Re: Amplification

[Paolo Valladolid <pvallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu>]

> Teed Rockwell writes:
> >Paolo,
> >
> >I've tried both of your solutions. The built in line out from my amp 
>sounds
> >better than no amp at all, but not as good as the sound of the amp 
>itself. I
> >record by miking my big amp, and wish I had a small amp that had the 
>same great
> >tone. Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> Have any folks on this list tried Holdsworth's Harness?

I didn't get Teed's post, so here goes...

Teed, did you try running parallel signals? That is, one signal going to
the amp and remaining totally dry and the other going to effects, then 
mixing
the dry and wet together at your mixer?  Other ideas:

1. Use some kind of speaker out-to-line level converter.  The Harness was
designed for this and there may be other, similar devices that can do this.
In any case, the idea is to use the _speaker_ out, _not_ the line out. An
important ingredient of the tube amp sound is the way the power section 
interacts with the speaker(s).  Perhaps someone else can better explain 
this...
but for proper impedance matching, the device fools the amp into thinking 
it is 
sending a signal to the speaker so you get the full sound of the power 
section
(which you _dont_ get using the line out).  Here of course your little
tube amp/head, preamp tubes and power tubes and all, becomes a preamp
for driving the rest of your signal chain.

2. Use some kind of signal splitter at the output of the converter to 
produce
at least two signals.  Designate one to be your dry signal and send it 
straight through your mixer with no effects.  Use your other signal(s) for
the effects.  This way, you get your full tone _and_ the wet sounds while
still having the option of going to either extreme. 

3. Another important component of the tube amp sound is the speaker 
cabinet.
Yes, the best sound is gotten by miking the cabinet, but if portability
is an issue, a device like the Red Box or some other speaker simulator
in lieu of the massive 4x12 cabinet might warrant consideration. Note that
the Harness does not have speaker simulation but many guitar effects boxes 
do. 

4. Alternatively, use the signal splitter at the beginning of the signal
chain. Send one signal to the little tube amp/amp head and the others to
the signal processors (you may need preamps, if you use passive pickups, to
preamplify your signals before they reach the processors, unless the 
processors themselves have built-in preamps).  At the output of the little
tube amp/amp head, use a Red Box, a direct box that you plug into the amp's
speaker out that has built-in speaker simulation.

Hope this helps,


Paolo Valladolid
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