software

I have recorded at a friend's place in a tiny little cramped studio where you have to take your guitar out of its case before you go in because it's so small and there's so much stuff in there.

Now I have a Digitech GNX4 and I want to be able to compose / record and do some decent work at home. I have really nice gear in terms of guitars and amps, but I've always kind of relied on others in the tech area of recording and mixing. I am good with computers and have good computer gear.

Several questions : For one, should I go guitar -gt;effects-gt;amp-gt;mic-gt;GNX4 mic input to get best quality, or is it all the same to go through the amp modeling / effects straight into the device?

I've only just recently found a chip to order to allow recording, so I've only been messing with the other fn's. How serious should I be about putting tracks on this thing ? Is it better to just lay down some ideas and then take them to my friendquot;s studio where quality is better ? How do I get the most out of all of my expensive guitars / pups / amps / pedals, or all they all obsolete now in the face of digital workstations ?

I have a lot of original material that I really want to get down while I'm on this little ball of dirt. I may never get a contract with Arista records, but I want to leave a little something of my creativity behind. Is it reasonable to put together a home studio of sufficient quality without breaking the bank ? Is the GNX4 a starting place or am I kidding myself ?

long post, sorry. Any help would be welcome.

you could go straight into the device, which i have done and it sounds fine, but with a mic, the sound you hear is the sound you record, and its easier to tweak for the sound you want. i have never used the gnx 4, but my friend has a digitech i think rp200a, which is really good. and it was only 99 bucks. from what i have heard, the gnx line is really great. you probably will be fine with it. as for the laying down tracks stuff, its whatever you feel more comfortable doing, id say. you would be fine either way i think, although my band just records for fun, not to give our stuff to like a record co.

Are you planning on recording ON the GNX4 or are you going to use a PC and recording software or a dedicated recorder. If you're using a dedicated recorder or PC, the GNX4 will do fine using the regular outputs into whatever you choose. I use a GNX2 straight into the mic inputs on my USB soundcard. It sounds great and it's very tweakable. It lets me get the sound I want recorded very quickly and with little fuss. Since my sound card is also a midi port, I can adjust the settings on a patch the easy way with the computer. Works like a charm and allows serious fine tuning of the sound to match up with what I'm doing. Unfortunately, I've had ZERO time to actually record on the fairly cool setup.

I've had a killer Warmoth neck for roughly 2 or 3 weeks and I've not even put it on the guitar yet. It's a sad state of affairs.

Don't use an amp. Go directly into your gnx4 and then use the 1/4 output into the line-in jack on your sound card. Trust me this is the best possible way.

I don't know about the modeling on the GNX series. Probably pretty good. I have an RP100 I got when I first started playing and it is horrible.

I agree with YJM. I've got a terrible RP80, although I still use it to record.