Do i need any other pre's?

[danielheeger]

So, I have been trying to take recordipng seriously a lot the last couple months. Long story short, ive been recording (or trying) to record some distorted electric guitars. Ive just been having problems with the guitars sounding cheap. Mics i've been using: Blue Spark, Shure SM57, MXL r144, sennhesier e609, among others. My interface is a focusrite saffire pro 40. I'm still recording into reaper. Long story short, I have been reading some online posts and some people have said that using a higher quality preamp will make a difference. Is that true? I am just not too sure about believing everything i read in an article. Hahaha

Also, i know this isnt why you are looking at this, but what kind of eq's, comps, Blah blah blah should i be running on this? As far as the tone i am going for, creed and alter nridge, metallica, ect. Thanks for your time.

 

[Chili]

You should be getting a useable tone with the equipment you have. The 57 should be fine for distorted guitar. Mic placement has a big effect on tone. I'm not an epxert on amp micing and don't typically mic my amp, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Place the 57 near the cone of the speaker and angle it towards the edge. Exact placement and angle is a subject of experimentation.

Getting a good distorted tone is kind of contra-intiutive. You would think that a great tone from your amp is going to get recorded as a great tone, but that's not always the case. Common wisdom says to turn the gain down by a significant amount. The reason is the mic hears something different from what you hear. If you want a meatier tone, then record the part several times and stack the tracks.

Again, I'm no expert on mic amping, but this should help get you started until someone who knows what they are talking about comes along.

peace,