In this interview, Cetan talks with us a bit about his recording style and setup, tips and techniques.
What’s your equipment setup for recording in the studio?
It all depends on the situation. For recording vocals, we’ve used a Neumann U47 run through a Neve preamp using a 003. [Pro Tools] HD has a ton of plugins available that other DAWs just can’t beat. Could also use a C12 or even a Shure 57.
Guitars, I will usually use a Marshall full or halfstack. I slapped some Russian tubes in one of them which seemed to make a slight difference in the punch of it.
What do you record with?
I have a few tape machines, a few Tascams, digital DAWs and stuff I’ve picked up over the years. This one Tascam old 4-track I have strangely enough acts as a good preamp, the EQ on it fattens things up really well without clipping even when you crank it. The high-end gets some really good fidelity in the 8k-16k without any hissing or room noise.
What about your live rig?
My tour setup is pretty regular. Right now, I’m running three 4×12 half-stack cabinets with Marshall heads (JCM2000/TSL100) and those are the 1960 AV/BV cabs. Sometimes I’ll run just one unit as a fullstack, but it depends on the gig. In the past I’ve even whipped out one of my Peavey Classic 30s and that gets decently loud with a nice creamy vintage blues tone and alot of 60s reverb.
Favorite guitars or amps?
My favorite guitar is still my vintage Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, but I picked up an epiphone Les Paul for a good deal and that plays better than some real Les Pauls I’ve jammed on.
Amps, not really any favorites. The Fender Princeton gets some really good late 60s Eric Clapton/ Cream-sounding tones though.
Any special mods or configurations to speak of?
I have an epiphone junior that has some cool post-factory mods like some Seymours I slapped in it. Anything with humbuckers will usually be bigger than the weaker single-coil designs. The thing about single-coil guitars though, like the Stratocaster, is that since they run less hot, you can actually crank the amp a slight bit more with less gain, getting more of the amp tone like Stevie Ray Vaughan style if that’s what you’re going for.
Favorite Studio you’ve recorded in?
Favorite or best? Two different things for me. The best studio I’ve recorded in was Mike Daly’s studio in Los Angeles. Nice Pro Tools rig and great vintage gear. Josh Groban’s drummer came in and did a few tracks for me which was cool. Favorite studio was a tie between Wire Studios run by Stewart Sullivan in Austin, TX and Dave Feeny’s place called Tempermill in Ferndale. Dave is an amazing producer/engineer, he just has a way on the mixing console that gives you goosebumps.
