Can you record guitar with a practice amp? | FAQ Friday - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

[@jimsanger]

The big guitar sound on Creep by Radiohead was played on a little practice amp

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes, that makes sense to me Jim!

[@monkeyxx]

I'm just going to pick out one thing I completely agree with. $1,000. Microphone, or a drum set. Absolutely no question, best possible home studio upgrades. I went for several years weak in these areas, and strong in all the $200-300 areas. Made a huge difference in my Vocal sound as well as obviously my Drum sound.

[@jonasbambrough1790]

No rehearsal eh? Respect!! My fav cheap unique amp: $250 used Legend 'Rock n Roll' 50 Tube/SS amp... (used on ZZTop Eliminator) Super harsh :) My fav under-$1000 'a little' Outside-the-Box equip: 500 series stuff... PreAmp / Comp / Guitar amp sim.... My fav Waves plugins: Kramer PIE / Omni Channel / J37 / AbbeyRoad Plates / Brauer Motion All the best!!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Jonas for sharing your set up!

[@BobbyElliottav]

I agree, the R Bass is absolutely Amazing!!! I’ve even used it (sparingly) on Acoustic guitar to bring out a little warmth when the guitar was not recorded that well! It also does really well on certain vocals!! I wish all plugins were this good!!

[@acommon]

I often will layer in practice amps or my strange amps along with my big tube amps. Gives it more color and fills out the sound. Amp sims work well for this too, no weird resonances, etc. :)

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes Alex!!

[@acommon]

One more thing, had to share this video. For Queens of the Stone Age, Eric Valentine bought up a ton of old amps and used those to get a wild sound. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZrccnaYaZWHi68

[@caloss2]

I used the di out from a blackstar HT-1 a few times, it was impressive.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Alex, indeed, I love experimenting with old funky random sounding amps and cabs! It gives you your own unique sound!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks great to hear Caloss2 Channel!

[@checkpointcovid8021]

So the mods are worth more than the amp but here's what I did to my Bugera V5: Upgraded output transformer, added choke, installed 10" Ragin' Cajun speaker. Yes, a 10" speaker will fit. It is an absolute beast and is a great recording amp. I'm pretty sure it's louder than five watts now. It is a sleeper for sure as nobody expects much from that little guy. Point is, get yourself a small 5 watt tube amp with attenuator for some great recorded tones.

[@ogsurferdude]

Watts up warren, some of the best bands to come out of my hometown in long beach recorded their first albums with a simple peavey rage 15 watter. On low volume while trying not to get busted by parents and stuff. Of course there are better ways and better amps but when you’re young and trying to get something going you do what you gotta do. Lots of ghetto blaster party recordings that still hold weight. Also some of my best songs were recorded with a Marshall mini stack and a sm58 into my little br11 before I got any of the good stuff. It’s desire and emotion that creates good songs not equipment. I’ve gone back and re-recorded some of these songs using the good stuff, but even still most of those first recordings still sound best. And I can’t recreate what happened at those pivotal moments.

[@Producelikeapro]

The DUDE! I love Peavey Amps! In fact I've always wanted to interview Hartley Peavey! My first great amp was a Peavey Classic 65watt! Great amp!

[@soulagent79]

I agree. I have a small Laney 5-watt tube amp, which I use on many of my recordings and it sounds just great close-mic'ed with an SM-57.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic!! I love Laney, great company!

[@samsound8510]

Whoever asked about the Waves plugins will be happy to know they almost always have what you want on sale for like $30 or $40 -- eventually. Just keep checking their specials each week. They rotate through the catalog.

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed! They are always doing amazing deals!!

[@jerrymckenzie6205]

Thank you Warren, I AM doing marvelously well! If I'm not mistaken, Don Felder used a Champ on the famed One Of These Nights solo.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for the information Jerry!

[@sunnysuman1255]

Interfaces sound really really good these days. I got an Audient ID14 and plugged an Squier Strat and it never sounded this good. Really impressed me.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Friend, this is a question I get asked all the time... Can you record guitar with practice amp? One of my favorite producers and good friend of mine is Dave Jerden. Dave did all the big Alice In Chains records, the big Jane’s Addiction records, The Offspring, you name it! Anyway, a lot of the time he was getting those massive guitar sounds with a variation of amps. He almost always favored small amps. Let me know your experiences with small amps and please enjoy this weeks Frequently Asked Questions!

[@iwantappledumplings6187]

Wonderfully information as always Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Apple! Glad to be able to help!

[@darlenesheffield9835]

Thanks for the wonderful content Warren

[@utubehound69]

I saw a pic of Eric Clapton recording thru a Peavey Classic 30 combo. Funny thing was they listed all the gear in the room except the Peavey lol & that's the one he was using. Pagey used small combos to get huge sounds. I like bigger amps cranked proper like thru a 4x12. But I've recorded a demo that got my band "Hemlok" going I used to get a great drummer bassist…& it was a Crate Bass combo w/Boss HM-2 / Vox Superfuzz & a Yamaha chorus. Right after that I added a mint 60's Twin Reverb w/anther Crate SS guitar amp in stereo it was a massive sound.

[@Producelikeapro]

Great stuff! Yes, I love the Peavey Classic 30 Combo! Great amp!! Thanks for the great comment Watchman4u!

[@angelotro]

Point a mic at the side cabinet opening of a Pignose, you can get a huge assortment of sounds depending on how open or closed the cabinet is. If you can open and close it WHILE playing, you can get some deep wah sounds! Tricky, yes, but you can: have a friend open and close it while you play (kinda personal, but...😅); attach half of the cabinet to your foot (kinda clunky and potentially dangerous, so please record this on video as well!😅); do it as a reamp (pretty pro, you can focus more on the sound than the juggling technique).

[@darrenross9168]

Hi warren ,cool faq Friday, if i am creating sounds i must say that reason propellerhead is one hell of a tool, its like the ultimate midi synth with all the tools you could need to get creative. I have a big marshall cab, man it rocks for live playing but a bit too loud for in the house and recording, thank you for reassuring us that smaller amps are very usable and thanks also for a great vid, all the best, yours, Darren ross.

[@adamwasthefirstman]

I think I hurt my neck nodding along with all this content! Small amps- love them! It feels great as a guitarist to have pant-flapping low end in isolation, but generally that's all going to be high passed in the mix anyway! Also saves money- I regularly use a modded Vox AC4 to track with, or at least to blend in with another amp. A great 10" speaker upgrade is significantly cheaper than a 12" or 2 or 4. Also, nice vintage tubes are cheaper when you only have to buy a couple vs 10. Having a drum room! I've been blessed with access to a bandmate's house with an awesome sounding living room. Totally spoiled. And so greedy that I'm still on the hunt for another space I can have more regular access to. And I'm constantly planning what combination of reasonable drums/cymbals to aquire when I do. Though I already have a small snare collection as I found it really useful. Almost always. Interfaces: I also had the Digi 001. It was my first serious dive into taking recording seriously. I love the projects I tracked on it and it was fairly terrible! Worst clock ever! But such an eye opening experience. And it's crazy to think it cost almost twice what I paid for my current interface! Outboard gear: Agree with you about mics, but I have a handful of fairly cheap, colored sounding pres and compressors that really help shape sources as I record them. I have a pair of GAP Preq-73s that have selectable low and high shelving eqs that are incredibly useful to me. Have some others as well for variation, and in combination with mic selection and placement, really save me a ton of work in the mixing stage. Between these and a bit of compression (I'm almost ashamed to admit how much I love this old DBX 163x I got for $35) I definitely get a better response from players while tracking. The Preq-73s on kick and snare with compression makes a drummer like his headphone mix better and frees him to just enjoy him/herself and play. Really the same for everyone. Plug-ins: The RBass is amazing but very dangerous! My favorite Waves plugs are the PuigTech eqs and the API 2500 compressor. Also the CLA SSL channel strip if I'm in a hurry. Will seriously have to work more with the MV-2 the next time I'm mixing! Sorry for the novel, you're just good at getting one thinking!

[@jamesodonnell9217]

I have a little 68 Vibrochamp that still rocks. I don't use pedals in front of it, it has a natural breakup. With some post reverb it sounds just like a much bigger Twin. On Plug-ins, I haven't use any yet. Kinda stuck in a rut w/my same ol' same ol' outboards. There are EQs that I utilize for HPF/LPF. for me, the filters work wonders for changing personality. With some EQ I can chase down specific tonal personalities. Rare that the discussion covers filters. For me, filters are the key. EQ, also. I tried for 10 years before experimenting with filters... and then one day realized I could trim frequencies. Oh man I love Spectral Analysis. This is new to me. I just found them. The plug-ins are super lame, and I can't read them properly. There is one I use constantly, but its so small 1/2"x1" on screen, it is very easy to read and always referred to. This is how I see the difference between Mesa 6L6 and Marshall EL34. This shows what I am hearing, anything over 8k is quite apparent, and Marshall has an obvious mid hump, Mesa is smoother, and has a ramped top end. When my clean tones like to clip, its easy to see the offending heavy bass. A little too fat. My JBL monitors do not represent the extreme lows, and they miss all of the highs. They're great regular speakers, music sounds nice through them, but what I didn't know was how much top end info was there, and I learned to use the filters and trust the headphones for the top end. Thanks for all of your guidance Warren!

[@aeciodesouza]

thanks for the plugin answer. gonna test these compressors today! haha

[@Liam.Hardy.Music.99]

One of my Friday highlights, have a marvelous day Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

You're too kind Liam! Thanks for watching my friend!

[@nicholasmullins3693]

I dig the Variety of Sound ThrillseekerLA. I use it on almost everything! It gives so much to a sound that i feel weird using something transparent.

[@adamfox9651]

I've tried recording harmonica through both a tiny Danelectro Hodad and a Rogue V15G. The Hodad basically sounded like drek when I tried recording it, which is one of the reasons I tried out the Rogue. The Rogue sounds surprising good, especially for an amp that cost me under $60. When my guitar player friend comes over to my house to jam and work on songs, we record his guitar through the Rogue, and again, it sounds surprising good. I'm sure with a higher end amp, especially a tube amp, we'd get better results, but I really can't complain with what we're getting with what we got right now. Plus, mic'ing up a practice amp is good practice for when we get an amp with real balls. And we try to record a DI whenever possible, just in case we ever get some killer gear to re-amp through.

[@everythingtakin]

ive been recording with a roland cube 30 for yearz. I believe small practice amps have there place in a recording environment for sure. I heard stp guitarist deleo liked to use small tube amps. im not 100% but I heard that.

[@volgalgzkaradagoglu]

My favourite plug-ins are Fabfilter: Pro-Q and Pro-L, Waves: API2500, CLA76 (cliché) and Scheps73. I will practice more on SSL Channel Strip

[@TzechiuLei]

Marvellous Q&A, as always. Thx, Warren! My fave plugin? I'm a newb, and I find Izotope's Neutron 2 & Ozone 8 are wonderful "training wheels" on my bike. I'm just starting to get a feel for identifying mix/mastering problems, so I do relay on these 2 plugins to "get me in the ballpark." I do tweak the suggest settings to suit my projects, but the "starting points" they provide give me a "peace of mind" as a beginner to go on with my tweaks. Hope they help other rookies here!

[@StevenMikel1]

I love the Waves Renaissance Bundle,the MV2,F6 and API 2500 plugins.They all sound great.

[@darlenesheffield9835]

So many great recordings were done with small amps!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed! Thanks ever so much Darlene!

[@saftovooey4569]

Brian May!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes Mark! The Decay Amp!!

[@johncore363]

FAQ Friday with Warren is the best thing. Love it.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much John!!

[@tisbonus]

Love it! Great subject. I've been using and modding Fender Frontman amps since 2010. Something I've wanted to do for decades after dragging a blackface twin around thru the 90's. Record with them too a la Billy Gibbons or Frank Zappa with the pignose in the bath tub. Really good stuff Warren. Have a great wknd my friend!

[@DavidSJ_DAP]

I'm reminded of something I heard a long time ago...not sure of the source, it may have been regarding a ZZ Top session, but the story went that they refused to record on anything bigger than an 8" speaker...they even went so far at one point to take the 2" speaker out of a transistor radio, hook it up to a 100w Marshall with the master barely cracked open, stick an SM57 about touching the cone, and throw the whole mess in a closet...reportedly the recorded tone was massive... Not sure if it really happened, but it would be so cool if it did...

[@Producelikeapro]

What an amazing story! I do hope it's true! It's wonderful!

[@miasampaoli7587]

Wonderfully informative video!

[@Producelikeapro]

HI Mia, Thank you ever so much!!

[@theaviary238]

This is the exact question I just came online to find an answer to. Once again you had the answer right there waiting for me. Thanks again Warren!! You rock!

[@AMB666]

Friday is always a hard day, but your FAQ made my day! I really love your channel...💟

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much AMB!!

[@redmonkeeproductions5978]

Hi Warren, thanks for another high quality discussion, my go to amp is a 1974 fender champ (all original) I find the sound from it just sits in the mix nicely without too much messing around, I also have the little Marshall class 5 combo and a Vox VT30 valvetronic amp which has some great amp modelling patches.

[@horowizard]

Of course you can, absolutely! Frank Zappa recorded with a Pignose which has a little 5 inch speaker and no Tone Control. He would stick it into an Echo Chamber and get it to feed back long distance. In fact I've recorded so many tracks using a Boss VF-1 modeling effects processor straight into the Board. It has so many great sounding Amp and Speaker emulations that you would never know the difference! In fact, if your turn up your monitors a little bit your can get feedback sustain, even with something like Yamaha NS-10s Also, I never ever follow today's 'rules.' The last thing in the world I want to do is have my mixes sound like everyone else's I may never get them played on the radio but I'll be damned if ever do a safe homogenized mix! I'm going to do it the way I want to hear it. I love all the Waves, but would say my personal favorite Plug-Ins are the Focusrite D2 / D3 Bundle. There hasn't been a single instance where I couldn't get what I wanted from the D2 Equalizer and the D3 Compressor is completely transparent with Zero coloration to the sound. Another Plug-in I could not do without is the Bomb Factory BF-2A from the Classic Compressor Pack. Give me those two bundles and I can mix anything.

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha yes, indeed! Of course you can and agreed, some of the best guitar sounds ver are done on small amps! Take Brian May's amp the 'Deacy' made by John Deacon!

[@SoundcastStudios]

Seeing music related channels like this just inpsire me to keep making my own content. Thanks Warren

[@PewPewDevices]

Warren, I’ve been using the THR10 with the delay mix maxed, delay time on minimum, using the high pass and low pass filters as tone shapers. The sound is huge through the USB out, it takes the THR to another level - at the expense of losing the delay (which I would never record anyway). It’s an old fogey analogue engineer trick from back in the old days. It even mics up pretty well. It’s really helped out with a lot of sessions. Give it a try for fun😀

[@janminor1172]

JohnDaleOfficial I recently got the THR, good to hear it mics well, I’ve yet to try that.

[@PewPewDevices]

Jan Minor if you use the filter system, there is more or less no need to mic it. I’ve put up a few rough guide and A/B videos to highlight the differences, because good stuff should be shared✌️

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic John! I love my THR100! Sounds great and I've both Mic'd it and used it directly!

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi John, agreed. It's an uphill struggle for many companies in the US outside of the big names in both Guitars and Amps. The THR series are great and I highly recommend them!

[@L.Scott_Music]

Print a DI: The non-committal commitment. :) Interface quality and price is a parallel to video card quality and prices for gamers. If you love making music as much as you like to game then you can get a great quality audio interface. (For those who don't know, gaming graphics cards run from $120 - $1200 (and more for a few insane ones). Main stream cards run $200 - $300, just like audio interfaces. Semi-pro is in the $400 - $600 range. ---Give or take in an ever changing field.

[@TheRiffRunner]

Great video as always, haven't had a chance to get the Phil Ramone book yet but I did get Rick Beato's new book, looks amazing, Thanks Warren.

[@philspill6854]

I found the sweet spot on my vox pathfinder 15r! My favorite solid state little amp

[@ShiningHourPop]

Just finished the Geoff Emerick book. Thoroughly recommended reading. I’m now listening out for balloons popping in the “Day in the life” crescendo!

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha I know! What an amazing read!!

[@aleksanderdjuran8010]

Great video as always Warren! I'd like to ask you something about recording a "crowd scream" If you have a part in a song that you'd want a crowd to sing, how many people would you have to put into a room and what kind of mic etc. Thanks!

[@2dollarcrew]

Warren. My man. I feel like I know you. Thanks for all your videos and educating us. And thank you for your sideburns. I’m done tracking an EP for a really talented young artist and we are getting ready to mix. 2 questions for you if you can answer: 1) Any suggestions to get perspective given I’m very close to the project? How can I keep a fresh perspective while mixing knowing the songs so well? 2) to keep the drum sound consistent across all songs, do you recommend importing the settings from the first song mixed, assuming the drum sound is what we want, into the other songs or start from scratch from each song? Cheers mate. Timmy

[@1900stratoliner]

My studio is in a bedroom, my mapex drum set is in the bedroom next to my studio. I'm thinking of putting a view window between the rooms in the wall ! I have one of the smaller yamaha amps, its great for its size. Thinking about getting the waves bass rider. So much to do, so little time. Great vid !

[@Producelikeapro]

That's absolutely amazing to hear!! Great stuff!

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

Great video! Thank you. I like that you mentioned this and IRs. I have a Torpedo CAB and I play and record through it with my Marshall JMP-1 preamp. It has a direct out and a cab sim out. I go directly into the Torpedo CAB and I also use the cab sim out of the preamp. All this mixed in a very small old Behringer mixer I had lyong around. The ratio of these both sources give me a lot of different sound options, and panning the two sources just a tiny bit makes the sound even bigger. It means I have to commit to a sound, but that's okay.

[@sergio_m]

Warren, your videos are always great! I didn't know Waves MV2: I test it... and bought it immediately! Super deal and great on bass, guitars and vocals! THANK YOU!!!

[@jrduarte99]

Hey Warren, what's up? I've found your channel a few days ago and it's really great. Thanks for the time you invest on it and all the great info and ideas you share here.

[@harmonystudios1182]

Great FAQ Friday!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Harmony! You Rock!

[@scottrance2818]

I use IR's all the time. The ownhammer IR's are prolly my favs though. The Celestion IR's are really good too.

[@Billikid666dead]

Thanks Warren for the Video!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for watching Mikel! You Rock!

[@sonicindustries227]

Great insights as ever Warren. Not used an amp for ages as big NI GuitarRig fan - can get pretty much any tone you can think of really quickly + as you say, you've got the benefit of the DI'd signal. My Ensemble is configured to re-amp but I've never tried it.

[@bryanmcmanus2788]

Rumor has it that Josh Homme is a fan of Gorilla practice amps and uses them in the studio.

[@spitfiremusic3997]

Small amps RULE!!!$%$!

[@Producelikeapro]

I agree 100% Spitfire!

[@L.A.W.Studios]

Zappa often used a Pignose amp, sounded great..Brian May's secret weapon was a tiny solid state 5 watter that Roger Taylor built for him, another great sound mixed with his Vox amps..

[@davidallenhammond2777]

Great FAF! I use the MV2 and R Bass so much thanks to your mix breakdowns. Others are the Klanghelm MJUC (Amazing) and I've grown so much more appreciative of the included plug ins in Pro Tools. Thank you ever so much for doing this.

[@rickyred001]

second hand shops like cash converters in the UK are great for picking up cheap decent quality practice amps, 15 - 20 quid, various makes, peavey, crate etc

[@chuckwagon7860]

GENIUS advice! Thank you and blessings to you!

[@LuKe44001]

Thanks for answering my Q :) Another one here - Would you track through plug-ins? For example if I don't have an outboard EQ/Comp, but I want to track with that effects, I can put a plug-in on an input bus in DAW. So: Track clean or try to make the tracking sound as processed as possible to save time during mix?

[@OliverAmberg]

Great video (as usual). What I really appreciate is your always positive approach. Glenn should watch the first part about the guitar amps ;)

[@Spider._.dust_music]

Thx for all the videos!!! You have opened many new doors!

[@BramKoenen]

Thanks once again for your insights! I found your vids really educational as well as entertaining. Keep up the good work! I would really like to know if, generally speaking, there are different used recording (e.g. mic positioning) and mixing strategies to cope (and enhance) the characteristical differences between tube and solid-state amps. Any thoughts? Looking forward for a new vid.

[@ragnarbjornsson2911]

Great video as always =) it reminds me of the topic of using orchestral libraries vs real players (or combining them). I'm using the Presonus Symphonic Orchestra for my first albums master recordings, however, I know the pro composers use samples only for demos (because they can afford real players) but how far into my career do you think using sample libraries would be not appropriate ? (Assuming I have the money so I can choose)

[@iwantappledumplings6187]

Great content again and again!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks very much Apple!

[@int3533]

Great stuff warren

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks Elroi! You Rock!

[@MarkDonnison]

I've been recorded, sometime in the mid to late nineties, when playing through a crappy little peavey. The distortion was added at the desk as the amp only had a clean channel. The songs were shit but the sound of the Guitar and the mix were fine :)

[@wils300470]

Have you changed up your camera? Looks awesome!

[@glennc1328]

Hey Warren. Thanks for the great info. If I may. I've just got back into recording again after several years off. I have a Focusrite Saffire LE interface from 2007 I'm thinking of improving my recordings by getting an external preamp (£300 budget). Would I be better off buying a more modern interface or get the Preamp? Mostly recording acoustic guitars. Many thanks.

[@Projacked1]

You should do an episode on comparing cables. I would say good gear sounds as good as the quality of the cabling. Recently tested a high end XLR on my mic, my jaw dropped! 20 euros compared to 200 euros , massive difference!.!

[@kylefisher4895]

I really like the waves SSL plugins, I use the master bus compression on most of my mixes. Question: I record a lot of singer songwriters where it's just the singer and an acoustic guitar, what type of mic setup do you prefer when recording the vocal and the the acoustic at the same time? As opposed to overdubbing.

[@dr7246]

Love your channel! could you do a video, or segment on FAQ friday that gets into some tips on working with virtual instruments for chamber and orchestral music. I've recently begun composing again after a couple of decades (!!!) and I'm trying leverage Garritan Personal Orchestra to mix some demos of stuff I'm composing, but struggling to get realistic sounds. Thank you!!

[@ralfnolte174]

Hi David! Consider having a look at Spitfire Audio's Albion 1. Sureley not the cheapest on the Market, but the quality and playability is just great.

[@anthonyanzalone]

I've recorded Roland Micro Cubes a bunch of times.

[@Producelikeapro]

Great sounding small Amp Anthony! I've used them myself many times, great for guitar tones that cut!

[@razifraship]

I am looking and not listening, wow, I like that one...

[@noobpower96]

i like to sidechain compress a distorted guitar using the DI as the triggering signal

[@crimsun7186]

Some examples come to mind: - Frank Zappa's modified Pignose 7-100 - Rage Against The Machine's first Grammy awarded song, which was recorded with a cheap guitar plugged into a Fender Frontman 10G - Jimmy Page's Supro Thunderbolt - The Deacy Amp As opposed to the usual "goof" opinion from other people that things like Line6 amps are garbage and must be destroyed.

[@michaellarsen180]

Im gonna play with the MV2 all night! ;D

[@Producelikeapro]

Wonderful Michael! I think you'll love it!

[@rickyred001]

red white and black shirt, always knew you were a United fan Warren ;)

[@nellsonogmore5938]

I read somewhere that Jimmy Page used a Supro Thuderbolt 35 watt amp for the all the first zep album.

[@dapliff]

Hey Warren!! Love your chanell!! Mixing monitors must be different from mastering monitors? Cheers!!

[@metroidandroid]

The question about amps is funny, cause it seems so obvious, there are no rules on music production. I imagine what would be the reaction of the person who asked this question if you'd answer they couldn't record with a small amp lol

[@2gobeond]

When you hear a recorded amp it is not seen but is heard. Therefore, try any amp to see if you can break out of the preset emulation box. Don't worry about labels and what is cool or not, that little old low watt no name 30 year old tube amp with a tasty overdrive pedal in front of the preamp might be your secret sauce! Yep I had one of those many, many years ago and silly me sold it to a mate.

[@frankgones]

Thanks for the video! You mentioned putting the MV2 on the end of a 'bass sub'. With that do you mean compressing the sub frequencies? Cheers.

[@everythingtakin]

Frank Jonas waves max volume 2. I believe he meant that it can compress the highs and at same time raise the level of low information. work togetjer to get an even balance on the bass buss. mayne its compressing and expanding at the same time. its a very useful plug in for many types of situations. I use it to even out cassette tape recordings. works well

[@dylandylan11731]

Years of live.monitor engineering taught me my chops for finding rouge frequencies. Especially when digital consoles become more relevant- the days of GEQ's started to disappear meaning I had plenty of experience ringing out room nodes and hot frequencies. Warren: challenge, should you dare accept... I have a firewire apogee duet and an external dbx 160XT- how can I configure this as an external insert via the duet? I thought maybe (besides the fact it's line out & mic/high impedance input) using the line outs and padded mic inputs- and although not ideal monitoring whilst running track via the.MacBook 3.5mm output. ......then revert monitors back to line outs once the external insert has been printed..... Thoughts? (Besides a interface with more I/O haha) Cheers,

[@Kineticartist]

well done Warren!

[@terrellhooker9397]

Warren can't wait until you talk about IR'S do you have a opinion on the Celestion IR'S. on their webb site.

[@victorgutierrez8346]

You mention a drums room for recording, Would you recommend the best way to.make one house made and the aspect for a good sound

[@victorgutierrez8346]

I have a room of 23x17x10 and I am on the dilemma to divide it or to make a control room and a drum room or leave it as it is any suggestions?

[@Bcwilderness]

hi warren super vid man, whats your take on prism gear, old but superb eg the lyra titan :)

[@stevenordiano5358]

Warren what's your favorite go to guitar pickup configuration? Humbucker, p90, strat/tell singles?

[@Producelikeapro]

Wow! Marvellous question! ALL of the above! I love Teles and I love Les Pauls!! P90's are of course incredible sounding!

[@joebobhenrybob2000]

Are the Yamaha THRs a generational improvement in amp modeling or are they just the DG series repackaged? Should people with dg-100's or dg130h's or dg1000's be running out to trade them for THR's?

[@joebobhenrybob2000]

Additionally, I wonder if the excellent AG Stomp's electronics were repackaged into the THR-A and Silent Guitar series or if there were advancements.

[@PewPewDevices]

joebobhenrybob2000 The THR10 series seems to be parts of the DG/AG and Magicstomp with a FRFR set of speakers. I’ve managed to reproduce all the amp models on the THR10 series with the magicstomp (but not with the DG stomp). The same goes for the new silent guitar (which I use live extensively) - it’s got one of the mic sims from the AG/Magicstomp built in as far as I can tell. Probably repackaged and rehashed technology, but still great.

[@joebobhenrybob2000]

JohnDaleOfficial - awesome info thanks. I'm not sure people realize how great the AG stomp is. I get shockingly good tones for classical guitar - it somehow removes the piezo quack. In addition to mic modeling it has BODY modeling for 14 different body types including cello and violin. Only other product I'm aware of that does something like that is the Mama Bear DTAR. No hate for Yamaha if they ARE repackaging the modeling products, great stuff. I've just wondered if my DG & AG Stomps can still compete with the newer modelers & VSTs

[@melissaraul]

warren hi , in regards to great audio interfaces , is it still worth it to buy external mic pres , for the home studio cat , eg like a focusrite isa one ect ,,, or are the audio interfaces now just that good to know not 2 worry about a external pre ?

[@Producelikeapro]

Huge question! I love what an external pre can do! However, can you make great music without one? Yes, of course! Don't let gear hold you back at all!

[@woodenbeast9337]

What are your thoughts on Presonus Studio One?

[@Producelikeapro]

Everyone I know who use it LOVES it!

[@khronscave]

If only they actually gave it actual solo-safe sends as well... :/

[@Producelikeapro]

That's very strange it doesn't have that Khron's Cave!

[@khronscave]

That it is, indeed. And there's a feature request open (or actually, at least three of them) over on their dedicated forums / answerbase, since december 2015, precisely about this. That's my one pet-peeve about it; other than this, it is indeed pretty great.

[@TonyDupre]

Best DAW I've ever used. I've fully switched over to it for any digital production. Hell, I even do a little bit of my sound design mixing for films in it.

[@strikebackstudios7592]

Warren do you have a suggestion on where to go on a good reference for ear training?

[@rocketsauce5067]

Just think if you could make an MV2 pedal.

[@janparra9551]

You should make a video of how new producers can make a living in 2018 if is there any money to make on this Industry that changed rapidly. You guys probably have no issues having an established career already. There is a new generation of producers, spending money on equipment, trying to make a living and the money is not there anymore. Budgets for records are not massive like the old days. Education to become a Sound Engineer is expensive... I know lots of Engineers struggling. I just wonder what is your take on this subject.

[@mikesparks3398]

also is there a string library that you use that is a go to strings ? or do you just use keyboads?

[@cavaturnagesh]

Dear Sir, I get absolutely fantastic tones when I play my fender SSS American Special Stratocaster through a Boss GT100 and listen through stereo headphones. I do not get these sounds even with two separate amp combos. Can I get the headphones sound through studio monitors, if so which ones should I go for? I do not have much money, and may not be able to go beyond $500. Your advice is highly appreciated and thanks in advance.

[@zackstewart4109]

I can just imagine Tom Scholz and Stevie Ray Vaughn having a heated argument about this!

[@_patrikjay_]

Slate Revival and FG Stress:)

[@B_Rowen]

When I record an amped guitar or bass, I spend a lot of time tweaking the EQ/reverb/presence settings. Ive recently been doing far less EQ adjustments in the mix, because I feel like the EQ from the recorded sound is what I am really after. I might tweak out a really harsh frequency or hum, but try to leave it as is if possible. Is that something you do with your mixes?

[@Producelikeapro]

Agreed! The better the source signal is the better the end result!

[@B_Rowen]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback.

[@solomonchoo4967]

Hello Warren, I have a fender champ tube amp. How does one get rid of the "hiss"?

[@mickeybarajas4865]

Warren what do you think about the black lion audio digi 003 signature mods is it worth it ? Or should I just buy a new interface ? Like a ua Apollo ?

[@Producelikeapro]

HI Mickey, how much is the Mod? I suppose that would effect my decision the most!

[@mickeybarajas4865]

Produce Like A Pro the price is 1350 dlls

[@JohnJohn-dz8tg]

What do think of the mojave

[@pointTv-fs1ow]

Is there a specific placement on the back of an amp or just directly opposite of front 57?

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Steve, marvellous question! I do exactly opposite!