sm57 vs sm58 for recording guitar, and general recording tips (see post)

MegaGoo

New member
first off, im recording heavy guitar mainly. i know a sm58 is a vocal mic, but its all i have right now. i was wondering if there was a huge diffence in sound. im doing some home recording with nothing but the basics. guitar/amp/mic/cakewalk. i have the mic running into my mackie pa head as a pre-amp and i get a pretty decent sound, but im pushing myself for better sound. how drastic of a change will the sm57 do for me?

also, the salesperson at gutar center showed me a sennheiser (spelling?) mic and said he preferred it over the sm57 for recording heavy guitar. its 99 bucks and forgot what model it is, but im sure its at www.musiciansfriend.com for the same price.

also, in general any brief (or not so brief) tips for my recording process? im reading all i can in the forums. basically, im micing a little off center, running through the mackie head and through the monitor out, into my soundcard. on the eq im basically cutting the bass just slightly currently. any volume recommendations, such as turn master volume up on main channel, and leave monitor volume on mic at uniden (12 o'clock. if you've seen a mackie head you'll be familar with uniden). or leave master volume low and turn mic volume up. etc etc etc.

any help is greatly appreciated

eddie
 
The sm57 is pretty much the most widely used ( notice im not saying best, cause i know some jokers out there will pop in their 2 cents)microphone to mic a guitar amp....if u take the ball off the 58, you have pretty much the same mic....when you say u want a "better sound", exactly what are you looking for?....you probably wont get a better sound than whats coming out of the amp....if you are pleased with the sound coming out of the amp, I would experiment with mic placement......some will tell the stick the mic right up on the grill...some will tell you pull it off a few inches...some will say pull it off about a foot, off axis to give the sound some breathing room......just keep playing with it until you get what you want.....or just go get a J-Station or Pod....
 
yea i take the ball off the sm58. i think that my distortion could be better. im using a digitech rp-6. also, new pickups would be good. would that drastically change the sound, which would drastically change the recording? i guess im asking will one thing work well, or is it the combination of pickups/distortion type/amp type/eq settings

eddie
 
Damn, I just noticed you are in Metarie....what kind of amp are you using....what kind of sound are you going for.....
 
hey yep here in metairie :) im using a mackie 408s fr series. and for the cabinet its two speakers (i'll take a guess and say 16 - 18 inches. it says acoustic 271 on it. no idea ..

mainly looking for a really heavy sound. but in a song here and there i like a nice warm distortion thats more overdrive i guess.

eddie
 
The sm 57 will probably sound better on the guitar, although not by a huge margin, it'll probably be a little 'cleaner' and more 'open sounding'. Unless you have the money to (possibly) waste forget about the senheisser, if you really want to spend the $99 buy the sm 57 instead. You will probably get the quietest signal (not that the Mackies are noisy) by leaving both the send and the channel gain close to unity.
 
ah ok. so leave the monitor level on the mic channel and the monitor master on unity, and use the master volume and the volume on my pedal to get what i want?

well the guy at guitar center said he liked the 57 a lot, "but its just that better mics for heavy guitar have been made". he said he's used them both for home recording heavy guitar. but if the sm58 with the metal ball off is pretty similar to the sm57, i'll spend my money on pickups before anything else

eddie
 
You running a line direct from the amp to your mixer as well i take it if your micing up the speaker as well? That way youve got the whole dry/wet variables to tat about with. Just my 2 cents anyways ;)
 
Oh and from experience that is with other factors such as bass, drums and vocals in on the blend, so dunno if it'll pay off if its just geetar your recording. I hear that 50 or 60 hz (dependent upon geographical location) causes some sort of AC hum from the mains power as it is of similar frequency, and thus slapping a high pass filter on above that range should theoretically eliminate said problem. Just a thought anyways if you run into such problems in future. Of course you may well wish to keep that range open though, i guess its all about preference. *shrugs
 
You should look at the dates on the posts. I think after 7 years, the OP probably has it figured out... or he gave up.
 
archives!

You should look at the dates on the posts. I think after 7 years, the OP probably has it figured out... or he gave up.

Yes, that person may have figured it out.

But this BBS is for everyone.... Like the person who is just starting....
and is googling "SM57" and all that.

Okay- my opinion:

I have done great recordings with SM58's and SM57's.
It's hard to go wrong with this basically good microphone pair.
Other mics have tried to be "the basic mic" - but they just can't do it.
Shure :-)) - you can pay a little less - like a $40 mic.....
if you have to for the first one - but if you are going any further -

You can get either one for around $100 - so dont waste money
on more than one of those $40 mics.

SM58 - yes, designed for vocals - and works great on everything else.
and if it hits the ground or the drummer - it can handle.

SM57 - preferred for everything but vocals - AND there is always an
exception. Some vocalists will sound a bit better on the SM57 -
just dont swing it around like Roger Daltrey.

And when you get a bigger budget - Add some Sennheiser.
 
I think I really dislike the sm58... it seems way to low end-ish or I don't know what but something about it bothers me. I think I'll just use it on a kick drum

good luck with your choice.
 
proximity effect

I think I really dislike the sm58... it seems way to low end-ish or I don't know what but something about it bothers me. I think I'll just use it on a kick drum

good luck with your choice.

Tojo,

The SM58 has substantial proximity effect so moving it away from the source will reduce the bassiness. Many singers love to wallow in that enhanced bass and get right on the mic. The proximity effect also impacts guitar cabinets, horns, everything.

The inexpensive Shure dynamics, SM56, SM57, SM58 and before them the 545s are great on guitar amps. The vintage EV vocal and instrument mics, the RE10-18, have less bass, less proximity effect, and they cut more. I guess you would say a sharper upper midrange. Often I record with both. Sometimes I use only the Shure track and sometimes I mix the EV in with it.

The SM57 and SM58 are still in production and the used mics don't go much cheaper than the new ones. The 545 and SM56 mics usually go used for more than a new SM57. I think they still make 545s but not the SM56 and it's getting hard to find an SM56 much under $200.

The lower numbered EV RE series are out of production and can be had under $50 used especially if they are cosmetically challenged RE10 or RE11 mics. I bought an RE10 for next to nothing that looks like it was run over by a big garbage truck and then the broke parts were thrown in the truck. Still it works great. They are for the most part indestructible.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
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