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So I'm in a band where we like to do everything on our own. Plus I think we would be wasting money going to a studio because our drummer can't hardly make it through his part of the record process. But anyway...

I have a 100 watt Marshall JCM2000 I play loud hardcore/punk rock. We practice at about 3.5 or 4 i dont remember off hand. Its loud. So I have been trying to listen to all the good CD's I have to figure out a sound I'm looking for. And a ton of the guitars in the music I am listening to sounds like its been recorded pretty quiet. Is this just compression and EQing at work or are these guitars I'm hearing really recorded that low. I'm the only guitar player and I'd like a big full in your face sound.

Also how do you get rid of the high hissy kinda sound the amp makes and give the guitars a nice and smooth distortion sound?

Can you tell I really have no clue at all? Thanks for any help.

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pr0gr4m Tue, 02/14/2006 - 22:56

As far as the loudness goes, I use whatever volume the guitarist uses. Generally a guitarist has a level where they think their sound is the best. I have them turn it up to that and then I'll do what I have to when recording. If it's cranked up to 11, then I might add a 20db pad to the signal.

The important thing is to make sure that the sound coming out of the cabinet is what you like. Often if you have a good sound and turn it down (or turn it up for that matter), it wont sound the same.

What I recommend you do is go through your CDs find some things you like, then work on your sound. Don't just twiddle knobs until it's ok. Spend a few days on it. Really experiment. Find something you like, write down the settings. Then mess with it. You may find something else you like. Write those settings down. Then go on. This will do a few things for you. It will give you a few different options to work with and you will learn a lot about what you do and don't like. This way it will be easier for you to really come up with a sound you really like.

anonymous Tue, 02/14/2006 - 23:24

thanks for the reply. i have done what your saying to do about working in a sound. but i tend to find one that i like and after a month or so i tend to get bored with it and mess with stuff. i dont think im liking the new sound i find better its just different and i go with it. i havent tried to match a sound to a cd yet which i probably should but im kinda lazy at that sort of thing. but i probably shouldnt be.