I found many guitar amp plug ins support stereo sound. In this case, should I still double the guitar sound? Or just a single track is good enough?

 

you should double any track you have. It's a technique used for all types of instruments to get more gain from each track.

Even if you have a guitar amp it's still okay to double the track because you're going to adjust the levels anyway from the track fader.

 

Last edited: Apr 29, 2019

The stereo sound that two amps give you is not that much stereo. (Lol). I mean it is not thick and wide enough. When you double track it, you get a nice, thick, and wide stereo sound.

 

depends on the song.. and the style of the song.. if the songs asks for it..

 

I'm not sure if I got your question right. You mean guit mono in, plugin stereo out? If yes, that depends. These pseudo stereo effects normally work with chorus, reverb, or (Haas) delay and have some drawbacks. They are not as wide as two separately recorded tracks, they can produce severe phase issues which make the result less clear, less punchy and less mono-compatible.

So for true Rock or Metal I can't recommend that at all, for some quick widening fx in Pop and stuff it may be ok.

 

Imho

Make guitar tracks mono
Then pan
LCR
( Double those ones many as you want)

Unless.....

It's more unconventional type thing you are going for
(
Say ambient guitar tracks in stereo

 

I always like to get my guitar signal chain right then mic the amp if stereo amp or wet / dry rig then I'll mic stereo and the room sound as well .
Like to use U47 for room Sm7b for close mic right where cone meets cap

 

you are the artist, YOU should know. you think Michelangelo asked the passerby if he should double paint Mona Lisa's eye?

today people not only double track but sometimes 8-track rythm guitars. doubleing will give you wall of sound. the doors used 1 or 2 guitars most. precise doubling is populer in metal. alternative rock : 2-3-4 different sounds and gains whatnot. your call!

 

As stated above by some guys, best way to do it is to play it twice, record the first track in mono, pan hard left, the next track you have the choice of using the same sound or a different amp etc, record in mono, pan that one hard right.
Put your solos in the centre.

If there are 2 rhythm guitar parts doing different things then no need to double track, just pan one hard left and the other hard right, in this scenario, if you do want to double track to thicken the sound, pan the first guitar and it's double track hard left, and hard right for the second guitar and it's double track.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 29, 2019

With plugins like the Waves PRS series, you can get really good & usable results right away. Thus eliminating the need to dbl-up unless further unique processing is being done to create a wall-of-sound as one example.

 

@Niruvana

Glad I could help.