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I'm looking to record a demo for my band in my project studio. We're straight up rock with traditional rock instrumentation. We use Plexis, Twins, AC30's, Ampeg SVT's etc. to get our sounds from electric guitars, electric bass and keys. We use LPs, teles, strats, SGs, Ricks and Jazz basses. Keys are Rhodes and a Pianet. Quality analog effects and overall classic gear. It's a great live sound but it's LOUD AS ALL HELL!

We don't have the luxury of mic'ing cranked amps in our project studio. So we're looking for direct or quieter alternatives. So far, I've come across the following possible solutions:

1. Load Box/Speaker Sims - Palmer PDI-03 seems like a reliable option; Sequis Motherload is another. The point of this is to allow the tube amps to crank in the power section to extract the tone without the volume. Opinions or experiences, anyone?

2. Isolation Speaker Cabinet - Grendel Sound Dead Room seems like a good value; another is Axe Trak. I've heard these can be boxy sounding. Opinions or experiences, anyone?

3. Direct Boxes/Pres - REDDI seems like a killer direct solution for bass; apparently damn good on a Rhodes too. I was thinking maybe I could record my electric guitars direct and then find a space to reamp through my cabinets if 1 or 2 (above) don't work out. Any thoughts on pres/direct boxes for electric guitars or electro-mechanical keys? Opinions or experiences, anyone?

Other recommendations for direct and/or quiet recording of tube amps?

Thanks!

Get the Palmer. Record the simulated out and the direct out from it, you can always take the direct out and reamp it later if you fell like it, or just keep the simulated track. Look for a used one on eBay - about $400-500.

I like my THD Hotplate. By putting my 60 watt guitar amp in a closet with a Hotplate, I can keep it to daytime apartment levels.

rcannonp wrote:I like my THD Hotplate. By putting my 60 watt guitar amp in a closet with a Hotplate, I can keep it to daytime apartment levels.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a Hotplate. I use it live to control stage volume and avoid going deaf. Works well in that capacity. But there are two problems with using it in the project studio - First, I don't have an available closet or isolation area to keep the sound somewhat contained. Second, I've found that once I start attenuating more than -8db with the Hotplate, the tone suffers too much (all my amps are non-master volume).

The best solution is to move into a better space. But I'm reluctant to do that with the housing market the way it is right now.

Resonant Alien wrote:Get the Palmer. Record the simulated out and the direct out from it, you can always take the direct out and reamp it later if you fell like it, or just keep the simulated track. Look for a used one on eBay - about $400-500.

Question - Wouldn't it be "better" to use split my guitar signal BEFORE going into the amp so that way I can reamp a dry DI guitar sound through an amp?

ltemma74 wrote:

Resonant Alien wrote:Get the Palmer. Record the simulated out and the direct out from it, you can always take the direct out and reamp it later if you fell like it, or just keep the simulated track. Look for a used one on eBay - about $400-500.

Question - Wouldn't it be "better" to use split my guitar signal BEFORE going into the amp so that way I can reamp a dry DI guitar sound through an amp?

Depends on what you think you might want to do. If you think you will want to totally change your preamp/amp settings while reamping, then yes, you would want to split the signal before going into your amp so you will have a straight DI signal. If you have the amp sound you want, and you are just using the Palmer, etc., to record it quietly, then you can just record the line outs of the Palmer and send them back through your power amp section and cabinet later - you don't need a "reamp" box in this case. You don't get the flexibility of totally changing the sound, but you get to record quietly, then send it back through a mic'd cab later when you have a chance to be loud.

This is what I do - I rarely want to go back and completely change the sound, so I don't really use that much classic "reamping", I just record quietly with the Palmer and then when I have a chance, send the line out signal back through my VHT power amp into my cab and mic it.

RA

Thanks RA - that's an interesting technique. Do you find that you end up scrapping the Palmer tracks in favor of the mic'd cab or use both or what?