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Post new topic Recording with an amp or direct?
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Author Topic:  Recording with an amp or direct?
T. C. Furlong


From:
Lake County, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2004 8:15 am    
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I am curious about what the Nashville and LA "A Team" steel players do about recording with an amp or direct.

I have been playing steel occasionally on TV and radio spots in Chicago for the last 25 years. I used to bring an amp but now it seems that I almost always go direct. One major jingle house has 40+ stairs and no elevator! Sometimes there is no isolation booth and I'm in a studio with acoustic guitar players tracking at the same time.

I will insist on using an amp when the producer is wanting a "vintage" sound. The last one I did like that, the producer said "I need you to sound just like this guy" and he played me an early sixties Buck Owens record over the phone. I brought an amp that I thought would sound like that. I later talked to Tom Brumley about how they got that sound and he said they would get the recording engineer to EQ his big full gorgeous sound down to a thin, biting "jump out of an AM radio car speaker" sound. (BTW, I love that sound.)

I only hear the final mix on TV or radio so it's hard to tell about tone when I'm mixed low. When I'm mixed out front sometimes it sounds great, sometimes not.

When I do a record (also occasionally), I try to usually do both dry direct and bring an amp that is mic'd.

What's the current hot set up that the heavy hitters use?

Thanks.

TC Furlong
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Jerry Erickson

 

From:
Atlanta,IL 61723
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2004 7:53 pm    
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T.C. ..... you are a heavy hitter.
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Paddy Long


From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2004 8:04 pm    
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Paul Franklin said recently on the forum that he just about always uses a mic'd amp for sessions, !!
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Bruce Bouton

 

From:
Nash. Tn USA
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2004 6:03 pm    
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Itry to use an amp as much as possible but when the situation does'nt allow it I use a Roland gp 100. Engineers say it's the best direct sound around. I think Buddy uses one and Wayne Dahl uses one live. I'm trying a pod pro but so far I have'nt beaten the Roland.
BB
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Ron Sodos


From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2004 2:34 pm    
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No way to get tone through a board. Gotta have my amp!...............
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David L. Donald


From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2004 11:54 pm    
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You can get a decent tone through the Line 6 plug in's, but if your looking for another acoustic sound than what it's speaker simulators give, then you go with an amp.

Mics and speakers in a good room will give you more possibility of a unique environmental sound.

Bruce thanks for the feedback.
What did you play and play through on Ricky Skaggs Highways and Heart Aches?
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Tommy Detamore


From:
Floresville, Texas
Post  Posted 23 Feb 2004 4:40 am    
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I have used the GP 100 a lot with great success, thanks to a recommendation from Bruce B. And I'm also liking the POD XT "Twin Reverb" model a lot for steel.
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