Quote:
Originally Posted by J Kennedy
Chase,
What I was trying to figure out was how to achieve the specific sound quality of the rhythm guitars of the time, what they did to get the unique sound quality recorded. Always sounding near like single coil Fenders going thru Fender amps but with something else that made the guitar cleaner than clean, compressed and defined. Many of the oldies songs were hallmarked by the simple rhythm chords that cut your ear and brain to the root. The experience was more than could be defined by a lot of the flash technical feats of the lead guitarists. All these guys had to do was strum and you were blown away.
Looking at all the plugins and guitars in my studio. I can go from dull humbuckers to tin can single coils, but can’t hit the place these guys got somewhere in the middle by just stumming a chord. They hit the soul clean and definitive.
JHughes must be on mark with his assessment of tube based condensers as a bridge between some generic guitar and a generic amp.
I’ve always kept an eye on the ironic attempt to reintroduce analog flaws into digital objectivity. The plugs are usually named “vintage” in the effort.
Have a friend I’d mentioned who looks way down on Reaper because it isn’t ProTools. He records in distant studios to get ProTools support, but turned out it was the peripheral hardware he was chasing. The studio had a 1930’s tube mic with a 1945 tube salvaged from a WWII Nazi sub. Then into a $30k Neve console. The thing sounded fantastic.
My quest is to find if there is either a hardware solution or a “vintage” vst plug or chain that can get even close to the masters. These guys set the bar almost impossibly high even without knowing it.
John
Stein, thank you also for your feedback.
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A quality tube amp miced with a top shelf Neumann or AKG of the day. Mics were not crammed into the grill cloth like they do today. 1-3 feet away was more the norm.
You will need a good amp but something like an AT4050 or CADM179 through a GT Brick or UA610 micpre should get you in the general vicinity. Those sounds are as much in the technique as they are the gear.