Direct Recording with the GT2

(This is an old post which was left in my "Drafts" folder, and I must have forgotten to publish it. So rather than keeping it hidden, here it is!)

Less doesn't necessarily mean losing out. A smaller car is still a means of transportation, and it can have features which bigger cars lack (a retractable roof on a cabriolet over an ordinary sedan, for example). Likewise, when I was attempting to record using the SansAmp GT2, I found that its simplicity was its greatest strength. Here's my entire recording rig:

• A tuner to keep the guitars in tune
• The SansAmp GT2, an amp simulator with an arsenal of tone at my fingertips.
• The Visual Sound H20, which provides depth to the tone with delay and chorus. I find that even when used in the "short" delay mode for a really fast slapback, the H20 has this effect of making your notes stick out more.
• My trusty M-Audio Fast Track Pro. To keep the preamp noise of the FTP low, I set the gain to about 50% up, and adjust the Input gain of the GT2 to taste. I like to record to -6dB, which seems to be the threshold at which the guitar tone "speaks" with clarity, but that's my personal preference.

Character switches include
MIC: Classic = distant miking without ambiance. Center = close miking at the center of a speaker cone. Off-Axis = close miking at the edge of a speaker cone.	MOD: Clean, which gives you a stock tube amp set-up. Hi Gain, which gives you an extra gain stage, as if you were to install an additional 12AX7 tube in the pre-amp section. Hot-Wired, which gives you a scooped-out midrange for a sizzling, over-the-edge quality.	AMP: Tweed = Fender®-style British = Marshall®-style California = Mesa Boogie®-style

Check out the Marshall tone from this setup!

It's great for bass tones too. I set this tone up using the manual's setting for "SVT Bass" style:

Posted in: Analog,Howto,Recording,SansAmp