my first post didn't post . . . how can i better record?

lysis

New member


please note that this is flat; no software modifications have been done to this, not even leveling.


we're using a shure sm58 on the guitar and we've got a decent tone out of it, but we want to know how we can get a better tone out of it. we're using a marshall cab; 4x12 (celestions) the mic we've got positioned at a 30º angle at the edge of a speaker and so far this is the best position we've found. we've got the mic up against the grill, actually pushing it in a bit to get closer to the driver.

we know the drums sound bad as well, but those we're fixing later. =P

if anybody could please give us some advice for recording a better tone, that would be great. we want to do as little post editing as possible (it's better that way anyway, right?)
 
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Could be many things going on here. To me, it sounds like the pickup might be stock Ibanez, Shecter, whatever. Is it halfway decent, like an EMG, Duncan, Dimarzio, Bill-n-Becky Lawrence? That can make a world of difference.

The amp head - what is it, and is the distortion coming from the head or a pedal (if pedal, what's the pedal)? Some pedals blow.

Sounds like there may be too much gain. Although you are going for a heavy, gainy sound, you may need to actually back off to prevent the over-fuzziness that sounds kind of muddy. Or, do one with the fuzzy sound, and do another guitar (or another 2 guitars, not panned so far left and right) with a completely different head or distortion pedal.

Maybe do a "backing" type guitar track that is direct recorded with something that has a cabinet sim, and blend 'em until nice.
 
GreenDank said:
Could be many things going on here. To me, it sounds like the pickup might be stock Ibanez, Shecter, whatever. Is it halfway decent, like an EMG, Duncan, Dimarzio, Bill-n-Becky Lawrence? That can make a world of difference.

The amp head - what is it, and is the distortion coming from the head or a pedal (if pedal, what's the pedal)? Some pedals blow.

Sounds like there may be too much gain. Although you are going for a heavy, gainy sound, you may need to actually back off to prevent the over-fuzziness that sounds kind of muddy. Or, do one with the fuzzy sound, and do another guitar (or another 2 guitars, not panned so far left and right) with a completely different head or distortion pedal.

Maybe do a "backing" type guitar track that is direct recorded with something that has a cabinet sim, and blend 'em until nice.
well the guitar is a jackson; i believe it's got duncans stock. (can't remember, i don't do guitar)

the head is a new crate 350w. pedal is Digitech Metal Zone. i just won a FabTone on ebay and i want to try that out. we're going for a nice crunchy tone. all of the bottom end of the guitar we'd like to pick up, but it sounds like it's got too much low/mid and not enough highs.

the cab is a 4x12 marshall cab. celestions. he's not purchased his crate cab yet; still using our drummer's cab (was using a little 100w marshall head. we didn't like the sound of it recorded)

so you recommend try backing the mic out a bit, try turning the gain down, and maybe record a second track with different distortion or head?

let me know if you have any other ideas.
 
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hmmm. the pickup could be a stock Jackson brand or duncan-designed (not good) or a real duncan (good). but it's probably not too bad either way.

the cab is probably kick-ass compared to what the crate will be, but try out the crate anyway.

what suprises me is the use of a distortion pedal with the crate. I'm not the type to dog solid state (if that's what it is) just because it's solid state. I personally don't mind crates. the thing is, they usually have a pretty good range of distortion - I have a little crate amp that has more gain than I'd ever need. sometimes the use of a distortion pedal with a solid state amp on the distortion channel just turns into mud. perhaps you're using it on the clean channel. If you haven't tried it with the clean channel, try that instead. I'd try a track using the crate's distortion channel without any pedals and see how it mixes in. It may not need any pedal at all!

the fab tone might be cool to play with. i've never used it, but I like danelectro effects (that is the brand, right?) myself.

I don't know if you'd need to back the mic up, I doubt it. perhaps someone can chime in on that one....
 
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