Rode Nt5's for electric guitar?

squicklid

New member
I have a matched pair of these beasts. Just wondering if its suitable to record electric guitar with them. I tried close micing my amp running the clean channel fairly quiet and it clips on the input no matter how low gain is. I read that for a tube amp (which is what i have), you want to crank the volume to get the best tone for recording. Would a Sm57 or 58 be better for this?

PS: this could very well be in the wrong forum.
 
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the best answer is, Try it! If you like the sound then you like the sound. Try different placement and see what you think. The sounds change depending on where you put mics, so try straight on the cone at several inches to 2 feet away, then start moving the mic towards the edge of the cone at differnt places from several inches to several feet. and while you are doing all that try changing the axis. You can get most mics to do something close to what you want just through placement.

Worry about getting good tone from the amp not volume. If you are clipping turn down the gain on your preamp and move the mic slightly off axis or farther from the source. check the SPL with a meter if you have to and see if you are overdriving the capsule

Sm57 have been a standard since the came out but I like the detail of condensors so I usually use both depending on the sound I'm after.
 
Turn your guitar amp down a bit. Get the tone and sound you want from the amp first, then start with the mic at 3" from the center cone abnd work your way out. Shouldn't need a lot of gain. The rode should work okay, most folks prefer a dynamic, lots use the 57 or Senn 609, I prefer a senn421, 441 or RE 20
 
DJL: Everyone should have at least one in line type pad in their toolbox... hint, hint.

So, what is an in line type pad?

slobbermonster: If you are clipping turn down the gain on your preamp

My preamp Gain is all the way down pretty much. And when I move it off axis, it doesn't help, just changes the tone.
 
Do BOTH mics clip with the amp not up very loud? That doesn't sound right. I wouldn't think that the mics would clip even if the amp was fairly loud.
 
Well my amp is probably on 4 and i have to set my preamp gain to like 1 or less, which is pretty difficult. I also think my speakers are contributing to the clipping sound, but I know that the input is definately clipping because i have an led display on my preamp that shows input and I can see when it clips. This only happens with clean guiatar too. Perhaps my amp has too much soul to be recorded.

Oh, and it only happens on the close mic. From right up to the grille up to about 2.5 feet away
 
It happens only on peaks. But I don't know if it is my speakers that are causing this aweful noise here. Its that aweful awwwwful harsh sound on the high notes. Makes my ears hurt.
 
squicklid said:
I have a matched pair of these beasts. Just wondering if its suitable to record electric guitar with them. I tried close micing my amp running the clean channel fairly quiet and it clips on the input no matter how low gain is. I read that for a tube amp (which is what i have), you want to crank the volume to get the best tone for recording. Would a Sm57 or 58 be better for this?

PS: this could very well be in the wrong forum.

Squicklid-

The Shure SM57's are th best for miking guitar and most other instruments. This is coming from Neal McCoy's road manager, a good friend of mine.

I have a Rode NT-1A that I occasionally use for guitar (don't have any 57's yet).
Best bet is to back it off about six inches and just a hair off to the side of the center of the speaker.

Hope that helps.

Jimmy
 
try it.... that clip sounds awful.....You should be able to record any amplifier with a dynamic
P.S. 609's are pretty cheap and easy to place
 
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