Guitar Gear

Ever since I started using Impulse Response patches for recording my tube amps for recordings, my recording setup for guitar has become incredibly simple. But it could be SO much simpler. The way I record my tube amps now is that I run my amp into my Aracom Amps DRX150 Attenuator that has an unbalanced Line Out, then run the attenuator into a DI to reduce the noise and convert the signal, and then run the DI into my audio interface.

It works. I still get a little bit of noise, but it’s manageable. BUT it could be SO much simpler!

Yes, I have considered something like the Suhr Reactive Load box and others on the market. But they all have more features than what I need and/or they’re pricey. For instance the basic Suhr Reactive Load is $349. That’s actually not a bad price, but I’m thinking the actual components shouldn’t cost that much. But to be fair, I’m not an expert in electronics take that with a grain of salt.

On the other hand, the Radial Engineering JDX 48 Reactor looked very promising. But it has speaker emulation built into it that I don’t think can be bypassed. I just want my raw amp signal to go into my interface and then apply an IR to it.

As I was ruminating on this, I called my good friend and amp-builder Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps and asked him how difficult it would be, and these are the features I thought would be great to have:

• Be able to take 8 or 16 ohm amp output (or make it switchable)
• Transformer to handle the load
• A single, balanced output DI to go into my audio interface
• Line level knob to adjust the amount of output signal from the unit.

I don’t need attenuation, though I suppose the line level knob would kind of act like that. And maybe there may have to be some attenuation to bleed off some of the power. Who knows? Also, I don’t need speaker cab simulation. Many of the unit have that and that kind of defeats the purpose sending my amp signal direct to my audio interface.

All in all, the net-net of this is to reduce clutter. One cable from my amp to the load box, then an XLR straight to my audio interface.