Gear suggestions for recording pedal demos? Mic, amp, etc

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:30 pm

Okay some of this has been covered before i expect (OH NOES AMP QUESTION) and it may cross over a bit with recording tips... but

Pretty soon I need to be doing quite few paedal demos as an ongoing thing - specifically Dwarfcraft stuff. I have only ever done one demo before using pretty basic equipment and the mic on the camera. I need advice on getting the best gear for reasonable prices for this. The following list is what I assume would be worth investing in and the qualities I'm looking for. Any advice or tips from seasoned demo vets here would be very much apreciated - I promise to do some dedicated shortscale demos too as thanks!

A video camera - ease of use, low cost, clags into a computer with minimal hassle. Recording might still use the camera mic for spoken word.
Mic to mic up amp - to record the guitar and pedal sondz to Acid Pro or Audacity, good representation of the actual sound, and of course low cost.
Video editing - I used movie maker before and have a copy of Adobe premier so this is probably covered for what i need but if you know of any other useful programs that would be cool.
A BLOODY AMPLIFIER (SORRY) - I need to get something a bit more respectable than the solid state practice amp I've got. Valve amp, lowish cost, takes pedals well. Not required for gigs. Good for recording. I'm considering Bugera of course given what I've read here but would a V5 do the trick or should I look to the V22 or V55? Other things I'm considering are vintage Selmer treble 'n Bass heads (can get around Â£200 give or take), I'd LOVE a fender Musicmaster Bass amp. If I can do this for around Â£200 or less that would be great but that is not a hard and fast budget and can be stretched.
A cab (depending on amp being head or combo) - 1 speaker? 2? I know nothing about the various makes and quality of cabs nor what speakers will give a good presentation of the pedal noise.

Is there any other things or factors worth considering?

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:38 pm

I can't really help on a lot of this, but am sure the others will, but in terms of amp/cab here are a few thoughts:
A 5W amp is only half as loud as a 50W amp - for home/recording that is plenty loud! Not tried the Bugera range, but lots of guys on here have them and like them as I'm sure you know.
If for home and recording I don't see that you would want/need anything more than a 1x12 cab. I have an Orange 1x12 and I think it's great. Though not the cheapest. You should check out the Harley Benton cabs on Thomann - pretty sure Mike has one.

MattF · Post by **MattF** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:43 pm

Do you already have a recording interface or should we factor that in too?

Also, what sort of budget are you looking at here. This doesn't mean we'll pick out gear just to fill the budget, but it'll be useful in getting a good indication of what we've got to work with.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:57 pm

Thanks Thom i will look into those cabs - If its going to be quality and a keeper I don't mind going higher price wise at all. As to the %watt amps I hear you - my only concern is I've seen some posts here mention that these may have issues with cleans. As this is for demos that might well be a factor.

MattF - Yes I'll likely be using Acid and Audacity to begin with. Whilst I may be better off with other stuff, a mac or something like that as i can record with a sufficient degree of control and quality I won't look to upgrade at this time. the soundcard is an external Edirol UA-20 which has guitar and mic inputs. Seems to do the job okay despite being a few years old.

As to budget - to be honest it's fluid at this time but erring towards the low end of things as most of my money has been pumped into buying the pedals I'll be demoing (its for a business as well as for fun). If something is totally worth it and will provide long service I can potentially lean on credit and the like but prefer not to.

I guess I'm looking for a range of suggestions that hit the low end of things and I can then check out new and used prices through the usual outlets. Its things like the cab, the mic, a low end valve amp that I don't have great deal of experience with having only ever owned practice amps and a JCM200DSL and 1960 4 speaker cab. I have owned a selmer treble n' bass reverb head which was nice but couldn't cut it against my bassplayer at that time so I resold it - wish i hadn't! I always seemed to have ended up with loads of guitars and a poxy home amp due to being a plonker.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:06 pm

Black Cat Bone wrote:As to the %watt amps I hear you - my only concern is I've seen some posts here mention that these may have issues with cleans. As this is for demos that might well be a factor.

I really think that for demo volumes you will have no issues with a 5W valve amp - I wouldn't put one up against a band is all

And maybe check out the smaller Fender combos, Pro or Blues Junior...I've got a Princeton (though more expensive) and played both the Blues and Pro Jr and I found that Fender amps are brilliant at taking pedals.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:23 pm

I'm tempted by this Harley Benton 5 watt amp just because of it's name:

ga5h

I see there is also 5 watt Grainger amps that seem to be epiphone Valve Jrs rebranded.

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:41 pm

"Instrumandi Amplificus!"

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:43 pm

Bugera V5 is absolutely fine for recording. I love that damn amp.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:50 pm

aen wrote:"Instrumandi Amplificus!"

dear Miss Hermionwossnamei, please can you magic an LoveBuzz noaw plus a cab with the grill cloth woven from MArylin monroes undies? I have been good honest.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:57 pm

I use a Flip Ultra camera for all my videos- an hour of video, AVI format, decent internal mic. They can be had for roundabouts a hundred quid, more for the newer HD model.

I love mine to bits, just wish it used an SD card or something.. the newer generations have longer recording times though.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:57 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:Bugera V5 is absolutely fine for recording. I love that damn amp.

You invoke my lust Ends. Right well that's in the running. Any suggestions made I will do my best to find one to try at the local stores too so your suggestions are worthwhile and will save me mucho faffing about!

i just saw this demo (the most boringest I ever saw) of a Harley Benton 212 cab where you can switch the speakers to stereo. this might be great for dwarfcraft pedal mashups if I end up with more than one head. I have a couple of stereo pedals too... hmmm

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:53 am

You need:

- A Clean Amp
- An SM57 or similar with mic stand
- XLR lead
- Audio Interface
- Basic Sound Recording Software. I use Sonar, many use Audacity, other free stuff.

- Webcam + software or other camera like a Flip to capture Video.

- Windows Movie Maker to stitch it together. Mute the cam audio when you play, unmute it for when you talk. It's tedious but it produces a high quality result.

Please please please do this and close-mic demos. If you are going to the trouble of doing it, do it right.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:48 am

Yeah Mike is right about an clean amp. No use using any of those boxy-sounding 5 watters or an Orange amp or even a blues junior to demo pedals. Equipped with a decent speaker the musicmaster bass amp does really usuable cleans at room volume.

As an alternative to a flip cam you might consider, I bought a Kodak Zi-8 recently (Amazon had them on sale at 120 ish) which have better video quality and an external mic in, which the flip doesn't.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:08 am

Doog, Mike,Tim thanks for your suggestions - all taken on board. The musicmaster has obvious appeal from what I've seen heard and carries a little vintage kudos in terms of some of the poeple who might watch the video - if I can pick one up around 250 on bay soon ... Otherwise I'll look at Burega V22s, maybe the equivelent Harley benton and others.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:11 am

Stewart is selling his for Â£260 + shipping. Get on it.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:12 am

indeed!

► Show Spoiler

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:05 am

STEWART DONE

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:07 am

Happy Days.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:29 am

Oh yes. Thanks for the heads up Mike. Pmed and accepted and all that. it's on. I think Aens magic spell did the trick.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:49 pm

Those little amps produce quite the noise! Dead simple and if they're like any of the other silverface fenders I've played I imagine it would take pedals well. Being a Bass Mp it might even favour Dwarfcraft pedals as Aen makes them nice and bassy.

For a microphone grab an sm57, they're heap and have loads of uses.
If you have a sound card, use that if it works for you. I've looked at those little Behringer Eurotrack recorders and they seem perfect for smaller applications like this. Dead cheap too. And I thin they have a new line of them out that's a stylish blue

As for a camera I've been prefering using a webcam rather than a digital camera. Quality is fine for video (2MP in my case) and audio is good enough to capture the chatter. and it saves right to your computer!

I've been using Movie Maker to add and sync the guitar audio with the cameras chatter. I haven't bothered yet with muting things in and out but I probably should. It takes some time but it's worth it.