I use my ears on this. I don't ever want to use too much gain unless I'm looking for a “too much gain” sound. The sound is obviously weird when I'm going for a killer rock tone and I use too much gain. However, not enough gain is just as big of a problem. There are no rules here. It's quite clear that Nine Inch Nails type of guitar tones have lots of gain and I still bought several of their records. You have to decide what you want. If you are recording music with lots of pinch harmonics then maybe you need more gain. As mentioned above, you can get more sustain, gain, or whatever you want to call it by using a lot of power tube distortion and just a little preamp gain.

If you can get a little power tube distortion in there, you can get plenty of non-fizzy distortion to make the guitar player happy. In the end, that is the most important thing. Some players are used to using way too much gain and sort of rely on that for their playing style. It's up to you to figure out if this is a good or bad thing and how make the best out of it on the recording.

I must say that I went through a phase where I gave the band too little gain. It was so little gain that lead players had trouble. They were uncomfortable while playing because they didn't have the sustain they were used to. (Try to keep your players comfortable!). The tone wasn't better because it had less gain. It just sounded “less distorted”. So you be the judge. How much gain does the song need?

Do not think there is this magical thing that happens when you turn the gain down. There is not. The only reason I turn the gain down is to get rid of the fizz factor.

Guitar Monitoring Through Studio Monitors

The biggest impact in my guitar sounds did not come from a new microphone, preamp, guitar, or even guitar amp (the most important part of the equation except for the guitar player himself/herself). It came when I opened my ears....sort of. My guitar breakthrough came when I isolated my amp so that 99% of the volume was coming out of my studio monitors. It took about $150 in Rockwool to build my “fort” around my 4x12 cabinet. This was the best money ever spent when it comes to recording guitars.

Now, I hear the actual recorded sound real time as the player is hitting the notes. If the sound is too fizzy, I knock back the gain or the highs (depending which one is the culprit). I know exactly what tone I'm getting and I can react to it. In the past, I setup an amp, hit record, and then listened back. DO NOT DO THIS!!! Buy the $150 in rockwool!!!! You are cheating yourself out magical tones when you don't tweak the tone controls on your amp, try out an EQ pedal in front of the amp, or hear the immediate difference when switching guitars, pickups, playing styles, etc!

Conclusion

You hear this all the time, but there really are no rules with guitar recording. The tones of Bryan Adams are miles away from Rammstein or NIN. All three of these bands have exciting tones that add to the records. So just be careful who you take advice from. There are guys who love the Bryan Adams “Summer of '69” guitar tone but just don't get Rammstein's tone. That's okay. But if Mr. Bryan Adams tells you should turn your gain down, he's an idiot unless he's heard an mp3 or ,even better, sat in front of your studio monitors and listened.