Combining several amps for rhythm guitar tone...

[Heabow]

Hi

I must confess that I am not familiar with this technique, I already tried different things (same amp with 2 different cabs / 2 different amps with the same cabs / 2 different rigs / one amp at low gain, the other one giving the main tone, etc.) but most results I got were not really convincing. I miss something I guess. I know it's not a required technique to get good tones of course but I want to know more about it. Maybe I misunderstand the role of each tone? So I would be interested to get some advices such as known combinations (Dual Reco + 5150 or JVM410 for example) and how YOU shape each tone in order to make your tone....

 

[newamerikangospel]

I would say it's about supporting roles, kind of like snare layering. Take two great tones that fit, and they can make a wall of sound or compete against each other. I have found myself really liking doing two tracks with the crunch and lead channels of an amp. One always seems to be really dynamic and open sounding, the other one more saturated and darker, but they always seem to gel together in the mix (through the same cab/mic position). I haven't tried same head different cab though, but it's on my list for test runs when I record my next project.

Edit: And on all of my different channel, same head/cab tests I have done, I get set them to be the best sound I can get and maybe tweak one to fill out what I feel the other may be missing if it calls for.

 

[greyskull]

I've done it in the past. It is a MASSIVE ball ache to get the phase to match if tracking two cabs at the same time, so I have often re-amped through the same cab. To be honest though, I'm trying to use fewer and fewer mic's and tracks these days and mixes are sounding WAY better for it.

Depends what you want to get from it. I have layered cranked horrible nasty dying non master volume amps sounds with more modern sounds for bands with a more ETID vibe, or layered a heavier amp beneath a vox on a mostly more post-rock band

 

[Heabow]

Yeah, phase can be source of issues (easily fixable tho) but I like the idea to get a particular attack from a particular amp and weight from another one I just don't master it yet :/

In this video, Tue Madsen set up two amps Dual Recto and 5150 to shape the tone. I wonder how sound each amp and what gives what! (at 0:58)

 

[Jordon]

To easily check phase between multiple mics, heads and cabs, re-amp a trigger hit through the setup. It will give you a very clear transient to go off of to visually check the phase.

Of course, being 100% perfectly in-phase may not be right for the guitar tone, as odd as that may sound.

I quite often use the bi-amped/big mono setup, and like was mentioned earlier, making sure the amplifiers compliment each other is a big part of it. For example, I wouldn't run a Dual Recto and our Uberschall together, since the high end is very similar on those two amps. I'd go Uber+6505 on one side and VH4+Recto on the other. Similar sounding cabs can remove a lot of the headache, and when using two amps for one performance, I'll rarely use more than a 57/421 combo on each cab.

 

[Heabow]

Thanks guys for your advices, it helps! Still experimenting..