A friend told me about this, but I was wanting to get some opinions on this. I really like tube warmth that you get with a tube amp, but for me, it's often more efficient to record from my guitar effects pedal instead of miking my amp. My question is, if I ran my effects pedal through a mic tube preamp, would it add tube warmth similar to a tube guitar amp?

Thanks.

using a good tube mic pre is usually warmer and fatter than just going direct with no preamp at all.

of course you dont get the sound of the speakers from the amp. also dont expect to get good distortion anything like a amp.

I don't think it works out. I tried putting an electric straight through a Universal Audio M610 and that pre is just not "tuned" to really do anything to the guitar - nothing close to an actually tube amp that is.

Now, vocals an bass are a different story on that particular pre. Electric guitars are just extremely fussy signals and best served by gear that was designed with them in mind. Others may have different experiences than mine, but I personally just wouldn't waste time trying that route. Would love to hear a different opinion and experience with it, though.

A mic preamp is very different to a guitar amp and a speaker. Tube or not tube isn't that big a factor. Playing through a speaker and microphone is a very different sound, and having a tube based signal path isn't going to sound like a speaker.

I agree with the other posters, that the UA610 isn't as great on guitar as it is on bass, and that a mic preamp can never substitute for an actual guitar amp that has speakers and room sound.

Still, you can get some warmth with a tube DI that is nice for the guitar signal. I have had great results with an Avalon 737, and also a TAB v71, and then using plug-ins. I would NOT try to get guitar distortion out of a mic pre. That could go really badly.

If it is a guitar-based project, and you are getting really serious, at some point you are probably going to want to mic an amp, of course. Still, I have gotten some pretty sweet DI sounds, just adding plugs, IMHO.