Finding the "sweet spot" on a speaker...

cellardweller

New member
Finding the "sweet spot" on a speaker (close micing a guitar cab/amp)...

I've read recently after searching, of a method of "finding the sweet spot", which only involved listening on headphones, while moving a mic in front of the speaker, for the location on a speaker where the "hum" was loudest...

Having all my crap jammed into one room, I have to find it with headphones, and my headphones don't have the greatest isolation. I have a pair of more me's(which have much greater isolation), but I seem to "translate" better with the other headphones...

If the above mentioned method is effective, it would greatly increase my efficiency, but it just sounds too good to be true...
Suggestions/experience/or myth busting welcome!
 
Trial and error baby.

Rule of thumb is " the closer it is to the center of the speaker, the more midrangey the sound"

so I would record little bits in diiferent spots, play it back on my mixing monitors, then make the judgement based on that
 
Trail and error.......


The room I am in is TINY. I had to just keep moving the mic. Took about an hour but WELL worth it in the end.
 
Myth busted. Thanks.

Experimentation with monitors is difficult. Though I have decent monitors (ysm1p's), I'm confined to recording on my fostex MR8, and bouncing to puter.
Experimentation is difficult and time consuming, but worthwhile ultimately.
I'll just have to keep good notes when recording samples.

Thanks again.
 
What I do (and this is by no means whatsoever hight tech in any way) is, assuming you are using 12" speakers, Get a sound you like from like 10 feet away. This is very important. If you don't have a good sound from the beginning, all else is useless. Also, start with fresh ears, if you have the headphones on 8 for an hour, it all starts to sound the same. Then, take an SM-57 and point it at the cone about 2 to 2 1/2 inches out from the center of the speaker about 1 inch away from the surface of the cone. Turn the mic to it is pionting straight at the surface, not the cab. This is by far the easiest way to do the micing thing on a guitar cab. If you start getting into expensive mic's and all these high tech methods and different cables and after mic effects you will never stop.
That and I have been known to just hang the mic over the amp so it rests in front of the speaker on the grill and support it with duct tape. This gives you a very Ramones live method when recording at high volume. Very high school but not too bad. All in all, the most simple methods result in the most organic sounding recordings(if that is what you are going for).
I don't know............... these work for me anyway.
 
Here are some of my thoughts on mic'ing a guitar cab.

First, only turn up the volume loud enough to get a decent tone. Otherwise, in a home environment, you are going to not have a big enough room to handle the volume. So, the lower the volume that you can use the better.

Second, let me introduce you to Extreme Isolation Headphones. Use a pair of these to work on placing the mic where the mic hears the amp closest to the way you want it to sound.
 
ozraves said:
Second, let me introduce you to Extreme Isolation Headphones. Use a pair of these to work on placing the mic where the mic hears the amp closest to the way you want it to sound.
Who sells these the cheapest? I think I've seen them for around $80.

Working on a tight budget. So many things I need/want...
 
Back
Top