Scott Henderson Discussion

[TopDog]

Hey Scott,

Which reactive load box are you using these days? I know you mention Suhr's on Guitar Wank.

Which IR's do you prefer? Two Notes?

And which software do you use at home, Pro tools? Any other?

What is your interface?

You probably cover all this in your video which I've been remiss in purchasing. It is on my list.

Thanks.....

[Scott Henderson]

I use Digital Performer - most people use Pro Tools but I started on DP and I know it really well. I like the window setup much more than Pro Tools.

I use the Suhr reactive load box, with Two Notes software "Wall Of Sound lll" to run IR's by Ownhammer and Two Notes. They both have some really good ones. My interface is an Apogee Rosetta 800.

[tonetone25]

Scott, do you think IR's are at the level now where one could record a professional sounding instrumental album? I've debating of doing this with my next album...going into a great pro studio for the drums, but everything else doing with the Suhr RL and the home studio. Basically so I can take my time and be really happy with the parts I play.

[Scott Henderson]

I absolutely believe that the IR technology is amazing, and that you could record great sounding guitar tracks at home with no speaker cabinet, and no one would ever guess that you weren't using a real speaker.

That being said, I feel the opposite about amp modeling, which is still trying but failing to sound like tubes.

[MarkLawrence]

Hi Scott. Thanks for all the advice! I really dig the MyMasterclass videos btw, made me think a lot about tone...

Here's my question : There is obviously going to be a difference between reactive and resistive load boxes, but do you think it's like night & day tone-wise? If so, how would you characterise that? Is it to do with the dynamics as you play or more of an EQ thing? In which case, can you compensate for it with a cheaper box? Is it just different but still okay, if not ideal, overall?

Did you ever try the Scuffham Amps S-Gear amp modelling VST?

Thanks again!
Mark

[Scott Henderson]

It's more about dynamics than tone, though I'm sure a cheap box won't sound as good as a Suhr, and I don't think the Suhr is expensive at all. When using IR's with the Suhr box, it feels exactly like a real speaker and sounds like one too.

About amp modeling, I think it's a waste of time. My opinion is that they're years away from making it sound as good as a real amp. I haven't heard the one you mentioned, but I've heard the Axe FX, Line 6 Helix, etc. No thanks.

[MarkLawrence]

It certainly sounds like it's the way to go right now, and probably for the future too. It seems to me that it's the best of both worlds and, like you say, a pretty inexpensive way to get a high end studio sound. Unfortunately they seem to have all sold out in Europe! (speaking of Europe, come to the UK... please!)

Presumably the latency is super low? Also, I can't remember if you mentioned it in the video or before here, but what sample rate do you go for? I have a hunch that 88.2 is possibly a good idea since the downsampling to 44.1 is mathematically simple and possibly more accurate as a result... but maybe that's just in my head (and would I hear it anyway?)

BTW, you have probably seen it already but I just checked out a video Steve Stevens did for Two Notes and he had some interesting things to say about using two IR's but with opposing frequencies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9eK8hDAQw4

Thanks again Scott!

[Scott Henderson]

Th latency depends on how fast your computer is, but most of them these days are plenty fast enough to set your buffer at 32 or 64 and it'll feel totally natural.

I record at 96k because I don't master at home - I let a pro do that since I don't have quality mastering gear or the ears to do it correctly. That's a whole other art form. I used my favorite mastering engineer Joe Gastwirt on Vibe Station - he runs the music onto tape before he EQ's, so on a technical level it wouldn't matter what sample rate the project was recorded at. For sound quality, the higher the better.

[MarkLawrence]

Hi Scott. For live, how about you carry your amp head, the suhr reactive load box, one of these http://www.logidy.com/?pid=1 for speaker IR and plug straight into the PA? Consistent tone all the time... Or is that heresy?!

[Scott Henderson]

Yeah, it's herecy. With no speaker cabinet on stage, you'll be hearing yourself through a monitor. If it's really great one (very rare), the tone will be OK but you'll miss the natural, organic communication between the pickup and the speaker cabinet. If it's a bad monitor, well, the gig is pretty much ruined. Playing through a different monitor every night is hardly what I'd call consistent.

I use monitors myself, but I hear about 25% from the monitor and 75% from the cabinet. The monitor helps me hear the details of the top end of my tone, but I'd never want to hear only the monitor - that would be tragic.

[peter_heijnen]

It is very consistent though if you use inears, and even more consistent if you don't make use of tubes!

[MarkLawrence]

[Scott Henderson]

[dizzy]

I honestly don't know why people are so obsessed with small light gear. I get it if they are archtop players where most of the sound is created by the guitar, but rock players?
Can anybody actually point to an example of a player who gets a great rock tone with a small light rig? Even someone like scofield uses pedals and an ac30.
If someone gets a good rock or blues sound with in ears and a direct rig i would like to hear it.

[peter_heijnen]

Haha, big fat tone with inears, it's not gonna happen.

I've done a few tour with inears and it's terrible. I did it because of my tinnitus but it didn't help a lot... But even worse than not being able to get a fat sound with it, inears are the most terrible because you loose every contact with the actual room you're playing in. The good side of inears is not having to depend on a monitor mixer that doesn't care for the guitar player unless the guitarplayer pays his salary. I'm a sideman and most of my 'contractors' like rockguitar but they don't like the guitar to rock out, so they are happy if i bring along small gear.

If i ever get a signature amp i don't want the amp to go to 11 but as low as -1. So i can always say: no i'm one less loud!