MusicRadar

Read on to discover Rusty Cooley's studio secrets.

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Recording the guitar is a very different discipline to simply playing it, so advice on how best to go about doing this is always welcome.

MusicRadar's 16 guitar recording tips from the stars were extremely well-received, and now we bring you another 28 pearls of wisdom. This time, we've got the opinions of not just players, but also gear manufacturers, magazine experts and engineers.

You might not agree with all these tips, but we challenge you not to find something here that helps you to improve the quality of your guitar recordings.

Marc Gallo (Studio Devil)

Interfacing issues
Your guitar needs a High-Z or 'Instrument' input to plug into, as it has a relatively low output. Using adapters to plug your guitar into a line or mic input can get you into some serious tone trouble, resulting in muddy or noisy tracks. If your audio interface doesn't have a Hi-Z or Instrument input, invest in one that does.

Cable service
I know, it's obvious, but always use a good cable. This really makes a big difference to your guitar's tone. It doesn't have to be gold plated, but if it crackles, pops or hums, swap it straight away – your tracks will thank you for it.

Remain level-headed
Neck pickups can be hotter than bridge pickups, so you want a good level for the right pickup. Start playing and pick much harder than you normally would. Set the input level of your interface so you only get a few clips. If you get them all the time, lower the level. If you get none, turn the gain up. You should now have a great level setting! To test it out, play normally once more and check that you have a nice healthy level without any clipping.

Two tone
If you're the only guitarist on the song, remember, two tones can really add something. Try copying your track to a second. Then, use different amp models for each one and also experiment with panning. This technique can really fatten up your guitar parts and make it sound like two or more players.

www.studiodevil.com

Bryan Borcherds (The Salvador Darlings)

Flex your muscle
The main two things for me are sound quality and flexibility. I do like mic'ing up amps, but I mostly use Guitar Rig. You can record the clean signal but still monitor the effect in real-time, so that you don't lose the performance. If you decide later on that a different distortion or amp setup would be better, you can easily select the next preset or build your own rig.

www.thesalvadordarlings.com