I am new here...

[Battlefrost]

Greetings everyone. My name is Charles and I just registered. I am glad I found this place.

So to break myself in here I will put this out...

I have toiled and worked hard to get a good tone for electric guitar, suitable for metal. I tried multiple positions, different mics, different amps, etc... I get a tone that I think works for the song after a good long while of experimenting.

Then, I hear a kid who knows very little about audio engineering show me his guitar recording that pretty much sums up what I was trying to get. Taken aback, I ask him how he got his tone. He tells me that he just plugged in a POD XT with POD Farm or something like that.

I am not sure how I am supposed to feel about this. I was a bit disheartened I suppose. I guess perhaps I take a measure of pride in working to get the tone I am shooting for. And often I fall short still. I read, I study, I experiment, I work. Maybe I over think what I am doing. But man, when a kid comes in and does something better without knowing what he is doing and not working for his tone, I wonder if I am just shoveling sand against the tide.

Any opinions on matters such as this? Does anyone else have this happen to them?

Thank you for having me here on this forum.
-Charles

[seaneldon]

Perhaps the metal tones you really strive for were all POD's.

I mean...that's kinda ridiculous...but never say never I s'pose.

Is this kid a way better player than you and the people you record?

I've never heard any digital emulation of a guitar amp sound as good as a real, great tube amp. Never. Don't think I ever will, either. Could your amps use some new speakers?

Once about a year ago, while he was getting a demo of some "new and improved" digital amp modeler, I heard this particular gem come out of Fletcher's mouth:

"It's like watching a blowjob on the computer instead of going to the bar and trying to get a real one"

Pretty much sums it up for me.

[Battlefrost]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, this kid is indeed a great guitar player. He truly does shred. Maybe thats it. Most of the guys I record are middle of the road at best.

I am somehow uplifted by your comments. Thanks. I need a little reassurance every so often that even in this age of digital emulation for everything, that there is still something an actual audio engineer can offer.

[Sandyrb]

Yeah, this kid is indeed a great guitar player. He truly does shred. Maybe thats it.

Hi Charles, welcome to MTM.

As they say, "the tone's in the fingers". A really super player can make pretty much anything sound good - and there's a lesson for us all in that. The obvious answer is to take great-playing-kid and get him to play through YOUR setup, to show him how much greater he can sound going through a real amp and speaker than going through a pod. :)

I actually don't mind pod technology but there again I never really think of it as a replacement for a guitar amp; I think of it as an effect I could use on pretty much anything. The fact that it's not a physically interactive machine like an amp is probably what spoils it for me. It doesn't react to its environment, it doesn't have countless minute differences in the components like a real amp does, it doesn't have a speaker which breathes and interacts with the mic. It's just a set of mathematical tables doing highly predictable calculations on digital data. Anyway that's my theory on why they don't work as well.

Be encouraged! YOU don't need to resort to pod cheating to get great tones! :)

Cheers,

[burnthair donethat]

I . It doesn't react to its environment, it doesn't have countless minute differences in the components like a real amp does, it doesn't have a speaker which breathes and interacts with the mic. It's just a set of mathematical tables doing highly predictable calculations on digital data. Anyway that's my theory on why they don't work as well.


Cheers,

yea. This sums up what i've instinctively felt about pod's and other audio junk food devices. To me, when you take out the amp/mic from the equation you loose the subtle ensemble between the myriad details that they bring.

Now I won't have to resort to my old lines of "it just sounds better" or "I can make it sound more interesting" I hope now there will be more justification to nix the pod everytime it's time to track EGTR.

[Dylansdad]

Count yourself lucky when some kid blows you away via pod or Mesa or Fender. Yes it's mostly in the fingers but, get the kids contact information and maybe you can bring him on some project and get the chance to record some of his magic , who knows maybe you might teach him a thing or 2.

[Fredo]

I would say that that kid has probably spent his entire guitar playing career figuring out how to get that tone. And the fact that he is going through a pod just takes the whole mic/pre selection/placement out of the equation and allows this unexperienced engineer the ability to get this tone without complicated variables. Besides that, it could have just been a preset. Anyway, I hope it breathes new life into your quest for tone rather than disheartening you.