Author Topic: Teh Strat is Teh Finished! (Read 8673 times)

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #15 on:** August 14, 2006, 12:34:47 AM »

Quote from: _tom_

As said in the other thread it looks much better! Although for recording, if you have a good pc, its much better for recording with (in my opinion), even if it is a bit more difficult at first.

I'd go along with that Tom :lol: You need some big processors to handle it all though.

What they don't tell you in the recording manuals is the side effects! PDT_027 PDT_038 PDT_030

Just take lots of breaks!

deg0ey · « **Reply #16 on:** August 14, 2006, 12:44:57 AM »

Quote from: Johnny Mac

You need some big processors to handle it all though.

That's the problem I have...There's the "Family Desktop" that would run it fine, as it's my dad's gaming PC. Buuuuut, it's in the box room upstairs that's really inconvenient to try and record in (as there's no space to speak of to fit an amp, or even a guitar for that matter).

The other option is my laptop, which is mainly designed to run Office for school...You can hear it creaking when you have the nerve to try and run a high tech program such as media player :roll:

So it's a case of either buying a new PC/laptop, which I can't afford, upgrading the laptop components (dunno if that's possible) or using one of those digital thingys 'til I eventually get into that full time employment thing and have some cash to throw around :drink:

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #17 on:** August 14, 2006, 12:46:30 AM »

Quote from: deg0ey

Yep, some might think it thoughtful on Fender's part, but I reckon it's because then they can machine out the same body for the regular strats and the fat strats...

Anyway, I don't care why they did it, it made my life a lot easier :lol:

I'm just looking back at the thread TO made on recording methods and deciding what type of mic's to buy...I'm thinking the SM57 (standard really) and some kind of condensor mic - maybe an Oktava :drink:

Guitar looks nice Deg0ey! I bet it plays and sounds nice too.

I'd go SM57 at this stage and if you can direct out of your engl into the new toy then try that (for now). If not then attenuators can help here. To get the tones required for what you want, an element of cranking is going to be involved. Can your family/neighbours handle that?!

Home recording is great and it's also a source of headaches! That Recorder looks good for the price!

Welcome to........... :guitar4: PDT_002

PDT_038 PDT_041 :tfrag: :rock:

deg0ey · « **Reply #18 on:** August 14, 2006, 12:50:02 AM »

Quote from: Johnny Mac

To get the tones required for what you want, an element of cranking is going to be involved. Can your family/neighbours handle that?!

:lol: There a frequent moments when the whole family is out and I'm left home alone...and about the neighbours, my theory is as follows: If I can hear them come to the door to complain about the noise, then it isn't too loud...and if I can't, then I sure as hell don't care :drink:

EDIT: I just realised there's a slight view off to the left of our dodgy old sofa in the picture there :lol: I thought I cropped it out :P

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2006, 12:55:15 AM »

Quote from: deg0ey

Quote from: Johnny Mac
To get the tones required for what you want, an element of cranking is going to be involved. Can your family/neighbours handle that?!

:lol: There a frequent moments when the whole family is out and I'm left home alone...and about the neighbours, my theory is as follows: If I can hear them come to the door to complain about the noise, then it isn't too loud...and if I can't, then I sure as hell don't care :drink:

EDIT: I just realised there's a slight view off to the left of our dodgy old sofa in the picture there :lol: I thought I cropped it out :P

Those frequent moments might seem like 5 minutes once you open Pandora's Box! If someone disturbs you while your deep into your mission it can really mess your concentration up. Just pointing out some practicality's!

deg0ey · « **Reply #20 on:** August 14, 2006, 01:04:36 AM »

Lol yeah, I think I can see where you're coming from with that...And I think I agree with the theory of not going overboard with the number of mics to start with, as I'll probably end up buying stuff I'll never use anyway...It would be better to use one and then think "I could do with something for X or Y" and then buy one of those...

The Engl does have a line out, but it's one of those 3 pronged deelys and I don't have the right kind of cable for it atm - but I could get one I suppose

And an attenuator is a possibility, as long as I have the money that is :P

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #21 on:** August 14, 2006, 01:12:20 AM »

Quote from: deg0ey

Lol yeah, I think I can see where you're coming from with that...And I think I agree with the theory of not going overboard with the number of mics to start with, as I'll probably end up buying stuff I'll never use anyway...It would be better to use one and then think "I could do with something for X or Y" and then buy one of those...

The Engl does have a line out, but it's one of those 3 pronged deelys and I don't have the right kind of cable for it atm - but I could get one I suppose

And an attenuator is a possibility, as long as I have the money that is :P

Right your laughing then! You have an XLR output, so you will need a cable, assuming you go with the tascam, get a XLR to XLR, well that's what i call them! They are the same as microphone cables. Two would double track (I think) into your proposed unit from mic and DI. Unless you play the parts twice...

deg0ey · « **Reply #22 on:** August 14, 2006, 01:19:45 AM »

So a regular microphone cable should connect it to stuff?

Right, I can manage that...

I just downloaded the manual for the Tascam thing to get some learning done before I buy it (might mean I can start playing with it quicker), but after reading "Thank you for purchasing a Tascam" about 5 times I decided it was time for bed.

G'night

JamesHealey · « **Reply #23 on:** August 14, 2006, 09:20:05 AM »

my USA Deluxe Strat was routed for HSH.. and thats the only reason i bought it I had the people in the store take the guitar to bits to make sure it was what i wanted..

S1 Switching my ass..

it's all about 5 way with HSH bkps ;)

Irony of it is though im moving to HSS next week, due to the fact im just not interested in neck humbucking sounds anymore too over powering..

_tom_ · « **Reply #24 on:** August 14, 2006, 10:57:32 AM »

^You could always go with the Mule neck pickup James, its not too overpowering and has a nice smooth tone but can sound agressive if you want it to. Then again, the singles are cheaper :P

Jp. · « **Reply #25 on:** August 14, 2006, 01:42:28 PM »

with you there tom

I went with a mule neck and a Irish tour bridge.

Now all I have to do is finnish the damn guitar.

carlaz · « **Reply #26 on:** August 15, 2006, 05:15:24 PM »

The thing with mics and recording is that it don't matter what mics you have if you haven't also got reasonably good gear to record on. It's a system, just like a guitar/amp is a system, and it will (to a great extent) always be limited by its weakest link. (Just as the most fab guitar through the most pathetic amp will end up sounding like a flatulent badger regardless of the sexy BKPs ya loaded into it :).)

OK, we can justify the dosh to soup up the guitar get a fancy amp to put it in front of because, well, it will sound cool to our ears when we play. But once you start looking at recording gear, you might as well look at getting stuff you expect to be useful (if possible, expandable) for while.

(That said, you can hardly go wrong with an SM57. Unless you do something awful to it, it will probably be useful for, effectively, ever!)

carlaz · « **Reply #27 on:** August 15, 2006, 05:19:50 PM »

Quote from: deg0ey

I just downloaded the manual for the Tascam thing to get some learning done before I buy it (might mean I can start playing with it quicker), but after reading "Thank you for purchasing a Tascam" about 5 times I decided it was time for bed.

I think one of the key things to check on is whether you can move files off the Tascam's hard drive to a computer (either one you have access to now, or one you have access to in the future). There's a USB part on the thing, so that's hopeful.

Then the question is what file formats you can move off, and can you move individual tracks or just complete mixes. (The idea is: can you move your raw recorded tracks off this thing to archive them and, someday, reload them into a PC-based mixing application? If you record anything you actually like, you'll want that ability in the future! :))

deg0ey · « **Reply #28 on:** August 15, 2006, 06:14:40 PM »

Mr Carlaz...

I see your point about the decent mic/cheap other stuff/flatulent badger thing...

The SM57 seems a good choice (especially as I found them for £40) and with the Tascam, I basically want something relatively cheap that will record stuff without having to use my pathetic laptop...

My desktop would be fine to use, but it's really in the wrong place.

The TASCAM can Export either finished songs, or WAV files with individual tracks - and it can Import them too. So I'm thinking I can record the tracks on the Tascam thingy, and then take it upstairs, exporting to the desktop. From there I can use various software to touch up stuff (if I can be bothered to buy any) and then send it back to the Tascam for mixing.

There is another Tascam thing that does a similar thing, for like £600...Thing is it might be better to keep for the future as it can do 24 tracks (instead of 8) and has 8 XLR thingies instead of 2, even though at the moment I wouldn't need those features they at least leave possibilities for future upgrading.

Reckon I should get the cheaper one or the more expensive one?

carlaz · « **Reply #29 on:** August 15, 2006, 08:38:41 PM »

Quote from: deg0ey

The SM57 seems a good choice (especially as I found them for £40)

Yeah, that's a pretty good choice, methinks :)

Quote from: deg0ey

My desktop would be fine to use, but it's really in the wrong place.

Well, I hear you about placement. I have a fine, if slightly archaic, Roland VS-1680 DAW. And for a couple of years it sat on a shelf in the bedroom mostly hooked up but never used because, well, it just wasn't a good workspace. Now I've got a USB audio interface running into the ol' iBook down in the main room (this is a small place we live in!) and though it's in some ways less powerful than the 1680, it's a hell of a lot more useable. I can sneak down in the mornings and record a few bars between bites of cereal .... ;)

Quote from: deg0ey

The TASCAM can Export either finished songs, or WAV files with individual tracks - and it can Import them too. So I'm thinking I can record the tracks on the Tascam thingy, and then take it upstairs, exporting to the desktop. From there I can use various software to touch up stuff (if I can be bothered to buy any) and then send it back to the Tascam for mixing.

Yeah, that works.

Quote from: deg0ey

There is another Tascam thing that does a similar thing, for like £600..Reckon I should get the cheaper one or the more expensive one?

Damn, for 600 quid you can just about get a laptop that would do it all anyway! If you've got 600 quid, do that. If you've got a lot less, perhaps the cheap option is all right for the moment. Someday, you'll be outta the house and need yer own computer, so you might as well hold back a little extra against that day. There's nothing so annoying as having a decent guitar and no way of recording your stuff. (Well, OK, there is, but let's not go there now .... ;).)