Amp issues

G

greenascanbe

New member
No matter how I tweak things my guitar tracks lack warmth and sound scratchy on the top end without the sustain and gain I’m looking for. I’m looking for a hard rock sound (VH, Scorpions) and no matter how I tweak the EQ it ends up emphasizing the scratchiness and mud.

Sound files are available here for review

http://www.myspace.com/goodfridayrocks


Recording information

Chain: Epiphone Les Paul on the bridge pick-up (semore duncun custom EVH), monster guitar cable, Peavey JSX 212 combo amp. Amp settings: Crunch channel: gain 5, volume 5, low 7, mid 4, high 8. Presence at 6, Resonance at 5. Master volume at 5.

Amp in closet with three mics

SM 57: two inches away from speaker cloth just left of the center of cone.
Shure 27 Condenser: : right in front 3 feet away from amp
Beta 52: right behind the amp, (open back)


Any help would be appreciated.
 
Have you tried the SM57 off axis?
I sometimes like a 45 degree angle across the cone.

Are there clothes in the closet? Thought I heard some comb filtering.
 
Jamz0r said:
Have you tried the SM57 off axis?
I sometimes like a 45 degree angle across the cone.

Are there clothes in the closet? Thought I heard some comb filtering.
Click to expand...

I second that.

I get very shrill sounds being pointed strait at the cone with the 57 at close range.

I liked moving the 57 to the outside edge of the cone and then angling a little back inward to bring back the bright sound to taste.

I started using the Audix I5 for guitars and they pickup alot more low end and I dont have harshness issues like the 57's.
 
You may want to try a "less is more" approach. I used to mic with multiple mics all the time and never liked my sound as much as I do with just a 57 in between the edge and center of the speaker. After listening to all three mics you can tell the 57 is the way to go, get it closer and keep it away from the center of the speaker. Also see if killing the presence might help some, I've never found it to be helpful when recording. I'm also wondering if you're basing your thoughts on just the guitar tracks by themselves, you really need to hear the guitars with the mix.
 
ez_willis said:
Are you sure that was recorded using a Monster cable? I'm hearing something that is inconsistent with Monster.
Click to expand...

He probably had it plugged in backwards. Gotta follow the arrows, or it won't sound good. ;)
 
I cut back the ohm from 8 to 4 and that seemed to get rid of a lot of the scratch without scarificing the highs.

I then went back and used the 45 degree angle. Also went without the the room condenser. The big difference might be that I'm spliting the signal sending one to the amp and other straight to the board.

And I made sure the arrows were going the right direction. Sorry about the myspace thing, I'm just to lazy to try to find another mp3 hosting site on short notice.

Thanks for the help
 
greenascanbe said:
I cut back the ohm from 8 to 4 and that seemed to get rid of a lot of the scratch without scarificing the highs.

I then went back and used the 45 degree angle. Also went without the the room condenser. The big difference might be that I'm spliting the signal sending one to the amp and other straight to the board.

And I made sure the arrows were going the right direction. Sorry about the myspace thing, I'm just to lazy to try to find another mp3 hosting site on short notice.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Changing the impedence won't do anything other than possibly blow your output transformer. Recording in a clost with 3 mics is going to result in comb filtering, phasing and just isn't going to do what you are looking for.
Especially the mic in the back of the amp is going to be 180 out of phase with the close mic. Too small of an area to be using so many mics. Put the 57 on the speaker between the cone and the outter edge and watch your tone come to life!
 
greenascanbe said:
I cut back the ohm from 8 to 4 and that seemed to get rid of a lot of the scratch without scarificing the highs.

I then went back and used the 45 degree angle. Also went without the the room condenser. The big difference might be that I'm spliting the signal sending one to the amp and other straight to the board.

And I made sure the arrows were going the right direction. Sorry about the myspace thing, I'm just to lazy to try to find another mp3 hosting site on short notice.

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

asking for help, but too lazy to post a clip... Okay :rolleyes:

here's a free site: NoWhereRadio.com
 
Up the mids. You could also add a little more gain, not much.

It actually has that Scorpions (blackout album) kind of sound, but I think your speakers are screwing you. Turn the amp up to get the speakers to distort.
 
It also sounds like your tracking too hot. Bring the levels up later and get a decent sound first. I made the same mistakes that sound similar to your problem.
 
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