Scott Henderson Discussion

finalsky · Joined: 06 Jun 2013 Posts: 3 Location: Switzerland

Hi Scott,

I'm about to record my second album here in Switzerland in a month and wanted to have a few tips from you about how to get a good studio tone.

How are you able to achieve your big "fat" sound? I know it all starts with your touch, your guitar, your amp and your effects (and this is very personal), but I can imagine you use a few tricks as I think your sound is really great on records.

Let's say I have my own sound coming from my guitar and amp, which is good enough for me... I go into the recording studio, what should I ask the sound-engineer for?

Basically I wanted to ask you how would you mic the amp and record the direct dry signal and how many tracks would you use and what for (direct dry signal from the mic, effects)?

In some of your records the guitar sounds like you panned the dry signal on one side and effects to the other... Am I right?

Thanks a lot for the help
wish you all the best

Matteo

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

If you like the sound you're getting from your live rig, most of the recording job is deciding on mic placement - it has a huge affect on the tone. I use a 57, about an inch away from the grille cloth. I move it towards the side of the cabinet until it's on the edge of the cone. If I want it darker, I move it to the seam, where the cone meets the paper. If I want a more traditional strat sound, I move the mic into the paper and turn the tones all the way up on the guitar - normally the tone on my treble pickup is down at 3 or 4, and that's a big factor in my sound. It's fat, but it's not a traditional strat sound. It's important to move the mic towards the side of the cab, not toward the middle.

I use only one track, but on a few songs on Well To The Bone, I recorded two amps at once for a stereo sound, a Marshall/4x12 on one side and a Fender/4x10 on the other, panned hard L & R.

Ask the engineer to try a 57 and a ribbon mic mixed together (mono), which is what a lot of guys do - I've been experimenting with that myself.
If it's one guitar track, I think it sounds better panned just a little to one side, and I usually put delay on the other side, and stereo reverb in the middle. Don't record your FX, just monitor them when recording and add them back at the mix. The engineer will know how to do that.

Yusstyna · Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 53

Hey Scott,

In the recording/mixing posts you mention "panning the guitar a little to one side".

How much is "a little" exactly?

Thanks a bunch!
W.

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

Around 11 o'clock to 11:30. In my opinion mono guitar directly in the middle doesn't sound as big as when you nudge it a little to one side.

Yusstyna · Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 53

Hey Scott,

What about the delay, where do you usually pan it?

Thanks!
W.

finalsky · Joined: 06 Jun 2013 Posts: 3 Location: Switzerland

Thanks again for your precious help,

could you please tell me how would you set the delay?

I think I red in some post something about a 20-30 ms delay and in another about a 400 to 600 ms. That would sound pretty different.

Thanks again and hope to see you playing live soon enough in Europe, hope at least one more time with Tribal Tech (Switzerland or Milan would be great!).

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

Delay panning and time depends on the song. The 20-30 ms delay is for stereo imaging, it's not really a delay. The longer 400-600 ms delay depends on how big the holes in the phrases are. You can leave the delay time the same for the whole tune if you want, or you can automate multiple delays so that a different one kicks in when there's the appropriate space for it. Check out some of the later Jeff Beck records - producer David Torn uses different delay times, sometimes within the same song, and the panning changes too.

Yusstyna · Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 53

Hey Scott,

How do you go about tweaking the delay times? Do you have a few delay busses set up with different delay times that you switch between or do you automate the time of one delay preset?

Thanks!
W.

Scott Henderson · The Man Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2135

It depends on which delay I'm using - sometimes in Digital Performer, I get a weird number for the delay time parameter, and have to use guesswork to arrive at the delay time I want - in that case it's easier to use separate busses for each delay time and just automate them on or off. But if the delay is easy to automate and DP reads out the actual ms time as a number, that's easier.