Recording - July 2014 - 4

PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Mike Metlay
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT: Paul Vnuk Jr.
EDITOR AT LARGE: Beto Hale
MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel

CONTRIBUTORS
Mike Rivers, John McVey, Fernando Curiel,
Michael Schulze, Paul Vnuk Jr.,
Eleanor Goldfield, Allen Goodman,
Marty Peters, Gene Porfido

Finding the One True Axe... and what happens afterward
I love going to music stores, not only to see what's out there and what's popular, but also to people-watch. There are so many familiar rituals that take place
every day in large stores and small. I see everything from Showing Off Chops
While Supposedly Testing Amps and Wandering Around Bored While
Companion Plays With Gear, to Hitting Every Drum In The Store (Twice Each) To
Show I'm Serious About Buying A Kit. But my absolute favorite, maybe because
I've done it many times myself, is the ritual of Finding The One True Axe.
You've seen it, right? You've probably even done it more than once. You have
a vague idea of what you're looking for, but maybe nothing precise... a dreadnought to accompany your higher-toned acoustic, or a heavy rock axe with humbuckers to go with your new metal gig. You walk in, say hello, take down a guitar and start to play... put it back, select another... ask questions, maybe switch
guitars and ask some more. Hours go by... and then, if all goes well, you find yourself with an instrument that sounds great in your hands, plays well, and just makes
you smile.
So you nod and say, "Wrap it up, I'll take it," and then you get home, all set to
record your next magnum opus... and then what?
A great guitar and a great performance deserve a great recording, and in this
issue we once again dip into the bottomless well of inspiring ideas that we call
Recording The Guitar. We have a little something for everyone this time around!
John McVey and Gene Porfido condense many years of recording experience
into two complementary looks at recording acoustic guitar. Michael Schulze gives
us the science and fun behind reamping electric guitar. Eleanor Goldfield looks
into the often-overlooked but vital art of recording bass. And my colleague
Fernando Curiel, Editor of Músico Pro and guitarist extraordinaire, dives into the
future of guitar technology in two cool reviews: the Fishman TriplePlay wireless
MIDI guitar controller, and the Roland G-5 VG Stratocaster with built-in tuning and
instrument/pickup modeling.
Speaking of modeling, Paul Vnuk Jr. often goes a little crazy in his quest to compare modeling plug-ins to real hardware, but in reviewing Universal Audio's emulation of the Chandler GAV19T tube amp, he must have set some kind of record.
Paul brought together the plug-in, the amp, a custom cabinet, four mics, seven guitarists, and a full-on reamping system, to get the whole story. You can read about
it on page 56, after you've enjoyed the results of my sessions with 15 cool guitar
products, from Apogee and Fender interfaces to an AirTurn controller and stompboxes by Hotone and Maxon. I'd like to thank Michael Schulze for graciously welcoming me into his recording studio at the University of Denver's Lamont School of
Music to listen and play, Allen Goodman for coming by Music Maker's studio to
shred for me, and Aaron Fausnaugh at Miller Music of Longmont, CO, for vital
last-minute studio gear.
We round out this issue with reviews of great products from Cerwin-Vega!,
elysia, Focusrite, and Prism Sound, but it's the guitar gear that takes center stage
this month. In fact, in the course of putting this issue together, we reviewed so much
gear in so much detail that we had at least five reviews spilling over into our next
issue! So there's more guitar madness to come, but we're sure you'll get a major
kick out of what's here right now. Oh, and if you're reading this magazine for the
first time at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville, we welcome you and hope
you'll return to our pages often.
Have fun pickin' and grinnin'... or shreddin' and wailin'... and enjoy the issue!

SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney
WEB GOALIE: Colin Courtney

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

EDITOR/PRODUCER:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

CIRCULATION MANAGER:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley
VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz

SUBSCRIPTIONS/ADDRESS CHANGES:
1-954-653-3927
ADVERTISING/CLASSIFIEDS/MAIN OFFICE:
(303) 516-9118
RECORDING MAGAZINE
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RECORDING July 2014

Recording - July 2014

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