How many of you don't tell your client that you re-amped their guitars?

[The Unavoidable]

That's an excellent analogy right there, I'm going to use that.

 

[El_Gato]

don't get it wrong, this is not a groceries dude, far more complex

but I'll tell you about a "restaurant" in the beach here, you go and tell the old waiter: Red wine and sardines. And he brings rose wine and some other fish. First time was very annoying but it's so funny when you know that because of the tourists' faces when served. The fact is that people drive 100 kms long to eat whatever the waiter likes to serve them (or what he has) cause it's sooo good (well, not posh ones). He can do it because he doesn't care, he knows he's good at what he does. The bill use to be cheap but he doesn't really calculate. So, if you go that place you know you're gonna have an awesome meal. You can of course go to the restaurant next and ask for the sardines you wanted but they are nowhere near as good as the fish served in the first place, and people know it so they keep going to the old man's. (ask for beer lol)

This is not a very good example hahah but

man, if I recorded everything in 2000 as I wanted before I knew about amps, settings, positions, etc I could state that they'd be nothing compared to the good tone our engineer-producer used to get. I give him thanks for not allowing me to tweak gain till 7. I realized when everybody was telling us how damn good the guits sounded

I understand your position and I respect it...but finally band members always want some processing (can you make it sound bigger/brighter/wider? are common questions in the mix) so you want processing? what's processing anyway? taking your recorded signal and tweak the sound. OK, then I have the signal from his guitar and process it by reamping and ask them in the mix: do you like this (your tracked sound you wanted) or maybe some of this ones (reamped/processed/whatever)?¿

Normally they'd go for the processed (reamped), no need to explain the whole thing.

Same with drums, you can spend days tweaking the snare if it was for drummers. In the mix you go and say, hey do you like this (original snare) or this (processed/blended/replaced)?¿ THEY choose

Finally, PRO is not giving what the clients want in the first place but the SATISFACTION of the customer at the end. Nothing mystical, you can always go back for the shitty sound if they won't trust you.

 

[Force666]

To make a long story short, bands come in and want to use their own shitty gear. Then when you're done and it sounds like shit, they blame you and ask "Why doesn't it sound like an Andy Sneap record?"

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[drew_drummer]

My opinion:

You don't negotiate with your doctor when he prescribes you meds, right?

The AE is like being a band-doctor, and what you prescribe them is what they need. If they don't want the treatment, they'll suffer from the consequences, and then will blame the doctor because the pain is still there.

So I tell them in the first place I am actually going to reamp their guitars to a good sound. If they don't agree, they can look for another mix engineer, because I'm not willing to compromise my product.

What if the band turns up with a 5150 and a tubescreamer, will you still re-amp then???

 

[KidMoe]

Finally, PRO is not giving what the clients want in the first place but the SATISFACTION of the customer at the end.

I would say that being a pro is being man enough to be honest with your clients. There's nothing professional about being a liar, unless you're a politician.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

What if the band turns up with a 5150 and a tubescreamer, will you still re-amp then???

I've never had that situation before , but I'd go with whatever the client has for me as long as it's good enough

 

[John_C]

What if the band turns up with a 5150 and a tubescreamer, will you still re-amp then???

if you turn up at the doctors and you're already taking over the counter exactly what he was gonna prescribe you, he's not gonna have a problem with that

 

[Erik Monsonis]

if you turn up at the doctors and you're already taking over the counter exactly what he was gonna prescribe you, he's not gonna have a problem with that

That

 

[lolzgreg]

What if the band turns up with a 5150 and a tubescreamer, will you still re-amp then???

No, because my 5150 has been modded, has premium transformers, new tubes and I have 3 different boost pedals that do the job as well/better than a tubescreamer.

 

[Ermz]

Reading this thread can be likened to watching somebody jerk off on their own face.

 

[lolzgreg]

Also, I have to add. I've never had a scenario where I lied to the band about reamping their guitars!

 

[Force666]

Reading this thread can be likened to watching somebody jerk off on their own face.

Nice.

 

[ElektricEyez]

Reading this thread can be likened to watching somebody jerk off on their own face.

Why do you say that?

 

[Line666]

Why do you say that?

I think he means its self indulgent wankery.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Since I am my only client, I lie to myself constantly to make myself think that the PODFarm tone I get is a real recto.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Suggesting it is one thing, and it's perfectly acceptable, but to actually do it against the wishes of the person paying for the service is beyond the limits of acceptability.

But when they wish for a great guitar sound and then try everything possible to fuck it up, that's when you have to ask yourself, "What goal is this guitarist really trying to achieve?" "What's more important? The sound of the record, or the guitarist's ego?" Even if the guitar player hates you, the rest of the band will thank you.

FWIW, I've never lied about reamping, either. Most bands thank me for being a relentless obsessive when it comes to their guitar sound.

 

[beyond dead]

B
Most bands thank me for being a relentless obsessive when it comes to their guitar sound.

well said

 

[ElektricEyez]

I've been thinking. I've never re-amped and not told a client, but seriously how is re-amping any different from drum replacement? It's still them playing. And most of the time your gonna end up processing those guitars in some form or another, like EQ or compression to make it fit in the mix better, so it's not like the recorded sound is going to stay the same either way. I don't hide the fact that I've done drum replacement, but I don't always go out of my way to tell people that I did. To me it's just a part of what we do, but only when necessary. But that doesn't mean I would or have intentionally hide it. But even if your re-amping and still blending in the original recorded tone and the newly re-amped tone, I don't see why it's such a big deal.

Interesting how everyone reacts to it though. I guess guitarists are the most picky when it comes to tone, AFTER engineers of course =-)

 

[digitaldeath]

Guitarist: "I love my tone, very raw. Just the way I like it."
Me: "No offence, but under a mic in the studio, your tone sounds shit."
Guitarist: "Can you do better...?"
Me: "Yup!"