Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Anybody who has an original 80's vintage JCM800 2203 (or 2204) head around - does it have a factory line out on it?
Here's why I'm asking - I dug up a CD I'd burned a while back of some demo tapes from back in the day. I've been listened to it several times.
Two bands are represented: one was my cover band in college, the other a short-lived original band from a few years later. I engineered the 4-track demo for the original act, and the sound is pretty good (even if I do say so myself). I was playing my Schecter PT through a 2203 1/4 stack, probably miked with an SM57.
The cover band went to some guy's studio in the basement of his parent's house, and I remember virtually nothing of the session. I know that I was playing the same guitar and amp, but can't imagine how studio-guy got such an incredibly awful tone on my guitar. It's fuzzy, fizzy, distorted with no good character at all. It sounds like a cheap fuzz box straight to the board. The only thing I can think of is he used a line out to the board instead of a mic, and then EQ'd it all wrong. But... I don't think the 2203 had a line out on it, so WTF?
Maybe he had channel attenuator wrong and was clipping the mixer input, but there' usually a little LED to say "Don't Do That" - even the biggest moron on earth should be able to avoid channel clipping.
A mystery indeed. I hope never to sound that bad again.
My original stuff in kinda cool, though. Sloppy, but cool. If I can find some free webspace, I'll post it sometime.
Here's why I'm asking - I dug up a CD I'd burned a while back of some demo tapes from back in the day. I've been listened to it several times.
Two bands are represented: one was my cover band in college, the other a short-lived original band from a few years later. I engineered the 4-track demo for the original act, and the sound is pretty good (even if I do say so myself). I was playing my Schecter PT through a 2203 1/4 stack, probably miked with an SM57.
The cover band went to some guy's studio in the basement of his parent's house, and I remember virtually nothing of the session. I know that I was playing the same guitar and amp, but can't imagine how studio-guy got such an incredibly awful tone on my guitar. It's fuzzy, fizzy, distorted with no good character at all. It sounds like a cheap fuzz box straight to the board. The only thing I can think of is he used a line out to the board instead of a mic, and then EQ'd it all wrong. But... I don't think the 2203 had a line out on it, so WTF?
Maybe he had channel attenuator wrong and was clipping the mixer input, but there' usually a little LED to say "Don't Do That" - even the biggest moron on earth should be able to avoid channel clipping.
A mystery indeed. I hope never to sound that bad again.
My original stuff in kinda cool, though. Sloppy, but cool. If I can find some free webspace, I'll post it sometime.
