Why you don't need an amp and cab simulator plug-in

As we know, great electric guitar tones comprise four fundamental elements ..

1. playing technique
2. the guitar itself
3. the amp and cabinet combination
4. pedals

Line 6 were the first to identify the problems guitarists face recording their instruments at home, 1) achieving reasonable tone at neighbour friendly volumes, and 2) effective monitoring.

The POD was revolutionary and provided not just a convenient way to record reasonable approximations of  the sound of a complete rig, but for some the ONLY way. Additionally many guitarists found they could experiment wildly and produce hitherto impossible to create tones.

Today, almost every DAW comes with a plug-in that allows us to process a DI'd electric guitar sound sourced from the DI input that most audio interfaces provide. If your computer and drivers are good enough to enable you to record at acceptable latency,  real time software monitoring through your plug-in may also be possible.

Unsurprisingly, guitar amplifier manufactures have responded to this attack on their bottom lines by introducing low wattage amps that produce great tone at low volume. Whilst some have introduced digital modelling into their amps this has not, and probably will never, prove popular with guitarists, who widely regard tubes and analogue processing as the best way to achieve great tone that is responsive to playing technique.

These new amps are not only low wattage and sound great but incredibly affordable. Look no further than models produced by Blackstar, Orange, Marshall, Hughes & Kettner etc etc.

Although many of these amps have cabinet simulated DI outputs there is little reason to use them when you can run them at low volumes and place a dynamic mic (such as the Shure SM57) in the standard professional position within inches of the speaker cone.

The classic method to getting the tone you want is then to ..

1. setup your guitar gain, amp settings, amp gain and pedals for the sound you want
2. use the latency free monitor mode of your audio interface; send a copy of the input signal back to your headphones where it is mixed with the stereo monitor backing track
3. fine tune the sound by experimenting with mic placement whilst playing
4. hit record!

Because DAWs allow us to delay creative decision making right up until mastering, some musicians will prefer not to commit their tone at an early stage and want to record a dry DI signal that can be processed later. But great performances often require the right sound and 'physical' feedback that only   a mic'd up amp can provide, and hey, it never did Jimi Hendrix, Nile Rogers, Prince and SRV any harm did it!?

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