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Author Topic: Recording Double Trouble amp  (Read 1617 times)

Blue In Green

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Recording Double Trouble amp
« on: May 11, 2017, 07:08:44 AM »
I've seen some things that say people have found the Double Trouble amp to be too clean for their taste. I guess this is all a matter of taste, but I have found my DT very flexible for both stage and recording. I don't have any trouble getting a fat tone to my liking out of it, and I have heard several other players sound great through it. Getting good fat tone in an amplified setting is determined by a combination of factors including the raw tone and technique of the player, the microphone technique, the qualities of the mic and amp in combination, and the volumes of the mic and amp in combination.

I never even tried recording it until my recent return to HB, but I have found some useful ways of dealing with the fact that this amp, at the volume required to get good breakup, is too loud in my house setting. Quite a while ago, I purchased a Weber MiniMass attenuator. The purpose of an attenuator is to absorb the full power of the amp and then feed out a reduced level back into the speakers. This lets you get the full overdrive of the amp at lower speaker volumes.

Now to recording:
I have had good luck recording the amp with a mic in front of one of the two speakers, and also direct into my recorder from the lineout of the amp.
For recording with a mic in front of the speaker, I go through the attenuator and set the speaker volume relatively low. I record it dry (no effects). Because the speaker is low, I don't get a lot of outside amp sound into my headphones while recording; I hear mainly the sound coming into the mic that is recording. I have the recording mic going into a Behringer MIC100 preamp unit and from there into a Boss MicroBR80 recorder.

For direct recording, I also have the attenuator connected, but I set the speaker volume on the attenuator to zero, so there is absolutely no sound coming from the speakers. I record from the DT's lineout into the Behringer MIC100, where I can set the levels - and from there directly into the Boss MicroBR80 recorder. This is what i did on this recording:
http://jamq.org/jamqueuemusic/StLoJ32Q09_Solo_1_ByBlueInGreen--_Key.mp3
« Last Edit: May 11, 2017, 07:16:42 AM by Blue In Green »

Matt

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Re: Recording Double Trouble amp
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2017, 06:57:27 PM »
I have been thinking of using an attenuator on my Blues Deville, which at 60W only ever runs in its sweet spot at deadly volumes. It's useful to hear your feedback on using such a device, thanks.

Rick

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Re: Recording Double Trouble amp
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2017, 09:20:03 PM »
It is good seeing you around here B&G.  It feels like old times.    8)

Blue In Green

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Re: Recording Double Trouble amp
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2017, 07:52:03 AM »
Thanks Rick. It is great to be back.