Mic placement for distorted guitar?

T

to_see_me

New member
How do you record distorted guitar? I'm trying to get it to sound a little less muddy. I've tried two mic's set at different distances and also tried just a mono track, but it always comes across a little strong for my tastes. Not precise enough. Like it's easy to get it too loud in the mix, but if it's not loud it sounds washy and weak. Any sugestions?
Thanks!
 
What mics do you have?

Tried and true method is a SM-57 placed off axis (mic two or three inches from the center of the cone, placed at an angle towards the center) about 1/2 to 1 inch away...

Might place a LD condesor about three feet back for a more open tone

If your two mic option is souding wishy-washy, try reversing the phase of the distant mic (though I don't know why....maybe washy isn't the best word)

Let us know what kinda mics you have, and the condition of your room..

Peace
Chris
 
thanks Chris,
I'm using a sm 57 and 58. I'm in my basement which has actually produced some surprisingly decent drum sounds. Clean guitar is fine as I have been doing mostly direct in but to get a 'tight' distorted sound is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Is it good to maybe do 2 seperate mono tracks and spilt them for a stereo effect? How do the'modern rock' songs get that thick sound?
p.s.:i'm using a Korg D12
 
In addition to the mic in front of the speaker I throw a 57 in the back of my cab (its an open back...) and it really helps capture a much fuller sound when Im recording distorted guitar. Mix the 2 to taste.
hope this helps,
Todd
 
to_see_me said:
How do you record distorted guitar? ?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I play a reallllly cheap guitar while flushing an even cheaper mic down the toilet. Then i record it on cassette.
 
Chrisjob's mike placement is a good one. You also may want to try these things out as well:

-You said you recorded the drums in the basement. If you record the guitar in there as well, you will have twice the reverberation, which will really start to clutter things up. Get a cheap carpet to place the amp on. Get some blankets and try to cover the space so that the reverb is minimized as much as possible. The key is to have as much reverb absorbed by the blankets as possible. You want a drier guitar sound. You already have the reverb from the drums, so you are NOT going to need reverb for any other instruments except maybe the vocals.

-If you are recording with a typical guitar amp (as opposed to a cab), then get the amp off the floor so that the overall sound dispersion gets captured as opposed to waves bouncing off your floor.

-Reduce the gain. Too much gain really clutters up the tone of the instrument, especially when you are recording more than one guitar at a time.

Cy
 
Cyrock-
that is super advice about the reverb and blankets and all. I will give that a shot and see how it goes.
 
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