what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

[muttonchopsrule]

right now i'm using sm57's but i don't really like how it colors the tone. i'm finding it difficult to get a nice thick sound regardless of mic placement... there's always too much midrange/high mids and not enough low end chunk.

my band does all our recording ourselves, and our setup is as follows: a yamaha 16 channel board (which isn't really needed to record guitars) into an m-box (soon to be a 002) running protools 6.9 on a dual G5 mac.

i've been looking and the audix D3, and although i've never used one i'm wondering how it would compare, especially with how flat the frequency response is compared to the 57.

i have a budget of around $150, and i'm not opposed to buying used. should i look around for a completely different mic, or should i try a decent condenser mic used in conjunction with the 57? or should i just double-track everything? i'm pretty much open to any suggestions, and would like to hear everyone's favorite way to capture their tone when recording.

ps
sorry if this is a topic that's been beat to death...i'm still sort of discovering this part of the forum.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

Lower frequency waves take longer to develop. So if you're looking for low end chunk, although you could double track it (my favourite method, see the Power Rangers clip to hear it in action), you might want to try a condenser mic further away from the cab than the SM57 is now.

The Studio Projects B1 is supposed to be a great condenser mic ($99 over there?) that sounds better than mics costing a lot more than it does.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

Definitely the SM 57, though I almost fell in love with a Neumann and an AKG in the studio....

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

I hate to sound like a jerk but for $150 an SM57 is about the best mic you're gonna get...truth is that even with all the other mics in the world an SM57 is the standard for recording guitar amps and lets face it...no matter what you record with when you go to play a live show you are gonna get an SM57 slapped in front of your amp!

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

The SM57 is a great mic and has a relatively flat frequency pattern, slight boost in the hi end for vocals, so if you are not getting the tone there are things you could try. You could use another mic in addition to the 57 to pick up the room sound, a condenser would be good. Are you using a 4x12? micing technique can change tone also where and what angle you place the mic at. I wouldn't blame the mic on this one.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

....no matter what you record with when you go to play a live show you are gonna get an SM57 slapped in front of your amp!

VERY True....

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

I hate to sound like a jerk but for $150 an SM57 is about the best mic you're gonna get...truth is that even with all the other mics in the world an SM57 is the standard for recording guitar amps and lets face it...no matter what you record with when you go to play a live show you are gonna get an SM57 slapped in front of your amp!

+1

I use the Pod XT for recording guitar these days though - excellent results, and much easier.

 

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

so if i put a condenser (or even another 57) a few feel back from the amp, that would help fill out the sound?

the room is probably another factor that could use a lot of improvement though, not the best sounding room but definitely not the worst.

i appreciate all of the ideas...this will definitely give me something to play around with when i get back home and get some time to goof around with all the gear. lets keep em coming!! :bigok:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

one close and one space mic IS THE WAY TO GO...you will get a much larger sound on "tape"

 

[Funky P]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

the farther you put the the sm-57 the less low end you will actually get.

It's really significant where you place the mic, some areas there are just overwhelming amounts of low end, some you get a lot of mids. Make sure you mic it up really close to get the attack.

funny thing is you say there's not enough low end, when the biggest problem with most people is they get too much and have to EQ it off. just keep playing with mic placement.

 

[xerxes]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

man, i get a pretty low end sound with a sm57....

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

so if i put a condenser (or even another 57) a few feel back from the amp, that would help fill out the sound?

the room is probably another factor that could use a lot of improvement though, not the best sounding room but definitely not the worst.

i appreciate all of the ideas...this will definitely give me something to play around with when i get back home and get some time to goof around with all the gear. lets keep em coming!! :bigok:

Without knowing what you have and what you're hearing a few more tips.

Track your guitar part if it's a rhythm part with one amp sound and pan it to the left then track the same exact part with a different amp sound and even maybe another mic position and pan it right

Compress your recorded tracks and use the eq to help your sound. Do a search on the web there are tons of articles on getting guitar tones to tape.

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

SM57 on a V30 sounds ****ing amazing, IMO. Can sound good on a G12T-75, too.

I'd kill for a Neumann TLM193, tho.

 

[vinterland]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

Its really hard for me to believe that you can't get a good sound out of the 57. To echo the sentiments of the others on there, you aren't going to find a better instrument mic for guitar at that price. The next step up would be an md421.

 

[xerxes]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

imo, i agree with innerdreamrecords.....i allways pan a guitar left and a guitar right (with distorted gutiars). i have the same seettings on each, and it sounds really thick....great sound....

 

[Wattage]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

When you are placing the mic how are you deciding where to put it? By ear find a good placement and then drop the mic there and record, see if that helps with placement. If you are going for chunk and you run a decent amount of gain try dropping the gain a touch, that a lone can make a big difference.

I use an SM57, I have tried a few other mics but never found another as easy to place as it is.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

Definately try putting another mic up in the room, i would go with a condenser, maybe a rode NT-1 or something similar.

 

[xerxes]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

wattage had some good advice. believe it or not, lowering gain increases chunck (to a degree).....

 

[DML]

Re: what's your mic of choice for guitar amps? (recording)

As in guitars and amps, a mic is still a matter of taste. So even the whole world is using a SM57, it's possible that you don't like it.
I've got my own set of mic's which I bring with live gigs. They are a couple of EV N/D 478. This mic has more low-end than a SM57. I've tried a lot of mics but this is the one for me (and for my amps).

Another trick to get large amounts of low end:
When I had a 4x12", I've put a Sennheiser E604 in the cabinet. Yes, that's a drummic but it sounds great with guitaramps too. I've made the XLR-output in one of the handles.
You can try this with combo amps as well, just put a mic in the back of the combo, towards the back of the speakers. An E604 would do the trick.

Another "classic" combination is the SM57 with a Sennheiser E609 in front of a 4x12". Recording guitaramps is still a difficult thing. That's why they invented the POD!! :dance: