Suggestions for micing a Fender Twin Verb

Venesectrix

Venesectrix

New member
I've got a session coming up that I'm recording a Fender Twin Reverb slightly overdriven. The guitar is a Epiphone hollow body. The style of music is a combination of Jazz, Blues, and maybe a slight bit of Rock.

Here's what I've got to work with in the studio..

Sony DMX R-100 console
Millennia 8 channel pre
RNC Compressor
NCC-1701 Limiter
Pro-Tools HD

4x Shure SM-57's
2x Shure SM-81
4x Sennheiser 421's
2x Neumann TLM103's
2x Neumann KM184's
1x AKG D-112
2x AKG 414
1x AT 4033

So given you had the above available equipment what might you try on this guitar track?

Thanks! :)
 
Really? You are working with all that gear and you don't know where to start??? Try the 57, 421, and 414 and see which one suits you.
 
I agree with M10K on the probable selection of go-to mics.

As far as placement, I'd start out with an ear test by plugging the guitar into the amp, and making sure absolutley no one goes near it for the next couple of minutes while you perform an ear test - unles syou want to chance hearing damage ;). Why, because next, turn up the amp volume until you can hear the hiss/self noise of the system.

Move your ear up close to the amp and move around lsitening to the difference, if any, between the twin drivers. If one seems to sound a bit brighter than the other. Mike that one for a bit more of a brighter, 70s George Winston-ish sound, mike the other one for a more 50s/60s Les Spann-type of sound.

From there you can fine tune more. In general, miking around the voice coil area (the inner circle surrounding the dustcap) will tend in general to yield a bit of a cleaner, sharper sound, moving out on the cone towards the surround will get a bit sloppier but warmer sounding. The difference may be great, they may not, these are just general principles to keep in mind.

Also, if you are in a decent-sounding room like a studio live room, and you're looking more for a backing guitar track rather than a lead, you might want t9o back the mic off of the amp by a few feet (and maybe turn down any on-board 'verb) to get a more distant, not os in-your-face sound.

Finally, as far as mic position relative to the drivers when you're close miking, in general for each of those mics if you point it straight on you'll get a more even frequency response, but angle in something like 35-45° degress (more or less) and it will be a bit more bass-friendly.

From there, with that info, you should be able to find a sound you can work with.

Save the signal processors for mixing, leaving your options open by tracking basically clean until you know just what you want or need and know you can get it right the first time.

HTH,

G.
 
Thanks guys,
M10K, it's not at all that I don't know where to start. I know of several things that would probably work just fine, I just wanted to know any techniques that I might not think of that some of you guys have picked up over the years. I'm a recording industry student (so this is not my personal gear) just trying to expand my knowledge to other areas besides the school.

And thanks SouthSIDE Glen. That's a great idea to crank the amp (hehe, without playing the guitar) and listen to the drivers. Unfortunately, the room I'm working in is less than stellar. It's carpeted and acoustically treated so it's a relatively dead/small room. It's also going to be the guitar carrying the song. It's just drums, bass, guitar, trumpet, and vocals.
 
I like the 421 and it can combine nicely with a 57. For mics and positioning I really suggest you take a few minutes to do a quick test. I like to get the player to play a small chunk of the piece that will be recorded and stop every 15 seconds. I speak into the mic and quickly describe the positioning like this, "421 6" away facing in at a 30 degree angle into the left speaker cone... (15 seconds later I adjust the position and say) 421 6" away facing the right speaker cone at a 30 degree angle." In a space of about 4 minutes I've got 8 or ten different positions.

Then I use the cut tool in my DAW and split the wav form and then group normalise it so they are roughly equal volume. Then as I listen I quickly erase all the non contenders leaving a few contenders. I would probably start with all three mics (57/421/414) set up at about 3' away, then 2' then 1' away.) and compare the results first to choose the main mic first. I know it's a pain to do this kind of testing but it's a great way to really break it down and hear the results independently. Once you do these tests a few different times you will know the sweet spot for that mic on that cab for that style and can just do it right away.

I find it hard to do it with headphones because I have a one room studio so the bleed into the phones biases my decision.
 
A Fender Twin is my main gig amp and gets used in the "studio" also. I prefer to use smaller amps for recording (the Twin is a bit loud when cranked enough to really sound good) but when using the Twin I usualy use a 57 about 18 inches in front, at about a 30 degree angle to the amp. I also set the amp at least a foot above floor level, never in a corner or with the back cloce to a wall.
 
Dani Pace said:
A Fender Twin is my main gig amp and gets used in the "studio" also. I prefer to use smaller amps for recording (the Twin is a bit loud when cranked enough to really sound good) but when using the Twin I usualy use a 57 about 18 inches in front, at about a 30 degree angle to the amp. I also set the amp at least a foot above floor level, never in a corner or with the back cloce to a wall.
Click to expand...
Dittos except I use The Twin.
 
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