*Connect the MPC wid the Electric Guitar*

ive already got a mixer im happy with so im gonna go for a d1 box. i was wondering if u could answer a few things.

what sort of di box do i need?
is there a particular model u can recommend?
do i plug the guitar to di box and di box to mpc or do u use the mixer too?

thanks a lot.

rather than spend money on a DI box, consider getting some kind of f/x ( I use a boss ME-50) , most effects/stomp boxes will raise your signal somewhat, as well as giving you some groovy guitar sounds to mess around with...

although mic'ing up the amp would give you great amp tone ( do I dare start going on about guitar tone on a sampler based forum? not that brave!)

and i suppose a DI box would be the most 'pro' solution to this problem.


ON ANOTHER SUBJECT

putting a mixer before the mpc's inputs is a stroke of genius!!! Why didn't i think of that? no more fooling around changing leads for different sound sources! I already run my mpc INTO a mixer before the signal goes to my HD recorder, its just that 2 mixers seems extravagant!! more fire! arf arf

Cheers for the advice. I'm a bit out of my depth in terms of what's called what and what does what...

At the moment I've got an MPC 1000, obviously, and I hear it's main output by a connection between the blue box and a shitty gemini mixer which also has my decks attached to it.

When I want to record in from my Microkorg, I plug in leads from the back of my Korg to the record in of the mpc. When I want to sample from my DVD player, I have to yank out the Korg leads and make a connectino from the DVD player to MPC record in sockets.

Now I've got this cheapish electonic guitar and amp, I'm wondering what's now the best option. I want to keep it budget, and I don't want to record the guitar via plugging in a microphone to the mpc.

D1 box looks cheaper than a guitar effects box I think?

Would I have to keep switching the D1 box record in's to the mpc or should I just buy a bigger mixer with more sockets, and have the korg, di box, dvd player and decks all feeding into the mixer, and then one connection to the mpc record in from the mixer?

By my calculations, that makes four pairs of red/white plugs into the mixer? In that case, could you suggest the best mixer to purchase at a low cost?

On another note, I can obviously only get one basic sound out of the cheap guitar, with slight variations by changing the drive and feedback levels on the crappy amp. Would that effects box enable me to better emulate different sounfs of say... Tom Morello or Santana?

Thanks a lot for any help you can provide.

Tee.

get a small mixer to go into the inputs of your mpc, the gain control on the mixer will boost your guitar signal so you don't need a DI box AND a mixer for guitar.

i know yamaha make some affordable mixers, but i think someone else could advise you better on what mixer to buy, i don't really know.

theres no point in mic'ing an amp unless you've got a really good amp ( something with valves , some people call them tubes). Although a poor amp is useful to hear yourself, unless you want to record a trashy sort of sound, for something punky for instance,you wouldn't want to sample a cheap amp.

Santana's guitar tone is all about the raw equipment - guitar, amp and touch - and his gear costs a lot, so get working on that touch if y' wanna sound like Carlos!

Morello uses lots of distortion. First thing to do if you want to sound like RATM is get some kind of distortion/overdrive/fuzz. This is available from your amp, but unless you have an output on your amp, i wouldn't recommend it for sampling, and even then maybe not. Tom also uses lots of weird spacey crazy effect sounds to great effect ( I think T.M. is one of the most sonically interesting guitarists around). This would involve efffects like Chorus, Delay, Flange, Wah, and much more. All these different f/x names can be a bit intimidating at first, which is why a multi f/x box gives you a good taster of whats available. the Zoom G1 costs about £50 (uk) and has 40 different effect programs on it. I think thats the cheapest multi f/x available, but someone correct me if i'm wrong.

oh bugger. i've gone on and on about guitar tone. yawn. sorry. one last thing on this subject - CABLES - get decent guitar cables, the best you can afford, nothing messes up your guitar signal than crappy leads!

hope this helps