One or two speakers

[Guitarski]

Hi,

I'm going to get the Carvin V3M and I'm wondering should I get the combo (one speaker) or the head with two speakers? I sometimes think that two speaker cabinets sound more spacious and more......resonant?
I don't need the extra wattage, it's for recording purposes only. Which brings me to the following. point. Can you use a mic like the Sennheiser E906 (guitar cabinet mic, which you hang right in front of the speaker) on a two speaker cabinet? In other words, do two speakers offer a benefit to a close contact microphone?
What's your take?

thanks/regards
Guitarski

[metalmachine]

Re: One or two speakers

I like a 212 for recording so I can put 2 different speakers in it.

[DesertRat]

Re: One or two speakers

The e906 and e609 are designed to go right up to the speaker grill. At that distance you're stuck with micing one speaker or the other. Like the previous post says, u can use two different speakers but they both need to be mic'ed separately. For a more classic tone you can mic the cabinet 2 to 4 ft away (or more) but I'd use a condenser mic for that. The advantage with this technique is you capture the whole character of both speakers, the cab, and the room but it's not a tight modern type of approach.

[Guitarski]

Thanks so much for your insight. Another point of concern (keeping in mind your previous remarks) is that I will be scaling back the V3M to bedroom level, which is 7W in this case.
Two questions arise: will a mic, like the e906, that is designed to take high levels of pressure, work under don't scare the neighbors circumstances? Which already makes a condensor attractive. But then, if acoustics come into it in any appreciable way, then I'm one for a dynamic mic.

But then a bedroom producer never wins. Direct injection doesn't work and to take full advantage of an amp you need a studio with acoustics.
Ah well, you can't have it all.
Has anyone been successful at creating good acoustics, as home recordists? Do I have to start collecting egg crates?


Cheers
Marten

[jeremy]

Re: One or two speakers

the 906 will work fine at low volumes.

why are you getting a 50w amp to record in your bedroom? even at 7w its going to be louder than you want it to be. are you also using this for gigging?

[DesertRat]

Re: One or two speakers

A small room is going to have the signature of a small room unless you do a large amount of professional quality deadening. I'd start without any treatment and incrementally move the mic back from the amp til you start hearing the desired amount of room. And yes the 906 will be fine at lower volumes.

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: One or two speakers

I prefer a 2x12 because you can mix different speakers.

as others have said the 906 is a great mic but it's really meant to be a close mic, so you just stick it on one speaker. A ribbon or condenser would be a better bet at 2-4 feet away to capture the room, speakers, and cab as a whole. But again it's not going to be that tight, in your face tone.

[Guitarski]

Thanks so much, I like this forum. I had the chance, yesterday, to try out the Carvin V3MC combo (one speaker) and the V3M head with the 2x12 cabinet and opted for the latter.
I can sympathize with DesertRat's remark that a one speaker cab will be more tight, which works well in styles like metal. In fact, I bought a new kit in order to be able to incorporate metal into my songs, but confronted one on one with an amp I realize I'm really a two speaker guitarist. I thought I had it made with the e906 but now I'll be on the lookout for condensor mic.
Any suggestions there? I'll be looking for a condensor dedicated to guitar, clearly.

I can recommend the Carvin V3M. I also tested the V3212 combo, which is a better amp in itself, but with any kind of serious drive it knocks off your toupet. The V3M you can scale back to 7W so you can really drive it and not cause too much mayhem. Then, on the clean channel, you do switch to 50W and with sufficient drive you get a beautifully expressive sound, really special. On my previous amps I never touched the eq knobs, but the Carvin is so responsive and flexible that you're constantly trying new settings.
I'm also a fan of the Marshall sound, but to be noodling every day on such a piece of military hardware didn't seem like a good idea. I might get a solid state Marshall, just to get a piece of that.

thanks/regards
Marten

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: One or two speakers

Unless you want to track two different speakers, a single speaker is fine for recording.

I have heard good things about the Carvin V3M!