AHH Harsh guitar sound!

[keilson]

I am using a Behringer board into a Motu 24i. I am micing a Marshall DSL401 Tube amp with an SM57. I keep getting a very harsh guitar sound. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm posting a link here to an mp3 of the guitar sound. Please Help!
The sample has no effects or EQ. Thanks in advance.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Where are you pointing the mic? Avoid pointing it at the center of the speaker cone. Point it more towards the edge. I'd try it with the mic perpendicular to the speaker grille and pointed somewhere between the center and the edge of the cone.

 

[keilson]

Whoopysnorp, thanks for the quick reponse. I'm gonna go try moving it further from the center.

 

[keilson]

ok, i tried it. Sounds a little better. But still sounds harsh. Maybe it's my monitors? Can you let me know? He's another sample.

 

[M.Brane]

IMHO

I agree with Whoopy about not micing the center. With a 57 I like to mic right on the edge of the cone as close to the cloth as I can get without it touching.

I think part of the problem could be too much presence & gain and not enough volume. The only controls on my amps that ever see 10 are the master volumes. I've also found on most amps bass settings above 5-7 usually don't result in more bass- just more mud.

 

[keilson]

i lowered the distortion a lot and just put the volume to 10. Sounds better, but still a little harsh. How can I make it sound smoother. Is it the preamps?
Thanks for the help.

 

[M.Brane]

I just found some pics/specs of that amp. Looks pretty cool. How old are the tubes?

Most Marshalls have an extended upper midrange that can be harsh with single-coil pickups. You should still be able to dial-in a good tone though by rolling off your high-end. If not I would suspect bad tubes.

 

[keilson]

amp is brand new. I am using Fender Standard Strat currently. It sounds great coming out, I just can't seem to capture the sound without some harshness. Thanks for the replies

 

[keilson]

I had also asked Kevin Becka of Homerecording at About.com and he said "The M-audio should be better (than the Behringer preamps), I think that's where you're getting your problem when recording. The harsh sound is happening AFTER the amp. You'll need to upgrade your signal chain to get better results. Do what you can and improve as your budget allows." What do you guys think? Will this fix my problem? I don't wanna end up spending a few hundred on a preamp unless it will actually fix this problem. Thanks for the responses once again.