I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to record an electric guitar simultaneously to two tracks, one track getting the clean signal and the other getting a signal that has been processed through a Vox ToneLab ST effects unit. The problem I'm facing is that I need two line-level signals for recording, and the ToneLab ST doesn't have any additional DI output.
There are several obvious solutions, and I'm just trying to figure out the caveats they may have:
- Simply split the guitar signal and run it into both inputs. I didn't think the guitar signal would be strong enough to try this, so I haven't yet, but will. Should I be concerned about impedance issues? (The line input has 10 kOhms according to the manual.) If the two input impedances are very different, is this a problem, and can I fix it by just inserting a resistor?
- Insert a cheap dedicated guitar preamp between the guitar and the effects unit, and record its output signal. This seems like it is guaranteed to work, but will it negatively affect the live sound (which is the output of the effects unit run through a guitar amp)? I guess it just comes down to: How clean will a cheap preamp actually be?
- Split the guitar signal before the dedicated preamp, and use the preamp only for recording. Seems like it could solve both issues, since the guitar signal would be connected to two high-Z inputs, and everything else stays the way it currently is.
- Mod the effects unit to add a clean output, just behind the built-in preamp. Is this even practical? Would a short circuit (e.g. due to plugging/unplugging a cable) damage the preamp?
I hope this is the correct place to ask. Other solutions would be welcome as well, of course.