Recording Electric Guitar

[davacontrol]

I'm actually writing because I have some questions with recording. See, I record as a hobby and I've been doing it for a while (about 4 years now) but one of the hardest things for me is to get the best guitar sound. I have a Fostex, 16 track digital recorder with a 40 gig hard drive. I have a couple of sm 57s, and I just got a hold of a Seenheiser evloution serious e9066 mic made specifically for recording guitar. I also have a small 6 channel mixer. The problem is that whenever I record with the evolution serious mic, it sounds to far a way. I've turned up the guitar amp, fiddled with the mixer, and the recorder. Still sounds far away. When ever I use the sm 57 it usually sounds too distorted. I could reallllly use your help here. Mic placement is something I'm lost in. I'm looking for what you would recommend with all of this. When the guitar is distorted, its also very hard to get a good sound. If you could give me a little help, it would be greatly appropriated!!
thanks

[WhiteStrat]

Where are you placing the mic right now? And what kind of guitar sound are you recording: clean, crunchy, high gain? What kind of amp?

Answer those and we can direct you a bit.

Also, for now--just use the mixer as a preamp--don't do anything with the EQ. It's always best to focus on getting the best possilble sound with a simple signal path. And believe me, that's very doable with a 57 right up on the grill of a decent amp...

[Dani Pace]

Does the guitar/amp sound the way you want it when you just play and listen to it without recording? I mean does it really sound the way you would like it to. Listen carefully from several locations in your room. A good tone at the beginning is the best way to record guitar (or anything else for that matter.) Where do you have the amp sitting? You might want to move it to a different location in the room. Is the amp sitting on the floor or on a stand? Is the amp in a corner or backed up against a wall? Is it a single speaker or multi speaker cab? All these (and other) factors make a lot of difference in how you record guitar. It's not rocket science but it is a balancing act. Give us more detail and we can make better suggestions.

[davacontrol]

Its a multi speaker cab. Its against the wall, and its on the floor. The setting is what I want it to be, but when i use the e907 mic, the mic made for guitar, it sounds really far away. any ideas?

[mixsit]

WhireStrat already said it.

Originally Posted by WhiteStrat

Where are you placing the mic right now? ...

Define 'far away'. Often that can mean the mic is too far way. And just as often the settings we think sound cool standing there in the room by it's self is not what works -masked by the other instruments in the mix, nor is it what the mic is reproducing.

[mixsit]

E906-? Wouldn't be one of those mic where the back might be confused fpr the front?
Just to get that one out of the way..

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by mixsit

E906-? Wouldn't be one of those mic where the back might be confused fpr the front?
Just to get that one out of the way..

That it is. I have a 609; a cheaper version of the 906 with the same type of housing. The silver side is the front, the black is the back. I don't know that it's the same with the 906, but I'm sure they're marked somehow. That could be the OP's problem.

(I once used one live for a trumpet player--he turned it around without knowing it made a difference; I couldn't see mic well enough from the mix position to realize it--never did get him in the mix right! )

[davacontrol]

No its pointed towards the front. And also, I've tried putting the mic as close as possible. I've tried messing with allll the volumes. The "trim" (just gain) on the recorder, on the mixer, and putting the amp up. It gets too distorted, but it still sounds far away. help?

[Anfontan]

Have you considered that you may have a faulty mic cable? A bad cable will give you a distant sound, it may only get half of the polarity and lose half of the signal. Also, you may have a corroded connection in the microphone-check the inside of the mic where the mic cord plugs into the microphone-if it is tarnished use some very fine sandpaper or emery cloth to remove the corrosion.
I usually can simply resolder the connections to the pins and the cable works fine.

[SADFINGER]

What Are Your Meters Reading? Low Volume Or High?

[WhiteStrat]

How about a clip so we can hear what you're hearing? Distant, far-away, distorted--these can all mean different things to different people...

[Thurgood]

I am not familiar with the mic you are using but if it does have two sides (acting at once) you could be encountering phase issues. Early rflections, and cancelations. Check your cableing and make sure the hot pin and the "not hot" are good with one another.. W.