Guitar Tones. :(

G

Guitar4life0000

New member
I'm trying to record guitar. (mainly metal/punk).

I can't get a decent guitar tone.


Can someone give me some advice on some guitar high gain guitar tones?


Thanks :D

-Steve.
 
It may help to know what kind of equipment you are using. but without any info if you are getting the tone you want through your amp you will want to mic the cab, now on your recording workstation bring the gain up as high as you can with the track fader set on 0 db without clipping the track, set your high end 3/4 and your mid range about 5/8 and set the low end flat. then once you have that set bring the fader up to +6 db and record with the fader set at +6 db
see if that works for you.;)
 
Get the tone you want from the guitar/amp first. Then reduce any efx, especialy distortion and reverb. It may not sound as good to you but it will sound better on the recording. Mics "hear" distortion as noise and reverb up front will sometimes make guitar sound hollow and harder to make stand out in the mix. You might want to try setting the amp with a little more treble and mids with less lows, this can help to keep the guitar track(s) and bass seperate (less muddy.) Try various mic placements, once you find the "sweet spot" where the guitar sounds best, remember it. Getting a good track to start with makes it a lot easier to get it to set right in the mix later.
 
Guitar4life0000 said:
I can't get a decent guitar tone.
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this is the big question. it's probably not going to come easy but keep at it.

assuming that your mic pre is descent, the issue boils down to source tone and mic placement (managing the timbre with the mic).

you didn't mention amp, speaker and mic.

so you'll have an idea (not all inclusive) where I come from, here's some of my gtr trackings... also I have reamped a bit for thrash genres but don't have client work posted.
 
I have been able to record some real good rock guitar tones.

The most important thing to do is to have a great tone coming out of the amp to start with. It's alot easier to capture a great tone than it is to eq and edit a shitty tone into a good one.
Like has been said here over and over again...you can't polish a turd.

Know exactly what sound you are seeking and tweak your rig until yuou get it...THEN...record it.

My favorite method of recording guitar tones is to angle a sure SM 57 towards the outside of a speaker in the amp cab and position a LDC above the speaker cab (not taking the brunt of the sound coming straight out of the speaker but mainly just picking up the sound blow-by from above.

It works for me.

Hope that helps

You can also set a LDC several feet from the amp cab but if you do that you may have to deal with phasing issues and be forced to apply delay to that track in orde to sync it up with the SM 57 track.
 
First of all, set the amp how you want it, then turn all the gain and distortion down by loads and don't be tempted to turn it up again. Put you're ear up against the amp and you'll hear why - that's what the mic hears, not the distortion once its been softened out by the room and everything. I've made this mistake many times having had more expeirence doing live sound where I carefully position the mic(s) on each cab but then have soundcheck to tweak the tone; its a bit more difficult recording in a studio because you can't judge so easily how it will fit with everything.

Next, check your mic placement. Towards the dust-cap gives a more harsh tone with more mids, whereas towards the edge is more bassy. I usually go for about halfway with the mic touching the grill, maybe pointing a tiny bit inwards.

If you can double-mic then great, but watch the phase of the tracks. My favourite combination is a SM57 and an MD421.
 
Guitar4life0000 said:
For amp miking, I have an SM57, an MXL 603S, and a CM 217.
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This collection of mics is probably one of the main reasons why you cant get the sound you want. A small diaphragm dynamic, a not so large diaphragm condensor (it's less than 1 inch diameter), and a pencil mic.

Keep the SM57, replace the 603 with an RE20, an SM7, a Heil PR40, or an MD421, and replace the 217 with a budget ribbon mic.

I'd start there.......
 
Guitar4life0000 said:
Okay, thanks for all your help.

And I'm using an Epiphone G-400 SG with EMG 81/85 pickups. I have a Peavey VK 100 Valveking Head and a Kustom Quad JR. 4x12 Cab.

For amp miking, I have an SM57, an MXL 603S, and a CM 217.

Preamp wise I'm using either a PreSonus Firepod or a Behringer Xenyx 2222FX Mixer.
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the SM-57 is going to be the better choice for micking your cabwhich is pretty much standard mic for recording a guitar and one mic is really all you need, more than one is overkill. Read Slipperman's Recording Distorted Guitars Thread From Hell on Mic placement as Armistice recomended.
very humorous but excellent reading and darn goood info from start to finish:D

And For Lands Sakes Don't Do This!
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Its all about tone and not the DISTORTION. Like it was said before. reduce all distortions and reverbs etc..Get the tone you like and crank up the amp as much as you can. This "VOLUME" will make the speakers break up and give off a natural distortion.

If you want more then simply add in a "SMALL" bit of gain to crunch up the sound. NO matter what amp you are using you can get a good TONE.

Best is a Tube amp though like a Marshal or Fender. Oh yeah, and less low end and more High and Mid on the head. This will allow you to cut through more.

Hope you find this to work well for you.

If you are doing a Direct digital amp then you just have to toy with some amp sims to find what you want. Also with Digital, record a less gainy track first as your base track then double a distorted amp track on top. Mix them together for a thick crunchy sound
 
Sonixx said:
IMO this is a compromise to compensate for less than adequate tone and mic placement.
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No, it's a matter of too much distortion making things unintelligible. At a certain point, it really is just noise, and it's hard to even hear the notes.

But go read Slippy - then you'll understand. I promise, he's done a lot more of this than you, and he knows what he's talking about.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
No, it's a matter of too much distortion making things unintelligible. At a certain point, it really is just noise, and it's hard to even hear the notes.

But go read Slippy - then you'll understand. I promise, he's done a lot more of this than you, and he knows what he's talking about.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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+1
a little overdriven amp tone is fine but you do not want distortion when recording.
more distortion can be added during the editing process
 
Light said:
I promise, he's done a lot more of this than you, and he knows what he's talking about.
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I see... :rolleyes: How dare I appear to disagree with Slippy... hand slapped by Light. I'm not disagreeing and dude I was reading that when he was writing it... over a very long period.

You're being presumptuous... and condescending.

What I'm referring too, and I read it often, is advising to turn the gain down when the the writer has not heard the tone he's advising about... as though that will be a panacea. It's a premature judgment and a poor rule of thumb.

It's just as silly as advising to use lower output pickups, move the mic back, move mic closer, pull tubes or others without the benefit of being on the spot.

No different than randomly advising to cut/boost frequency A or B to fix an issue when not really knowing the issue.

The gain of an amp should be set based on the tracking result only and nothing else. Dial the amp accordingly.

Maybe an example will serve. Here's a sampling of several songs that I reamped recently Reamp

We moved the gain around on this before settling here and a lower gain setting just didn't do it.

IMO of course. :)


Roguetitan said:
a little overdriven amp tone is fine but you do not want distortion when recording.
more distortion can be added during the editing process
Click to expand...

I don't have a clue what you're talking about especially about adding distortion later. Maybe we're talking about two different things.
 
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Sonixx said:
You're being presumptuous... and condescending.
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But Light is always presumptous and condesending:D

I don't have a clue what your talking about especially about adding distortion latter. I think we're talking about too different things.
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you can add distortionin to the track with VST or DX plugins during the editing process.
 
Sonixx said:
Maybe as a substitute when no other alternatives
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it is common practice
profesional recording studio engineers would rather have the guitarst play clean then add the distortion (or any other effect for that matter) during editing this is the best way to do it for the best results.
 
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