Thinking about a guitar cabinet/speaker impulse project, looking for suggestions

[cancerconspiracy]

Hi everyone!

First post here and its a bit of a long one! Anyways, I have recently been using some really great impulse files from GuitarHack and it has me thinking about undertaking a massive project to expand a bit on his work with guitar cab impulses. My idea is to make a large library (that I will share of course!) of a number of different setups, with the idea being to have a large variety of great sounds/gear beyond what is currently available. I am looking for suggestions/requests, and to see how much interest there is in this.

Some specifics on what I am currently thinking
The basic idea is that I am going to get a collection of great gear for a very short period of time (as in over the course of say two weeks), make all the impulses, and turn around and return(MF 45 day return!)/sell off what I collected, hence costing me as little as possible

Currently I have a Bogner OS 2x12, loaded with a nicely broken in H30 and v30. For guitar oriented mics I have some 57s, audix d3s, and an e609. Preamps and converters I have my trusty soundcraft board and a MOTU 24i/PCI-324.

My plan is to pick up some nice older celestions (pre rola blackbacks/greenbacks or maybe some scumbacks, perhaps some g12-65s), a mesa/celestion mc-90/cl-80, maybe one of those 200watt EVs. In terms of mics, I was going to grab a 421, neumann tlm-193, earthworks tc-30k (used to have a pair, really nice on guitars) and maybe some form of ribbon mic. I am not certain what I am going to pick up for a pre, was thinking maybe the Great River Mercenary edition, maybe some Neve clone, or anyting under $3k from musicians friend. Would probably pickup some for of converter as well as my current rig is only 96kHz, not 192.

So, in conclusion I am interested to hear your thoughts/ideas/requests. In particular I am interested in suggestions for mic pres, and then anything after that would be great! Since GuitarHack already has a killer series with V30s I probably won`t focus too much on them (although I will do the other mics with them). Since I am in the process of moving it probably won`t be until August or so before I can get to this, but I want to start planning now. Sorry for the long post!

 

[JeffTD]

If you're actually going to do this, thank you sooo much .

I'll go ahead and request:

Mesa 4x12 w/V30's -> TLM193 -> Avalon 737, Neve Clone, Api Clone (any nice pre, basically).

 

[cancerconspiracy]

I am pretty set on doing this, although I probably won`t be doing too much cab swapping as that will just become too cumbersome since I am in an apartment. The plan is to float it on my credit card for two weeks or so. I figure the hundred or two I lose on shipping/paypal fees will be worth it in the long run!
I think I need to also post this in the main forum so it will get some more responses...

 

[fistula]

crazy idea man...

 

[ReliXKeepeR]

If you are in apartment your impulses won't be that great, you have to know!

 

[cancerconspiracy]

If you are in apartment your impulses won't be that great, you have to know!

And why do you say that? I mean, no its not a completely acoustically treated environment, but that hasn`t stopped me from getting great guitar sounds on disk before. Space isn`t an issue as we have a little over 1800 square feet, and volume won`t really be an issue. I just don`t really see why you feel they can`t turn out?

 

[cancerconspiracy]

Mesa 4x12 w/V30's -> Royer121, 421 and 57 -> Avalon 737, Neve Clone or Api Clone as DSS3 said.

They would be 3 great Impulses. Yeah, I'm greedy.

Mic setup pic here, just substitute the Cab for a Mesa:
http://www.royerlabs.com/session_photos/ross_hogarth/DD/DD_R-121_On_Cab1_LG.html

http://www.royerlabs.com/session_photos/ross_hogarth/DD/DD_R-121_On_Cab2_LG.html

Thanks for the input and your work is what inspired this idea in the first place! I haven`t completely decided if I will snag the ribbon yet, but it is a definitive possibility. The plan is to just float everything on my credit card for a week, so I guess my maximum budget is $18k

Oh, and speaking of your impulse files, do you have a shot/setup of the fredman micing? I liked what I was getting from those particular impulses so I wanted to include them in this (when I finally get around to it).

 

[JeffTD]

Aw yeah, we gotta get a Royer going on here!

 

[RipShredmohr]

+1
I want some ribbon IRs!

 

[cancerconspiracy]

I will see what I can find! As I said, it will probably be in August when I finally get around to this as I will be in and out of town for the next month, but the earlier I start planning the better.

 

[JeffTD]

I'd check out some return policies... IIRC, Guitar Center doesn't allow returns on mics, and I know MF is the same company.

 

[cancerconspiracy]

I'd check out some return policies... IIRC, Guitar Center doesn't allow returns on mics, and I know MF is the same company.

I checked MF and they don`t mention anything about mics. Also, Mercenary Audio has a pretty damn nice return policy. And if the timing is right, I have no problems snagging something used off of Ebay (especially something like a Royer 121, which seems to sell everytime right between $900 and $950). The only thing I would be worried about would be picking up a used semi exotic mic pre as those seem to be tougher to move when need be. Luckily I should have a nice selection of returnable new things to pick from.

The other thing I am trying to decide on is what amp I want to use for these. I know that a fair number of people on here like to just take the preamp out from a FX send so the power amp section is important, whereas I actually take the line out off of a HotPlate so I already have the poweramp as part of the sound. So, I can use the poweramp of my Makoplex, or a really clean SS reference amp...

 

[JeffTD]

I'd go with as many kind of tube heads you can find, just for variety.

That said, the Mako should be badass as all hell.

 

[2012]

In my opinion, the nothing beats a V30, so I wouldn't bother trying different speakers, but YMMV.

Personally, I would focus on different power tubes by using a dedicated poweramp such as the Randall RT2/50 which allows you to use a variety of power tubes and self-bias. After that, you just need a few good mics and mic preamps.

One can always use the standard SM57 or i5 paired with a Neve clone or API, but it goes without saying that it would be great to have some R121 and PR30 impulses. Good luck!

Power Tubes:

6L6 / EL34 / EL84 / 6550 / KT88

Mics:

Royer R121 / Heil PR30 / Shure SM57 / Audix i5

Preamps:

API A2D / Vintech x73 / A-Designs Pacifica