Is there a guitar distortion pedal that sounds like the "Insane" setting on a Spider III amp?

Question

I'm an amateur metal recording artist. I record with my amp, a 30W Line 6 Spider III. I absolutely LOVE the sound of the Insane channel when tweaked right. I love how there's a great crunchy low end/rhythm sound, but when I crank the mid/bass, I get a KILLER lead tone. However, the output on my amp is broken (it buzzes a lot), and my room where I record has terrible acoustics and I don't know enough about mics to be able to mic my amp. Since the speaker still works and I can still play fine when nothing is plugged into the output, I was thinking about getting a pedal. Is there a pedal that can give me a good rhythm AND lead tone?

I kinda had this sound going: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siHZ5zX1vXA&context=C366a3caADOEgsToPDskLARbgagqoBGmkVsTtq-uZz

Also, if it could sound like any of these recordings, it would be great:

Children Of Bodom - Not My Funeral: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD07xZmWGvI
Norther - We Rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yQ-REfn6Ao
Ensiferum - Twilight Tavern: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eisifD8OYgQ

It doesn't have to be EXACTLY like those tones, but I would like it to be in that kind of zone. I would like it to sound as close as possible to the first link (my song).

THANKS :D

Ken C · Accepted Answer

Keep in mind that the Line 6 amps are manipulating the sound in the digital realm.  It's possible to do things by crunching numbers that's not possible in the analog world.  The "insane" patch is one of those things.  Getting that much gain in an analog circuit would be very difficult from the aspect of keeping the noise down to an acceptable level and maintaining stability in the signal chain.

There are some digital distortion pedals out there, but they're going to cost about as much as replacing your amp would.

If you're amp is buzzing on the direct out and you're going directly into your computer, you probably just need to isolate the amp and computer (electrically) from each other.  An Ebtech Hum Eliminator would probably do the trick for you.

That won't sound as good as a mic though.  Mic'ing a guitar amp is one of the easiest things to do (drums being the hardest).  Just get yourself a good cardiod dynamic mic (Shure SM 57 or Sennheiser e609) and put it right in front of the speaker.  The room really won't even come into play when recording like this.

Good luck.

Greetings from Austin, TX
Ken

Trending News

Is there a guitar distortion pedal that sounds like the "Insane" setting on a Spider III amp?

1 Answer