when using impulses/amp-sims, does it sound OK to use real pedals?

everdrone

everdrone

mixing scientist n00b
Mar 30, 2009
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I am a n00b mixing enthusiast, any insights are much appreciated. I am amazed by the mixes on this forum!! I use my pedalboard when recording direct. I use (1) G Major Noisegate, and (2) my alice in chains Cantrell Wah, (3) sometimes my Proco Rat II pedal. then I use amp-sims/recabinet, or I use my new EZMIXII. do you think I should use my rat pedal when recording direct? I cant figure out whether it is making things better or worse in terms of guitar tone. Does anyone use pedals when recording direct into axe fx or other impulses etc? what are your results? any insights are appreciated, many thanks :)
 
I don't normally do that but I think with a boost pedal it would be ok, and it has been done before by some guys here. Same with the noise gate. The wah I'm not sure about. I know that some pedals can color the sound even when they're not engaged, so the wah might not be a good idea to have plugged in all the time, not to mention the added noise from another cable, battery and circuit added to the chain.
 
Terminus said:
I don't normally do that but I think with a boost pedal it would be ok, and it has been done before by some guys here. Same with the noise gate. The wah I'm not sure about. I know that some pedals can color the sound even when they're not engaged, so the wah might not be a good idea to have plugged in all the time, not to mention the added noise from another cable, battery and circuit added to the chain.
Click to expand...

thanks man, My G noisegate stops noise but I dont know at what cost, thanks for bringing up the coloring issue when not engaged, I think that the G noisegate just eliminates it through it's loop that I use but I dont really know. great insights, much appreciated :kickass:

I have my ratII pedal that seems to be ok, it sounds like most guys on the forum prefer to record direct without distortion pedals, I never have seen any clips with admitted pedal use yet. maybe cause pedals are meant to go to real tube amps, and amp sims/impulses are different really. Thanks for confirming, much appreciated :)

I see in this tutorial he is using tubescreamer physical pedal:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF-eRJgY5I4&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
 
The thing with overdrive pedals, in my experience and from everything I've been told and read, are best with no drive dialed in and useful really only for the way they augment the sound of the gain on whatever amp you're using without actually adding any gain to the sound. So I've always had the gain at zero on everything I've ever done, live or recorded. Not sure how the ProCo Rat line of od's work but I'd assume it's just the same as a screamer pedal. There;s a sticky about tube screamers in the equip forum:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/346068-tube-screamer-faq-version-1-a.html

Might be some good info in there for ye. Good luck.:)
 
Thanks man, very helpful, I will do the no drive dialed in thing and see if its just the same as a screamer pedal. tube screamer is an overdrive type of pedal, while proco rat II is a distortion type of pedal. I saw that tubescreamer thread and it made me want to get one - g.a.s. :)

many thanks Terminus, cheers :)

I lived in Austin 8 months ago. best city ever!! I lived next to Red River and walked to the band venues like twice a week.
 
Distortion pedal will work as long as you run it through the clean channel of an amp sim and then through a cab/mic sim or impulse. Without the clean amp sim, distortion -> impulse results in a very boomy and dull tone requiring lots of EQ'ing to fix.

Wahs don't sound that good pre-distortion, so I wouldn't use one unless it's after a distortion pedal.

Overdrive pedals are a good idea, with gain at zero. Mainly they cut the bass and boost the mids, resulting in a tighter rhythm tone in your amp sim. Some, even with gain at zero, still have some crunch to them, so they act as compressors. Usually I just use an EQ plugin instead, with a gentle lo cut and mid boost.
 
neptunian said:
Distortion pedal will work as long as you run it through the clean channel of an amp sim and then through a cab/mic sim or impulse. Without the clean amp sim, distortion -> impulse results in a very boomy and dull tone requiring lots of EQ'ing to fix.
Click to expand...

You don't NEED to use the clean channel at all. Sure you could use the pedal as your main distortion but generally for high gain metal tones you would use a high gain amp sim with an external distortion pedal like a TS just as you would a TS sim, or a TS pedal and a real amp.

neptunian said:
Wahs don't sound that good pre-distortion, so I wouldn't use one unless it's after a distortion.
Click to expand...

Alot of people use a wah pre distortion so it might pay to experiment here.

:)
 
I bought an FCB1010 to control TH2. I use real pedals too. My card is a Focusrite Saffire 24 Pro. Can someone please tell me how to chain or make an fx loop to use first in the chain an TH2 Wah and then go to the real pedals and come back to pc? How it goes with the different signal levels from going from guitar to pedals than going from a line out into pedals ang going back?

You will help me a lot If you help me to understand the best way to do this. Thank you.

Scott
 
There was a time when I used to boost the X50 with a real OD808, because I felt like the TS-Sim played a big role in making the tone sound "digital". And I still think so, but now I'm to fucking lazy to plug it in, everytime I want to record something. So I use the TSE808 again...
 
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