guitar recording & re-amping

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I record my guitars through real tube amps and mic’d guitar cabinets. I own a bunch of them-all boutiques and a few of those are vintage. Amps include:(1975) Marshall JMP 1987 mk2, (1984) Marshall JCM800 super lead 1959, Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555x (1962) Fender Tremolux, Friedman BE100 deluxe, Twin Sister, Small Box 50, Brunetti Mercury 100, Mesa Boogie mkV, Triaxis and more. Cabs include Marshall 1960B, Bogner 212 OS, Brunetti 4x12 B, and more. Guitars include; Fender CS deluxe Strat, PRS 24 custom, Suhr Custom Standard, Gibson LP Deluxe, and more. I mic up the cab with Shure SM57 and/or Sennheiser E-609 plus a Royer R121 or Superlux R102 mkll (ribbon mics) and record guitars via AMS Neve 1073 LB & Chandler Limited TG2 500 mic preamps plugged into RME Fireface 800 sound interface and HP Z640 Workstation. For each el guitar track, I use 2 close mics placed in front of the speaker(s), recorded on two separate channels for richer sound plus another (third) DI recorded track if needed. I work with Cubase Pro DAW and provide high quality dry or processed .WAV files 24/48K. My studio monitors are Genelec 1029A. For the recording of acoustic guitars (I own Taylor 710 CE and Alvarez Yairy JY84-12), I use Rode NTK tube condenser mic and Radial J48 for the DI recording. I do re-amping via Radial X-AMP STUDIO REAMPER

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I’ve been born in a family of professional musicians so I started to play piano with my first steps :-) Later on I graduated music school with clarinet. I graduated Bulgarian National Music Academy and I am a full-job musician since 1994. I’ve played guitar for over 30 years and have over 3200 gigs and hundreds of studio sessions in Europe and the USA.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I am proud of my guitar solo album as well my last singles which I produced and released in 2021-22. You can find it on Spotify. Artist: Peter Glavanov, the title “Run Away”,“When the Dolphins cry”, “4….3…2..one”

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Composing, arranging-recording and re-amping electric & acoustic guitar tracks. Royalty free guitar sample loop tracking up to 15sec (aprox. 8 bars) per a loop.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: My signature guitar handcrafted by KDbasses model Silvia ‘Pepecaster II,’ my trusty 1975 made Marshall JMP 50 mkII with 1960B cab, a wah pedal, and my fav Analog Man KoT although I will need a powerful electrical generator :-)

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: The good music is like a strong speech. You'd better say a few meaningful sentences than a thousand unrelated words.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My 30+ years of experience with both studio and live performances in almost all kinds of musical genres, producer’s ear, and accepting critique of others.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: My original music, Rock, Pop, R&B, Acoustic, Covers

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Prince, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray, Steve Stevens, Van Halen, Coldplay, U2, Slash, Joe Satriani, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, and many others.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I’ve been 30 years in this business and it is always been such a fun and privilege to be around any great musicians and artists.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Since 2006 I am the guitarist in one of the most respected Bulgarian bands-‘AKAGA’

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Composing, arranging, recording, re-amping and live performances

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually like to get in contact with the client and start with as many details as possible. Music sheets are welcome but for me, it is not a problem to arrange guitar tracks. For reamping, I need your edited, dry recorded DI guitar tracks and descriptions and/or sound examples of the desired guitar sound. When I find the proper guitar sound I’ll reamp a short part of your guitar track and will send it to you for approval. When you are satisfied with the guitar sound I start the whole process.