On the acoustic, try dubbing the track, but panning one hard left, one hard right, then dub again and keep it centered and add the compression on that channel... It's kind like how you would mic a choral group.... I do it with my 1965 Guild D25 and it sounds AMAZING! I use different mics though... A Beta75 for the pans and a Marshal MXL V67 for the center... Let me know if you use it and it you like it!

As much as I hate to say it, a POD may be your ticket. I am not a fan of AVT's to start with, and in your situation where you need to watch volume, a better amp may not even help much.

I just Mic'd my Ovation via the SM57 duplicated the audio to a second channel in Pro tools and then added Compression on both channels and delay on one channel. Anyone got any better techniques or advice?

There is not much reason to duplicate tracks and pan them left and right. Occassionally there will be a reason to do this for effect, but the results you are probably wanting are typically attained by recording separate takes and panning those (double tracking).

I personally feel that that the AVT series from Marshall is not that great a sounding amp, but that really depends on the sound that you're after. In YOUR situation, where decibels are an issue, you might do well to look at a modelling-type of box and "go direct" to your Digi 002 rig. POD stuff sounds OK, and I've recently discovered how good the Vox Valvtronix pedal board sounds. A local monster player brought one over to my place
the other day, and it was very convincing. And the neighbors will never know...

Reggie wrote: As much as I hate to say it, a POD may be your ticket. I am not a fan of AVT's to start with, and in your situation where you need to watch volume, a better amp may not even help much.

What he said. Personally, I think you get better sounds with either the Vox Valvetronix ToneLab or NI Guitar Rig than the POD, for what it's worth. I use both the Vox and NI GR for line-in stuff (when I line in).

There is not much reason to duplicate tracks and pan them left and right. Occassionally there will be a reason to do this for effect, but the results you are probably wanting are typically attained by recording separate takes and panning those (double tracking).

What he said again. Double-tracking works especially well when the two tracks sound slightly different (e.g., different guitars or different pickup settings).

Line 6 also has the TonePort, a worthy piece of kit. It doesn't include as many models as the PRO, and is overall less full-featured, but you can't beat the price. Its Marshall sounds (taken from the POD) are great, and you get a few other decent amps into the bargain.

If you have money to spend, the Pro is still their flagship product. But if you're balancing value for money, you can't beat the TonePort UX2 (for versatility) or UX1 (if you really just need it for guitars).

Greg

Try a Sennheiser e609 on your amp. I perfer it over a 57 any day. It has a nice bright, punchy sound 8-)

I hear from a trusted friend, if you want instant guitar sound, try using a Royer R-121 ribbon mic. Drool....

It is the next mic on my list...

Trying to get some great guitar sounds!

Thanks for your advice everyone,

I was checking out the Vox Valvetronix stuff on their website a couple of months ago and the AD120-VTX and the VC12 footcontroller look well impressive! I thought I'd look at the vox site as my dad always raves on about the old AC30's.

I have also been looking at some Sennheiser mics so thanks for pointing me to the e609 I will give that a try, also I have read reviews on the other Pod stuff and have a demo of NI Guitar rig that I havent tried yet, have read about ribbon Mics too but how much would it cost me for a royer ribbon mic? Or any other good ribbon Mic for that matter?

From everyones advice it seems I have plenty of options to try out, thanks again to everyone for posting valuable advice.

i haven't used the e609's, but a 57 and a 421 are my standards, and i've always been able to get a good sound out of one or both. the biggest thing that helped me was getting better preamps, and learning how to adjust the amp to sound better once recorded. fwiw the pre's in the 002 are quite useless to me. they sound pretty horrible.

i do second the pod xt pro option however, i have been able to get very usable results from them. i would also try doubling the guitar with a pod on one side and the real guitar on the other.

steve

I've heard some very nice tones from the valvetronix and my friends that use one on a constant basis love them. I like what I've heard anyway.

I have the Toneport UX2 and love it. Just love it. You can patch the Analog Out to an outboard tube compressor or tube DI to thicken up the singal and inject some "life" back into it and no one hears a thing. It's nice to not only have access to the guitar and bass rigs it emulates but to run your guitar or bass signal through the mic pre simulators is fantastic as well. IMO, also, the mic pre emulators are fun beyond fun. The EQ on them absolutely rocks and the Early Reflections feature is worth $200 on it's own. BTW, the FX Pedal expansion pack you can download online for $50 is totally worth every penny, especially if you're into re-amping.

Having said that, I'll also say it might be a good investment to buy a tube flavored guitar pre like a Radial Tonebone or a Tubester or SansAmp Classic (solid state, but nice). If you have the cash the Marshall JMP-1 is about the sickest guitar pre you can get anywhere and they're amazing to record with.

Just a few more ideas to chew on.