Recording nerds, tell me how to nail this guitar sound, pls!

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

So, I'm wondering what tips you guys might have for me for just completely ripping off Don Peris's guitar tone, especially in terms of microphone types, placement, and blend; but am also wondering about eq, compresison, reverb, double tracking, anything really. Basically, I want a break from endlessly (and sometimes almost aimlessly) fiddling with knobs, and get some more concrete tips—or at least just nerd about how great Don Peris is!

A fair bit of it is of course just his style of playing and his guitar and amp, as it's a pretty clean tone. He mostly uses a Gretsch hollowbody (changes between an Electromatic and a 6120) into a Fender Princeton (probably hence the reverb and vibrato). I'm playing a Gretsch semi-hollow with TV Jones Classics into a Princeton sim through Amplitube 5, which can sim quite a fair bit of different microphones and rooms, etc.

Here's an example of that absolutely gorgeous tone of his:


Here it is in his band:


A subtle one with some lush tremolo picking:


And here's a more upbeat example with some FX going on:


(My gosh, that last one is such a good song, isn't it! One of my all-time favourites.)

Any tips would be very welcome. I'm particularly a noob when it comes to microphone stuff. Playing noise punk or black metal, and only ever affording the omnipresent SM57/58, it hasn't really mattered that much in my recordings until now…

[qersty]

How long are you in terms of the guitar stuff? I think getting the right amp may be the though part. Or just getting the proper speaker, 10" jensen elements, open back, small enclosure. Last one sounds more like it is some solid state amp or preamp going direct à la Guthrie. I think a JC totes would pull that off.

I think an SM57 could work, I would personally go for like an e906 or something instead if it is not out of budget an MD421. Ribbons or a more vintage voiced condenser if you can. There are some nice condensers for like €500 (octava, sE, warmaudio) you can get if the SM57 doesn't do it. Also you may wanna look into getting a nice mic pre, really makes a difference, especially with dynamics. My old guitarist had an audient i think? it was cool it had a built in hpf all 8 channels and you could select the impedance which is a game changer for 57s. There are also some mods you can do to the 57 like a gizmo or this which mkaes it a bit more hifi.

Finding a nice room is key. I feel like you can hear a lot of the air moving as opposed to it being an artificial reverb. Maybe you could experiment with room mics but I fel first try backing off the mic from the amp and work with the distance from amp to cone. The band stuff could be more close miced to cut through more, I feel there is more high mid prescense in those cuts.

You may wanna boost some low mids hpf at like 150hz maybe? boost maybe like 5k for some shine. I cant tell how much is eq and how much is the sound but instinctively i feel most eq is done to match the other stuff rather than getting a tone. Some subtle compression, not too fast and apparent to allow the nuance come through but still enhance the roomy feel.

Overall i think it sounds like he has a very natural tone. Getting the princeton and you're 90% there depending on how authentic gretsch repro pickups are (if dubkitty is still contactable thru here ask him he knows gretsch, maybe chank knows aswell). But long story short learn to work that 57, dont be scared to try stuff with weird positionings. Albeit i feel there is not at all a lot of studio trickery.

Practicing may also be a technicque worth investigating but do it at your own risk. I am not very knowledgible in that witchcraft

Great stuff btw will check him out more!

[crochambeau]

Qersty hit on a lot of good points. My only contribution is:

Make sure you're happy with the sound at the source. If it does not sound right to you at the source, throwing mountains of money at it won't change a thing.

Where your guitar amp/speaker is in a space can be a big deal. Sometimes they sound best floating 3-4 feet off the floor. Find a way to make that happen, where "that" is whatever you find hits the spot (it varies from room to room, gear to gear, ear to ear).

Once you have a sound you like, don't just stick a microphone on it based on some formula or calculation you've collected on the internet/whatever. Stick your actual ears in there. Move 'em around. Observe and take notes of any good spots. Drop a microphone where it sounded good to you. Microphones matter, but the best one right now is something you actually have.

THEN fuck around with signal path going in (to the recorder).

Expect disappointment, it's part of the curve - and can often be relied upon to rear its ugly head. Make it useful.

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

Hey! Haven't made much headway in this project, as I've been busy with a different band project.

I think my TV Jones Classics totally pull of a sound that's really close when going through my Wampler Ego compressor. I agree with you, qersty, that the compression needs some subtlety to it, and the Ego lets me dial in the attack and blend to get it right. So, yeah, crochambeau, I'm indeed *very* happy with the source! Honestly, even the direct signal sounds good.

My problem with those last 10% is that I don't have a nice room at all. So I'm stuck with amp sims for now. So for now I've more or less given up going the amp-in-room route -- or at least put it on hold.

I've been meaning to experiment with different mics and mic placements in Amplitube (as it has a surprisingly sophisticated way of setting it up). I was thinking maybe blending a dynamic and a ribbon mic, and playing with their placement. The Princeton Reverb sim sounds *really* good, and pretty close to the real deal, at least when you run it without distortion pedals.

I'm also trying out various room reverbs (through convolution tools) at various mixes. Most of the newer stuff by The Innocence Mission, and probably Don's solo stuff too, is just recorded in their living room. It sounds fantastic. I guess my best bet is just finding an IR that works as well as possible.

Haven't tried boosting the low mids, or high-passing quite that high (I don't think), but worth a punt. I don't think boosting 5k is necessary as the TV Jones Classics have an additional sparkle on top compared to other Gretsch pickups (and indeed all other pickups I've ever heard). But I should probably try wibbling the EQ some more.


Thanks for the brainstorm, people!

[qersty]

Run compression rather at the end of the recording chain instead of the amp. Compressing after the mic is way different than doing so early chain. It will bring out more of the roomy stuff. As will EQ. Roomy stuff lies about 500-1k. I think focus more on the sound you get out of your amp into your microphone; if you are content with the sound of the guitar. A lot happens between speaker and mic so boosting treble won't just sound as if you are playing a brighter guitar or amp, It can also change the behaviour of the compressor too

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

Ohhh that's a neat idea! I can even experiment with using my trusty Wampler Ego as outboard gear for this.