i dont know shit about guitar tone. and im due to record soon.
What the FUCK do i do?

How come you don't know shit about guitar tones and you're going to record something soon?

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/rate-my-mix-tone-threads-413/

This should help, listen to some mixes of guitars, try to get which one are better than others. To develop your ear is the main focus here, it could take a while, but it can be really fast too.

Other than that, I'm afraid you have to be trustworthy towards the recorder/mixer you're getting.

is a website with "metal" in the URL something i should trust?
ive been playing for years. ive come a long way in developing an ear but im not sure what I need to know... do you follow?

My gear is as follows

fender mexi strat stock pickups - know the pickups are a big thing. i think im a fender guy. should I just get a new mexi and put in some good pups?
mesa dual rec twin chan

the music is like drug influenced rock pop, the smiths but with a black sabbath and foo fighters feel
if you can mix all those three groups with not sounding too lame i think thats the sound

This post was edited by Honestly on Feb 20 2010 02:37pm

Oh ok, I thought you were more of a metal guy. Hmm, well if you're running a strat through a mesa dual rec you should get quite a very good tone if the recording is done properly.
Do you have any clips from the studio you're going to record soon? Or are you recording by yourself?

By any means try posting any clips if you have any.
The only problem you should be facing would be the stock pups like you said.
Other than that, you should get a good tone.

were hoping to do some home recordings in the near future. just gotta work to buy all the gear we need. which is why i am in the research phase right now.
I know there MUST be some kind of rack gear that everyone uses, noise compressors? any of that bull shit legit? I know you gotta sound proof the room and all that and dial in tone on the amp
layer the guitar tracks PERFECT, or even multiple amps and mics per guitar track

all im worried about at the moment is the guitar aspect, which will be first i imagine in the recording process

may even end up borrowing my friends les paul studio,



This post was edited by Honestly on Feb 20 2010 02:36pm

Aye, I'm still a noob myself into recording/mixing procedures. I can't really help you on this one.
Sorry.

just do what you think sounds good, adjust each nob on your amp setting to what you like, tone is an opinion of your own, who cares if yours doesnt sound like everyone elses, just dont abuse gain and treble
and more tone comes from the amp than the guitar
the guitar pretty much just gives tone definition
which in actualatiy isnt mainly the guitar
its mainly the pickups
the rest of the guitar determines sustain and shit like that
the strat might be a better choice, depending on the style
you could even trade off guitars
i think strats have a unique clean definition
while pauls blow on clean
because strats have single coils that provide extra warmth

as great as your mesa sounds,

its no where near ideal for recording, trust me i know, ive owned them before


while there are a lot of tone junkies out there who will bash me in the face for this,

the best way to record is through digital processor like the line 6 tone port gx or what i use for recording : digitech rp500

they honestly sound great, and since you arent a multi million dollar record company, this will do just fine for you. the tone port gx is $80 new, and will come with everything you need to record to your computer.
plus you get tons of sounds and effects to play with.

oh and btw, a lot of pros use Pods and toneports for their profession recordings

for the mesa to sound good, you need to crank it up, and unless you put it behind a couple inches of steel, thats not going to happen

This post was edited by Blackarrowx on Feb 22 2010 01:14pm

To maybe back your claim about a digital processor for recording, I believe Between the Buried and Me uses a POD X3 for recording.