Guitar Guy
New member
...how tube amps really help tone. The other day i decided just to plug my pedal board straight into a digital recorder. But when i turned on by beloved Keeley DS-1 Ultra, it sounded horrible and fizzy. So, i imediately hooked it up to my Hot Rod DeVille and bam there was the great tone i loved - crisis averted. But i still wondered why it sounded like crap on the recorder. Next i miked my amp to see if the problem was the distorted sound going through the recorder. Nope, the recoding sounded like my amp and i was even using a cheap mic. My only conclusion is that the recorder just doesn't reproduce the straight sound from the pedal like a tube amp does. If i ever wondered how much a tube amp really helps my tone, there is now no doubt in my mind that the tube amp is 100% essencial!!
Your signal is not going through any preamp, poweramp and speakers+cab. Moreover, the signal out of the pedal is not line level, it will be weak,fizzy and trebly as is. As suggested below, go for a cab simulator and also ensure that the output levels are matched for the recorder. All said and done, nothing might come close to that tube amp miced.
