help me improve my guitar tone!

[a7x_rox_12]

hey guys,
i've been working on a song of mine for a few days, and my guitars sound too fizzy and they dont "stand out" enough in the mix. its almost there, kinda like how diet pepsi ALMOST tastes like the real thing, but not quite.. Im using a crappy B-52 amp (i know, i know!) through an avatar cab with an sm 57 jammed up against the grille cloth. i also have a peavey xxx, but i get the same problem; and Im determined that I can make the b-52 sound decent. i also quadruple tracked, as well as some heavy eq and some verb. im good at recrding, pretty good at mastering, but theres just a few things im missing because ive never been able to get better than about 90% studio quality. what else can I do? i m also using a firpod and cubase LE if that helps..

 

[DankStar]

Re: help me improve my guitar tone!

I don't know, but I could live with 90 percent of the real deal. Some people like to further compress guitars, even though via distortion they're already compressed. Sometimes that can make 'em jump outta the mix more. Nothing crazy, just a 2.5:1 to 3.0:1 ratio with a threshold of -10 or so. Hard pan the 2 best gits L and R. I wouldn't worry about gits 3 and 4 just yet. Maybe try moving the mic off of dead center to reduce some fizzies. Try that on for size and report back. [disclaimer: I don't mic my amp anymore, so take the above with a grain of salt 'n pepper]

on another note, you could reverse engineer it: find someone who recorded something you like and ask 'em exactly what they did, most dudes that record like to talk about that stuff.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: help me improve my guitar tone!

I think both those amps are fizzy by nature, try less gain/less pre amp.
I usually compress anywhere from 3:1 to 5:1 for electric guitars and I always compress them. You can try a high cut filter at 11Khz and lower to kill some of the top end sizzle as well.

 

[KingMixer]

Re: help me improve my guitar tone!

How late of an attack do you usually use when you "always compress them"? Do you use plug-ins in the box or do you got some good external gear?

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: help me improve my guitar tone!

How late of an attack do you usually use when you "always compress them"? Do you use plug-ins in the box or do you got some good external gear?

I use plugins, usually a slow attack on the guitars.