it I always use this little plugin :
http://www.meldaproduction.com/mautoalign/

The way each head is wired, built and process the signal is different, so even if you use the same cab/mic setup you won't necesseraly be in phase.