Gear upgrade - need help

[magillagorilla]

hey i'm very new to the recording scene and i would really like to be able to record my own stuff with a decent, heavy tone (i killed the prom queen, in flames, parkway drive, a day to remember type shit).

at the moment my "signal chain" (as i think i've seen it called)
My jackson DKMG Dinky -> Line 6 Spider III amp -> (via pod-out) Lexicon Lambda 4-track. And i record and mix it all in Cubase 5.

I can get a great tone from my amp when i'm practicing and jamming but as soon as i try n record with that set-up i get a very fuzzy, punch-less tone

I'd like to upgrade to some sort of set-up involving a mic (probably a shure sm57) what i want to know is:
A) is my current set-up good or bad and how could i improve it? (without going with a mic)
B) If it's a lost cause, What else besides a mic do i need to buy? (i know the general items i need, i'm more interested in particular brands etc to suit my mid-low budget)

anything else anyone can add would be appreciated

 

[Norris-wf]

Hey, welcome to the forum. I'm guessing you may need to go down the Peavey route with the bands you mentioned. I wasnt a huge fan of the spider when I played it and I dont think it is really comparible to a true tube amp. That with a 57 and your well on your way. How are you recording the guitar? how many tracks?

 

[kev]

welcome to hell Get out quick whilst your ears and mind are still in tact

 

[mick thompson]

hey mate, welcome in!

like norris said you want to go down the peavey route. i have a line 6 spider 2 combo and its a fine amp for jamming and playing small gigs but it wont cut it when it comes to making a professional recording. i strongly suggest you invest in a 4 x 12 cab and a tube head - you could start with maybe a peavey windsor and a ibanez tube screamer before the head.

after that the basics are generally an sm57 and a D.I. box. the sm57 will record your amp and the D.I. box will generate a D.I. signal which you can use for re-amping. reamping is a great technique because it allows you to run your signal through any amp you can get your hands on or virtual amp. it also means that if you make a mess of your recording you can send the D.I. to a professional who can re-amp your track through a very expensive amp professionally miced up.

first things first i'd say is invest in a good D.I. box and experiment with virtual amp plugins and attempt to blend them with your current line 6 tone.

can you post an example of your line 6's tone so we can take a listen and try address any issues with it? i suggest you use dropbox from dropbox.com for uploading your .mp3

EDIT: while your at it take a look here and vote for me to win a car shameless self promotion http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/off-topic-tavern/556726-help-me-win-car-please-takes-just-sec.html


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[Norris-wf]

lol, Mick you really are shameless. I love it

 

[mick thompson]

lol, Mick you really are shameless. I love it

its a living

 

[kev]

LMFAO, Ross is gonna prop this in every thread from now.

 

[magillagorilla]

hey thanks for the support so far (and yes, i voted ).

https://www.sugarsync.com/share/fqhrdyb6h7jn2

tried for ages and just could not get dropbox to work..just wouldn't let me upload anything. That's like my first recording and since then i have learnt quite a bit more to help with the mix but i don't wanna bother re-recording it until i know i have the equipment to make something decent.

each guitar track is only single recorded (no double or quad tracking, which i learnt about later..) infact i even made the very noobish mistake of just Copy and pasting certain parts of a riff that were played by both guitars.. i knew this would basically result in a volume increase but i didn't really care coz like i said it was one of my first attempts.

btw my soundcard is a Asus Xonar d2x and the drums are done using Toontrack's Drumkit From Hell. Don't really bother critiquing the drums. i basically just loaded it up in guitar pro, exported a midi file and loaded that straight into DFH without any alterations.. i'm really only concerned with the guitar and how to get it to sound better.