Behind the Guitar: The Cheat by Future Relics

I just released a new single from my band Future Relics, a surf/sci-fi inspired instrumental project. 

The direct inspiration for the music of Future Relics is movie scores from the 1950s,1960s, and 1970s. Each song is based on an imaginary film that could have come out during that time period. 

Here is the backstory of “The Cheat”

The year is 1968. A modern-day Robin Hood has just landed in Las Vegas. HIs plan: to cheat the cheaters from their swindled fortunes. But no plan goes without glitches. The song’s underlying question is, when does good become evil? Find out in “The Cheat.”

“If it sounds good it is good. It’s always good to trust your ears.”

On first listen, you can instantly hear my nod to surf music. I’m a big fan of Dick Dale and the Ventures, among many others. I pulled a lot of inspiration from the early ’60s in the tones as well. It’s a rather simple arrangement that was recorded very much like it would have been done in 1962. Well, except for one thing—I played all the instruments. There is no way to perform it live. 

I compose and record all Future Relics songs in my small Brooklyn-based studio. I don’t use stock sounds. Every instrument is played, including the drums. 

The capture 

The guitar production was simple. But simplicity requires good execution. I use two guitars: a new Gretsch Baritone and a 1991 Fender American Stratocaster with FSC Instruments ’59 pickups and a vintage cap. 

No pedals were harmed in the making of this song! Each guitar went straight to the amp and was recorded with a single mic. 

Normally, I would place an AEA A840 ribbon in front of the amp about 6” to 8” away. But, I had a Sennheiser e 906 dynamic mic set up from another session. The 906 was about 4” to 5” away from the center of the speaker. When I plugged it in, it just sounded good and I went with it. 

If it sounds good it is good. It’s always good to trust your ears. The 906 wasn’t what I would traditionally use for surf. 

The room 

Sound starts at the source, especially with guitar tones of the surf era. Before I even put my headphones on I made sure the guitar amp sounded good in the room. 

When I talk about sounding good in the room, most guitarists and engineers assume I mean the EQ of the amp. 

“Adjusting the EQ at the amp pushes the amp harder, resulting it more breakup.”

But, it’s actually more than just locking the right EQ on the amp. You want to listen to how the amp is resonating in the room. Do you need to move the amp on the carpet? Place the amp on a chair? Does it sound better on a hardwood floor? Is there any weird reflection happening in the room? Should you move the amp to a different location in the room? Does it sound better up against the wall, or in the center of the room? 

Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you put a mic in front of the amp, the room doesn’t influence the tone.

My room is small. I don’t have as many options as I would like for moving a guitar amp around. But I do have a few options that I test. Don’t forget that facing amps towards a reflective surface may cause unwanted reflections. 

For “The Cheat,” I used a Headstrong Lil’ King reverb a few feet away from the wall, on the floor, on a carpet. 

Gain staging

When I talk about the amp in the room I’m also taking about the gain staging of the amp. This is huge! Many amp colors are controlled entirely from the volume knob. 

Surf guitar is often associated with a clean tone. This isn’t totally accurate. There is often a little grit on Dick Dale and Ventures recordings. This grit comes from pushing the power amp section of a Fender amp. 

I often find the sweet spot for amp volume is around five or so on a Blackface-era Fender amp. 

You can really hear this grit on the lead guitar part in the song. I’m using the bridge pickup from my fairly low output FSC ’59 pickups into the Headstrong Lil’ King on volume five. 

The Gretsch Baritone plays the main melody of the song. Although this Gretsch has mini humbuckers, they don’t drive as hard as the Strat. The Gretsch is super low-output. It’s a pretty inexpensive Baritone. It plays great but it could use some pickup upgrades. Looks like I’ll be giving Rob from Gemini Pickups a call. They don’t sound awful, but you notice a difference when you compare them to other pickups.

Preamp

I used the UAD V76 tube preamp, which is similar to what would have been used in the late 50s or early 60s. Tube preamps and compressors have specific sonic identities. They sound great on guitars. It’s a sound I’m familiar with because I listen to a lot of records made during that time. 

You can also get a little grit from the UAD V76, which I used to my advantage. For me the key is not to overdrive the preamp too much. It can sound harsh if you drive it too hard. But a little drive can add harmonic complexity to your guitar tone. Everything is cumulative. Remember that!

There is very little EQ on the V76—just are two small adjustments for subtle EQ changes. For the most part I try to do as much EQ as I can at the guitar amp. Is the sound too dark? Walk to the amp and turn the treble up. This will always yield better results than post EQ. It doesn’t mean you won’t have to adjust EQ/ later, but it’s likely to be more subtle. 

There are some exceptions. Sometimes adjusting the EQ at the amp pushes the amp harder, resulting it more breakup. In essence, raising the bass or treble levels can saturate the tubes and break up more. 

If you don’t want amp breakup, you’ll need to EQ at the mic preamp. 

If you’re recording yourself, you may have to record a few bars of the song, listen, and run to the amp and tweak. Repeat until the guitar sounds great! 

Compressor 

It’s not uncommon for me to use a compressor when recording electric guitar. I’m usually not compressing more then 2-3 dB. Just a touch. Sometimes I just send my signal through the circuitry for the tone rather than for a lot of compression. In fact, on the UAD 1176 plugin there is an option to turn the compression off and still run through the “analog” circuitry. 

“I’m usually not compressing more then 2-3 dB. Just a touch. ”

I often go to the Fairchild 660 plugin from UAD for surf tones. For one, it’s period-correct for this era of guitar tone. Second, It’s a fantastic sounding tube compressor. Although it can get aggressive, its default is gentle. 

Tape

Along the the V76 and the Fairchild, I also use the UAD Studer A800 on guitars. In fact, I almost always use the Studer. I love the sound of tape. If I could, I would always record to tape. But that’s not cost effective or practical for most of the work I do. 

I may switch tape formulas on occasion, but the most common alteration I make to the stock A800 setting is turning the analog noise off. There are times where I like analog noise. But some artists get sensitive about noise. For this reason I try to reduce hiss whenever I can, without effecting tone. 

Tip: Adjusting the bias control on the A800 can also greatly change the warmth or brightness of the tape tone. 

Reverb

The reverb you hear on “The Cheat” is the built-in spring reverb on the Headstrong Lil’ King. It’s a great-sounding spring reverb that really nails the surf tone. It’s one of my favorite spring reverbs of all time. 

The bass

I used a mid 1990s Fender America Precision bass with old heavy flatwound strings. I used a heavy pick. I’ll often put foam under the bridge to mute the sustain of the bass, but for “The Cheat” I didn’t use any muting. 

When you record a DI track and a mic track at the same time, make sure you check the phase between them. In most cases the DI track will be out of phase from the mic, and you’ll need to flip the phase on either the mic or DI signal. 

“I like to record bass on a real amp. But I often like to use a guitar amp instead of a bass amp.”

I like to record bass on a real amp. But I often like to use a guitar amp instead of a bass amp. Yes, you can run bass through a guitar amp. As long as you don’t blast the volume, the amp will be fine. I prefer the tone. It’s actually the method used to record bass by the Beach Boys and other bands of that era. Look up pictures of the Wrecking Crew’s Carol Kaye in the studio. You’ll see a Fender Combo parked beside her. 

I can get plenty of low end from the bass DI. What I want from the amp is tone and air. There are three amps I gravitate toward: the Headstrong Lil’ King Reverb, the Victoria 35115, and the Marshall SV20H. 

Yes, I do record a lot of bass through a Marshall Plexi into a closed cab with Celestion Greenback 25s. The Marshall can really excite a bass signal. Most of the time I’m not even pushing the volume that hard, as I don’t always want overdrive. 

I used the same V76 mic pre, Fairchild 660, and Studer A800 on the bass amp as I did on the guitar. Sometimes it’s nice to use a similar signal chain to create an overall sound on your recordings. Studios didn’t used to have so many varieties of mic preamps. They had a particular brand of a mixing board. You had the Neve sound or the Helios sound. Using too many contrasting elements can make your recordings sound disjointed. Or not. It depends on the situation. But consider the overall sound that you want for your recording. 

“Sometimes it’s nice to use a similar signal chain to create an overall sound on your recordings.”

Try using the same mic pre and tape formula for all your tracks in a song. Use the same EQ on everything. You may end up hearing a more glued-together tone in your mix. 

That’s the basic recording process behind my Future Relics track “The Cheat.” To buy the song, visit my Future Relics Bandcamp page.