Advanced Guitar Reamping guide w/ Sam Pura

Get ready to dive deep into the art of reamping with none other than Sam Pura. If you're chasing that polished, professional metal guitar sound, understanding how to effectively reamp your DI tracks is a game-changer. Sam recently dropped some serious knowledge in a [FAST TRACK PREVIEW] for URM Enhanced, and we're here to break down his killer workflow. We'll cover his signal chain, mic choices, compression strategies, and those crucial EQ tweaks that make all the difference.

Setting the Stage: The Reamping Signal Chain

Before you even think about mics and EQs, getting your signal path clean and correct is paramount. Sam’s setup is a masterclass in pro-level reamping.

From DI to Amps

Sam starts with the recorded DI signal coming out of Pro Tools (outputs 7 & 8, using Channel 7 for the left guitar). This clean DI signal first hits a Little Labs Reamp box. This essential piece of kit converts the line-level signal from your interface to the instrument-level signal that guitar amps and pedals expect.

From the Little Labs, the signal flows into his pedalboard – time to add some stompbox flavor if needed! After the pedals, the signal goes into a splitter. This allows Sam to feed two different amplifiers simultaneously, a common technique for blending tones. For this session, he’s rocking a classic Bogner JCM 800 and a gnarly Newcomb Pathfinder amplifier.

Capturing the Tone: Mics and Preamps

With two amps fired up, it’s time to choose the right mics and get those preamp levels dialed in.

Mic Choices & Placement

For the aggressive punch of the Bogner JCM 800, Sam opts for the industry-standard Shure SM57. You just can't go wrong with a 57 on a loud guitar cab. The Newcomb Pathfinder, offering a different tonal character, gets miked with what Sam calls "the one 60" – which he specifies is a ribbon microphone. These mics are then routed back into Pro Tools. If you want to explore other classic micing setups, you can learn about the Fredman technique for guitars or see how Jens Bogren records metal guitars.

Preamp Power & Impedance

The SM57 and the "one 60" (ribbon) signals are fed into Undertone Audio channel strips. Sam uses the top channel strip for the SM57 and the bottom one for the ribbon. He emphasizes the importance of preamp gain staging, carefully adjusting the input gain on the Undertone units.

A crucial detail for the ribbon mic: Sam sets the preamp impedance to 50 ohms. He mentions that 50 ohms is what you'd want for a ribbon, as they like to be driven a bit hotter with a lower impedance on the transformer. For the SM57 (a dynamic mic), he's using 200 ohms. Phantom power is, of course, off for both.

Adding Control: The Magic of LA-3A Compression

Once the raw tones are captured, Sam introduces some analog compression into the chain before hitting Pro Tools again. Both the SM57 and ribbon mic signals are patched into Teletronix LA-3A compressors.

Why an LA-3A on Guitars?

Sam loves an LA-3A on guitars because it helps to "chomp down on that wave a little bit and bring some tightness and focus to it." Crucially, he notes that he doesn't want to alter the core tone or EQ balance with the compressor. If anything, he aims for it to subtly soften the sometimes aggressive top end of distorted guitars. For more on how compression can shape your metal tracks, check out how to use multiband compression to control low-end on metal guitars.

Dialing it In

When setting the LA-3A, Sam’s process is to find the most aggressive point of compression, back it off until it sounds boring, and then find that sweet spot "right in between." He sets the LA-3A to "Compress" mode and adjusts the output level of the preamp (which feeds the LA-3A) to control how hard the compressor is hit. He’s aiming for around 5-7dB of gain reduction on the LA-3A’s meter. This provides control without squashing the life out of the performance.

The Critical Phase Check

Running multiple mics on multiple amps means phase relationships are incredibly important. Out-of-phase signals can lead to a thin, hollow, and weak sound.

Aligning Close Mics

After dialing in the individual amp tones, Sam listens to them together. He quickly identifies that they are "clearly out of phase." A simple flip of the phase switch on one of the channels in Pro Tools (or on the console/preamp if available) brings them back into alignment, resulting in a much fuller and more powerful combined sound.

Ensuring Room Mics are In Phase with Amps

Sam also incorporates room mics, captured via Lola preamps, to add depth and space. Before committing to the close mic phase relationship, he checks how it interacts with the room mics. He notes that one of the close mics was out of phase with the other, so he flips the phase on his AB box feeding the amps to ensure the amplifiers themselves are phase-aligned in the room. This ensures the room mics capture a cohesive sound. He then checks the phase of the room mics against the close mics again, finding that flipping the phase on the room mic channel (or one of the close mic channels) sounds better.

Sculpting with Surgical EQ

With levels balanced and phase sorted, Sam moves on to EQ. His philosophy here is key: "clean up the signal," not drastically alter the tone. This involves subtle, precise adjustments.

The Philosophy: Clean Up, Don't Re-Tone

Sam stresses that he’s staying within small 1dB boosts and cuts. The goal is to make the mic sound more natural and remove any harsh overtones, rather than making broad tonal changes at this stage.

Filtering Fundamentals (SM57 Example)

On the SM57 (Bogner track), he starts with filters on the Undertone Audio channel strip:

• High-Pass Filter (HPF): Set around 100Hz to clean up unnecessary low-end rumble.
• Low-Pass Filter (LPF): Set around 8kHz to tame excessive high-frequency fizz, with a little resonance bump.

Tackling Harshness (SM57 Example)

Using the "Lats feature" (notch filter) on the Undertone EQ, Sam hunts for annoying, harsh frequencies. He sets the Q to its thinnest setting, sweeps around, and identifies a problematic area. For the SM57, he ends up with a 1.5dB cut around 3kHz to notch out some harshness in the upper mids.

Enhancing Clarity and Impact (Both Mics)

• SM57: He adds a gentle 1dB boost on the bottom end with a medium bell around 60Hz for a bit more weight. For the top end, he uses a GML-style shelf at 8kHz, boosting slightly to add air and clarity, carefully adjusting the bandwidth.
• "One 60" (Ribbon/Newcomb): Similar principles apply. He cuts some bottom end to remove boominess, gives a little "hair on the top" with a high-frequency boost, and adds some impact on the bottom. He again uses the notch filter to find and cut a harsh frequency, careful not to go too far (settling around a 1.5dB cut).

The outcome of these small EQ moves is increased clarity, better impact, and the removal of annoying midrange characteristics, all while preserving the core tone of the amps and mics.

Bringing It All Together

After all the individual track processing, Sam listens to everything in context – the two close-miked amps together, and then with the room mics blended in. He makes final small adjustments, like another phase flip on the room mics, to ensure everything glues together perfectly. The result is a guitar tone that’s powerful, clear, and ready for the mix, helping you avoid the problem with generic modern metal guitar tone. This initial sound is now primed for further tweaking with amp settings and pedals, but the foundation is solid.

Elevate Your Mixes with URM Enhanced

Watching Sam Pura meticulously craft these guitar tones is incredibly insightful, right? This kind of detailed, step-by-step approach is exactly what you get with URM Enhanced. Imagine having access to these kinds of pro-level walkthroughs every single month, with the actual multi-tracks from massive metal bands.

URM Enhanced isn't just about tutorials; it's about real-world application. You get to:

• Learn directly from world-class producers as they mix hit songs from scratch.
• Download the raw multi-tracks and mix them yourself.
• Access a massive vault of past sessions and specialized courses.

If you're serious about taking your metal production skills to the next level and want to learn the techniques behind killer guitar tones (and everything else in a mix), then URM Enhanced is where you need to be. Stop guessing and start learning from the best.

Ready to transform your guitar tones and entire mixes? Check out URM Enhanced today!