“Dull” sound when recording dry audio from an Ibanez S series, not caused by old strings?

Question

I'm using my trusty Ibanez S5470 (wonderful guitar, if a little weak in sustain due to its scant weight) to record some dry audio inputs to use for re-amping later, directly into my Focusrite Saffire 14 PRO FireWire interface, into my iMac and Logic.

I'm noticing that the tone of those dry recordings, when compared to others provided by other members of my team, is very "dull". It's difficult to quantify, and I initially assumed it was the strings that were at fault, but I've changed them and am experiencing the same difference with brand new strings.

It feels like when listening to other dry guitar inputs that they're starting off in a much healthier position than mine are (before the re-amping process begins) – crisper, clearer, brighter, with a more precise low-end, etc. I know that they weren't recorded through any EQ or compression, and that they weren't altered after recording.

I'm following the chain and I'm guessing the issues are either: my picks/picking/playing (feasible, since I use very thin picks, but not likely), my guitar or its pickups (they're not active and are kicking out a good output), the cable or interface (again, very unlikely), or some other unknown issue.

Anyone have any thoughts on what I might be able to do to get a better "base" dry sound to work with in this instance? I realise that it's quite a wide issue, but it's a specific thing I'm trying to do so hopefully that won't enrage the moderators too much :)

Answer 1

Since another member of your team has achieved a suitable tone, I would try to analyze the situation by starting to a/b aspects of what he/she did with what you did. Experiments like:

• You play your part through his/her rig,
• Using the other guitar as a reference, try to match the tone with the pickup/tone/volume controls on your guitar.
• Compare the various features of how your gear differs,
• Allow him/her to play your part through his/her (or your) gear, etc.
• Swap picks with the other player,
• etc.

In the end, I think of it as sort of like trying to diagnose where noise is coming from; swaping component in/out until you've located the problem; except that in this case the players themselves may be part of the cause.