Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

[treyhaislip]

I haven't been able to record in a long time and gave away my recording gear. Looking at getting back into it. What is the best mic for recording a 40 watt 1x12 tube amp? More along the lines of rock/pop style of playing with cleans to moderate gain.

Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

there are tons of mics out there and no one is the best. how much do you want to spend?

a shure sm57 still works fine, i like a heil pr30, ive gotten great tones with a sennheiser md421, a akg 414 is a great sounding mic, neumann, blue... the list goes on and on

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

there are tons of mics out there and no one is the best. how much do you want to spend?

a shure sm57 still works fine, i like a heil pr30, ive gotten great tones with a sennheiser md421, a akg 414 is a great sounding mic, neumann, blue... the list goes on and on

Ah! Well, I was hoping to keep it around the $100 range but I don't mind saving up for a much better one. Thanks for the advice!

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

I've had good luck with the sm57, beta 57, and Sennheiser e609.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

if you dont have one, id grab a sm57. they are cheap and work for lots of different applications

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

Thanks for the heads up! I will check out the sm57. At the moment I have zero recording gear, so I am trying to get back into it. Thanks again!

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

A great alternative to a 57 is the audix I5, sounds great on cabs, snares etc be careful when buying used shure mics as there are a LOT of fakes going around hence me buying the audix, but I'm glad I did as I prefer the audix for many applications. Also if you can get hold of an sm58 just screw the head off and it's an sm57, I've had great results using that method also.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

they are really common so finding a used one should be pretty easy

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

I've used both the I5 and the SM57 in home recordings with good results.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

I've used a SM57 for about a decade now. I am sure there are better ones available but the SM57 is well built and sounds great.

 

[HALENisking]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

My favorite way to record a combo is a 57 (super cheap used, got a couple for $50 I think) and a condenser in front, and then a mic behind by the open back to mix in to taste, especially if using spring reverb. Also depends on the room though.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

Looks like a lot of props for the sm57–thank you all for the input!

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

The sm57 is a real workhorse mic. There may be better more specialized choices, but it can be used to good effect for just about anything in a pinch and it's cheap.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

The sm57 is a real workhorse mic.

Every home should have one

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

SM57s can be had for $100 new and given all the professional recordings with them, you can't really find a better mic for the money. I, like Jeremy, have enjoyed using an MD421 on electric guitars, but that's significantly more money and I've also used a Royer R121 which is in a different price range altogether. The fact is that you want some midrange bite, something that isn't too "pretty" to cut in a mix and SM57s do that well. They're a bit "boxy", but in a dense mix that's exactly what you need.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

Every home should have one

They also double as a hammer.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?274807-shure-sm57-mic

Hard to go wrong... every home should have one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shure_SM57

 

[Oinkus]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

+1 on the SM57 great all around instrument mic that will last forever. Can find them for $50 or less used all the time on CL or ebay.

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

+1 on the SM57 great all around instrument mic that will last forever. Can find them for $50 or less used all the time on CL or ebay.

They are great mics BUT I've seen MANY fakes on eBay where the seller is selling them as genuine shure mics totally oblivious (I hope) to the fact that they are not real.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Best Mic for Recording Tube Amps

The short answer to your question is that there isn't a 'best' mic for recording tube amps. A lot of it comes down to your budget and the sound you're after. For a beginner, I'll add another vote for a SM57. It isn't always the 'best' for any given sound, but it's pretty hard to make it sound bad and it does double as a hammer per GuitarStv.

Some other favorites are a Sennheiser MD-421U5 (I don't like the mkII as it's screaming bright in comparison) which I like to use for dirty rhythm tracks since it just sounds big. A used 421U5 runs around $250. The Audix i5 gets into the same ballpark on a budget ($80-100), but you'll likely want to roll off both highs and lows as it is very bright and has a huge low-end boost. I mostly use it to record a SS amp I have when I want a bit of grainy sounding filler for an overdub. For clean sounds I love an AKG 414; the ULS or XLS model as the TL-II & XL-II have hyped high-end for vocal use. It also works great for acoustic, but runs $550-700 used. I haven't yet had the chance to use a ribbon mic, but I'd really like to try one someday.