How are you going into your computer? This is usually where things breakdown first.

I take my line 6 into my alesis multimix firewire, no EQ. Then I record into Ableton Live. Thats about it.

And the amp has a line level output? I'm assuming it does. Do you have a clip you could post?

first off what I do is plug a dummy cable into the headphone jack and then take it out the send on the back of the amp. What I hear through my headphones...is that what the recording should sound like? I think it might be my tonal settings on my amp.

Here's a myspace link. http://www.myspace.com/andrewbader
I put a quick sample on that site. Named sample. It was a new song I came up with so I just wanted to get it down. But that was through the line 6.

I really think it might be a tonal thing. However my headphone jack is a little messed up. If i put headphones in all the way it doesnt sound right and i have to pull out my cable like halfway and it sounds fine, and i do that same thing with the dummy cable as well.

Okay. Maybe it's just me but I thought the guitar sounded fine. Maybe if you backed off the gain a bit more you'd gain a little more clarity but I like the general sound. Strat? I guess the next question would be, what kind of tone were you expecting? The thing you have to remember is, although there is speaker emulation happening, just the fact that you're accustomed to listening to it going through a real speaker and into your room is going to affect the sound. Maybe if you added a very little "small room" type reverb it would sound more familiar?

haha you nailed my strat good job! I duno when I listen to professionally done songs I feel like their electric guitars are alot more full, or the presence of the guitar is more full, not sure how to explain. But that song i came up with reminds me sort of like a Jet sounding tune. So I kinda would compare my recorded electric to Cold Hard Bitch. I feel like my tone sounds too dead or flat? I think I might have problems trying to record a distorted guitar. Because too much distortion sounds too dirty and grainy, but not enough distortion and I don't get the sustaining tone.

I guess I needed a second opinion from someone who is knowledgeable in the recording field.

I just feel stuck!

Try using a little compression before you go to the amp. What settings are you using? I would go with a tweed thru a 2x12 and maybe add a "tube" overdrive with a very low gain setting. A 4x10 or 4x12 will give you the bottom end but I think they sound tooo boomy. Just suggestions though, take it with a grain of salt.

what is a tube overdrive? you mean like a tube screamer pedal? Or is it something on the amp?

Baderup99 wrote: what is a tube overdrive? you mean like a tube screamer pedal? Or is it something on the amp?

Yeah. A tube overdrive pedal or an emulated one. Just keep the gain way down. A real tube pre would sound best though. Electroharmonix make one for guitar I think.

my roommate has that tube screamer pedal. i might try that

since I have a line 6 and the floorboard I dont have any pedals at all. If there was one pedal that would help out with recording what would it be?

I don't know if there is a "single" pedal that will help. I think time and tweaking would help best but if I had to pick something to add some real tube warmth and even some mild overdrive I would probably pick this one up:

http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F02%5FHome%5FStudio%5FPerformance%5FProducts%2F09%5FLPB%5F2ube

This might also be a good option for a tube compressor:

http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F02%5FHome%5FStudio%5FPerformance%5FProducts%2F04%5FBlack%5FFinger

One more thing, What I listen to in my headphones, is that exactly what the recording should end up sounding like?

Baderup99 wrote: One more thing, What I listen to in my headphones, is that exactly what the recording should end up sounding like?

Generally speaking yes it should be but you have to remember that larger monitors will sound different. I hope you have a nice set of headphones as well. Not all headsets are created equal.

i pretty much do the exact same thing with a Marshall mg series
they also have a direct out
but when i take it into my software, it also sounds thin.
what i do is add a plug in called PSP vintage warmer
all it realy is is a vintage style compressor.
pretty much any compressor will work
just back off the gain a bit like the other person said so you have some headroom to work with , and experiment a bit with the settings
eventually, youll probaby get the tone your looking for.
once ya do, make a user preset on whatever plug in you decided to use, and write down how you have your amp set.

If it's the model I think it is you'll want to use the direct outupts on the back of the amp with the "live/studio" switch set to studio... It will be a +4 line level signal. If your sound card has variable input make sure it matches and you should be fine...

From the Flextone II manual:

Studio Mode – Slide the Live/Studio Switch to the Studio position, and the XLR
Outputs will be +4 line level outputs with A.I.R. speaker-mic-room simulation,
ready to plug right into your recorder to lay down your guitar parts.......The speakers are
disabled in this mode.

Best regards-

Karbo

i wish i had the studio switch, but i just have the basic flextone II 60 watts. not the XL with the XLR input output

i wish i had the studio switch, but i just have the basic flextone II 60 watts. not the XL with the XLR input output

A couple of reactions. First, I agree that the sample sounds like a good start. You seem to be getting a reasonably good reproduction of what your Flextone is producing. Is is about the same as what you are hearing through the headphones? Are you doing any tweaking in the DAW? Essentially, the headphones should be getting exactly what the computer is getting. Obviously, the headphones affect the sound and the signal/recording/playback chain through the computer affects the sound. But I expect the two to be reasonably close.

My choice for the first step would be to tweek the Flextone as much as possible. As you have noted , the recorded/headphone/line sound is not the same as the speakers. You need to do as much (or more) work with the sound in this realm as you do through the speakers. Play with the compressor and the distortion options. (I have the POD and PODXT, but I don't know the Flextone.) If you haven't already, download the editing software from Line6 and try out some of the settings they have available. The POD has a lot of bells and whistles and it really takes a lot of work to explore them all.

After you are satisfied that you have the best sound you can get from the POD, look around the board for guitar mixing techniques - double tracking, delays, panning - and work on the basics of eq and compression in your DAW. There will be a lot you can do from your dorm room, but some (e.g. reamping) will need a better sounding recording space.

Anyway, you have something pretty good to start with. Keep plugging. It's a long and iteresting journey.

thanks for the advice Bob. My flextone II is the same thing as a Pod 2.0 . I have Midi so I can hook my amp to the computer and use the deep editing software. And yes the sound I get from the headphones is basically the same sound my DAW plays back. I'll just have to really do some fine tweaking. I've heard about re-amping and couldn't imagine a better amp for re-amping than a line 6. Do people every re-amp directly?

Bob do you have songs posted anywhere on the web which was recorded with your pod?

Baderup99 wrote: Bob do you have songs posted anywhere on the web which was recorded with your pod?

I know the question isn't for me but I probably have hundreds of them or at least peices of songs using my Pod 2.0. I will see if I can dig a few up.

Best regards-

Karbo

karbomusic wrote: [quote=Baderup99]Bob do you have songs posted anywhere on the web which was recorded with your pod?

I know the question isn't for me but I probably have hundreds of them or at least peices of songs using my Pod 2.0. I will see if I can dig a few up.

Best regards-

Karboyeah i'd like to hear them for sure