The VG-88 by itself is able to do a lot of things in recording.

Matter of fact, Jeff Skunk Baxter used to show up for studio dates with little other than that and an acrylic clear plastic body strat that had a Strat neck hangin' on it. And a fullrange amp, of course. The fullrange amp is the necessary ingredient for most all guitar/amp/cabinet sims, fullrange and stereo. Of course, when recording to the PC, just use the stereo line out direct to soundcard.

A lot of players actually hurt themselves by trying to pipe the output of these modelers or sims thru standard guitar amps, which in effect are bandpass filters for the audio range. The fact is that the digital simulation is often dependant upon fullrange audio, "twenty to twenty" and stereo, too, for the speaker cabinet and other spacial simulations to sound correct.

One problem with amp simulators is that many players do not have experience with playing the actual real target amplifiers or effects they yield in the first place. That is like not having a place to stand. You can accept a lot of sound variation that the real amp may not do, or just plain sounds bad if you are in that situation.

Also, playing the digital amp simulator is just plain a different act than playing the "real" amp, one has to spend time practicing with the amp simulator in order to be able to bring the best sound out of any of them. For one thing, there is the A to D circuit to contend with, plus the latency, however slight. VG-88, though, is topshelf stuff.

There are no shortcuts.

So get started working with what you have.

It typically takes practice, not only in the playing of the guitar but in the setting of your amp simulator -- and after that, perhaps most importantly -- practice in the art and science of capturing same via the digital recording and mixing process.

Far too many people make the claim that manufacturers must "massage" their demos of these products or even resort to subterfuge with the demos presented in order to sell them. I don't buy that for the vast majority of demos, especially when the company is as reputable as Roland, etc. But I was at the NAMM show where the VG-88 was presented by none other than Skunk Baxter. Then I got to try the thing in the same place with the same setup for a short. Needless to say, I ain't Skunk Baxter, right? Still, I bought a VG-88 and after a few weeks of practicing, working with it, reading the manual, tweaking the presets to match my playing style and tastes, retweaking, rereading that manual, then doing some recordings that stunk, all the while chasing the holy grail, I was soon able to use the VG-88 to do what all of my equipment MUST do around here -- pay for itself.

There ain't no shortcuts.

Spend the time PLAYING the things you have and spend that time efficiently and wisely. Posting and listening to others' advice is okay, but it will NOT do a blamed thing for the process for you in the long run, it can only provide some freetime when you come up for air or perhaps when you get stuck on a particular.

And stop using English words to try to describe a musical sound. That's for the audience, not for the Producer. Because they are virtually meaningless in getting anything across that can be used later. Music sounds do not define exact particulars at all. it is perceptive. One person may hear the same sound and their description may vary quite a bit from what the next person hears. At that point, it is all good, but to the pro, it is not subjective enough to use for any meaningful communication. "Make it sound warm" My first question to that one has always been, "Can you gimmie a specific temperature on that?"

Your chosen task is not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work on your part. Use of the notepad, pencil, efficient note-taking as you practice every day is part of the process. Mastering your chosen instrument is a LARGE part of the process. Skunk can pick up anybody else's guitar, import, bad setup, whatever, and still sound pretty doggone good. Because the majority of the magic is in Mr. Baxter's abilities and not the equipments. If you happen not to like Skunk's playing style, no problem, simply insert the name of your personal fav instead. Same thing applies.


--Mac

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