Bear with me on this if it is a silly question.
I much prefer the sound of recorded guitars than "amp in the room" so I'm trying to curate a setup based on either preamps or a modeller through cabinet IRs for home playing (there's no point me considering any live or public playing requirements).
But they tend to sound quite pristine rather than like the albums I enjoy playing along to so I was wondering if this is why they often come up short.
Sound example of what I mean is The White Stripes Elephant album, which was recorded through ribbon mics and into an 8 track tape recorder and therefore has a slightly different sound to those recorded in the modern method. A bit distorted, is it saturation? Maybe some compression? I dunno.
Anyway, do you guys know of anything I could whack at the end of the guitar chain that might do that to the sound? Are there IRs for that?
Are there combinations of effects I could do it with? I have an HX Effects which is living very much on borrowed time but if it could do this then it might be worth keeping it.
I know of the Strymon Deco but I believe that only does mono to stereo not stereo input.
Thanks
Matt
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I think that this is what the Deco simulates but I actually fooled around with such a setup, using a video tape recorder for distortion, way way back in the past.
I will certainly give that done thought though
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The other obvious option is a Hudson Broadcast. That emulates a tube desk, iirc, but it's a similar theme
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https://www.strymon.net/faq/wide-stereo-mode-work-deco/
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IR's probably aren't a great tool for what you're trying to achieve beyond the cab/ speaker part of the chain, because they're a static snapshot and won't reproduce, for example, differing levels of distortion as you dig in on the guitar more. But absolutely you could find an IR shot with a ribbon mic.
Try a vst preamp into a tape sim. Vpre-73 by black rooster audio is cheap and brilliant. Airwindows do some free tape emulations - Iron and ToTape, IIRC. Set both to be a little blown out but not fuzzy nonsense.
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Spotify, Apple et al
http://www.empiricallabs.com/fatso.html
UAD do a plugin version of this.
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Thanks guys, though the Empirical thing also costs more than my car
If it can't be done, then it's ok I just thought I'd ask. I think best possibility so far if trying to use the tape delays on the GSP doesn't work (or if there's an HXFX one) is a couple of Broadcasts as that seems to be about the same cost as a Deco but would be stereo. But willing to concede this might be overkill and a silly whimsical pursuit in general.
I don't really want to use plugins as I broke my laptop doing that before as there are too many cables, plus the noise through the interfaces is awful so I have to be in the next room playing to reduce the noise which means further cable runs and a little walk every time I need to adjust anything! I might give it another go in fairness to try the wireless which reduces noise a bit but I prefer the sound of actual units as the computer seems to add too much latency, more than just a standard digital unit. It's not for recording that I want this, just for general playing at home
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I've had good results using a Focusrite Scarlett and Ableton and have had no issues with latency - and my laptop is almost 10 years old - when just jamming and playing about at home.
Or you could always pick up an old reel to reel from eBay and run everything through that. Have you ever watched Hainbach's YouTube channel? Not a guitar in sight, it's more synth/ambient based but his use of tape might interest you and he shares loads of useful information on there.
https://youtu.be/XCtvpgQsAxc
I do have a valve powered tape recorder in my loft but the reason I don't use it (apart from it's mono and the output is limited to listening back on tape after the event), is that it is massive and I don't have space for it unfortunately. I'm not sure if the copicats are stereo but the prices from a quick Google search suggests that two Decos would probably be a more reasonable price
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Here’s how to change the input configuration:
Remove the back cover of your pedal. On the left side of the circuit board, you’ll see a jumper that can be set in two positions. Place the jumper on the left 2 pins for TRS stereo input. Place the jumper on the right 2 pins for mono input.
In order to use the TRS stereo input, you’ll need a TRS stereo input adapter.
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Oh blimey I am silly, I've never bothered buying one because I thought it was mono only, can I facepalm fret myself?!?!
Although just to check, this definitely means if I put a left and a right signal in, the two signals will come out with the effect still separated left and right? As everything I've ever read says the stereo gets summed to mono then the stereo outputs are the two virtual tape reels
EDIT: I'm a stupid idiot. Just found this thread from 2017, double facepalm http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/106105/strymon-deco-question
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Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!