Gap 73 sucks as a DI! (clip)

[reneisgod]

Been suffering from some really muddy DI tracks recently, took out my old samson direct and what a difference!

The samson direct sucks balls as it is but the gap 73 is terrible
for passive pups.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1008186/gap pre 73 - samson direct.wav

(clip has no break between riffs, just in and out - samson then gap 73)

 

[~BURNY~]

That's hardly surprising. However, make sure you use the shortest cable possible between your guitar and the DI if you don't want your signal to get raped in the HF.

 

[updog]

why would you even use the gap 73 for DIs? using very colored preamps for DIs never really made any sense to me.

just get a signal as clean as you can and that's it, do all the coloring jazz when you've got the tone.

 

[reneisgod]

surprised me!

using lava cables over here so no worries about cable quality, the samson rapes the high end all on its own but not
like the gap di input does.

tried something else this time round

samson - gap pre
samson - pro 24 pre

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1008186/gap vs pro 24.wav

again big difference with the gap and pre 24 pre's in the chain.

I always wondered how big a part the pre played in the chain, it obviously plays a bigger part than i thought.

the best DI i've ever heard was Lolzgreg into a countryman 85 - api pre, ive always been a million miles away from the clarity
he gets with that combination.

it would appear that i must get my damn hands on another countryman 85 again.

 

[reneisgod]

''why would you even use the gap 73 for DIs? using very colored preamps for DIs never really made any sense to me.

just get a signal as clean as you can and that's it, do all the coloring jazz when you've got the tone.''

the gap 73 has hi-zi inputs apparently and it goes through a different transformer than the line/mic inputs,
i expected it to sound alot better than a samson s direct thats for sure.

colored pre or not, i believe the gap mic input sounds alot better than the pro 24 in this instance.

 

[KHE]

"hi-Z" of the gap73 seems to be only 100k, but we need ~1000k for passive pu's... don't use it with passive-pickups. this dampens the pu's resonance (loss of hi-end).
http://www.goldenagemusic.se/goldenageproject/uk/products/manuals/manual_pre73mk2.pdf

 

[~BURNY~]

Just ordered the GAP73 DLX... I'll report back if its Hi-Z in is any better but I doubt it. As long as it's an interesting mic pre I'll be happy.

 

[reneisgod]

why 100k for a hi-zi input thats pritty much useless.

 

[reneisgod]

yeah its a decent mic pre for the money but the hi-zi input is useless.

 

[~BURNY~]

why 100k for a hi-zi input thats pritty much useless.

I suppose they have to cut the cost somewhere.

 

[~BURNY~]

Yep, the DLX sucks balls as a DI too.

 

[lolzgreg]

the best DI i've ever heard was Lolzgreg into a countryman 85 - api pre, ive always been a million miles away from the clarity
he gets with that combination.

it would appear that i must get my damn hands on another countryman 85 again.

Thanks for the kind words dude. I figure it's really a combination of things including new strings, the way I pick, my guitar, etc.

I know you use an all mahogany guitar (Flying V) with Gibson Pickups. Those super hot ceramics tend to lack a bit of sparkle, but they also are abrasive. I'm a big alnico fan at heart. Try out some different pickups as they may be a contributing factor to your DI issues.

I'm sure a Countryman will help though

 

[reneisgod]

any suggestions? there's a JB going cheap on ebay i might give it a go.