guitar recording, sounds "thin"

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a_goodlett

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dear whoever reads this,

My friends & I have just gotten into recording our music and we need some help. I'm the lead guitarist and when I record my track, it sounds really "thin". Do you know what I mean? by the way hear is the equipment we are using, a TASCAM 424 Mk. II, Peavy Bandit 112 guitar anp, Fender Stratocaster w, humbuckers(although they sound in between single coil & humbucker), and we mic the amp with a Shure 58 mic. We need advice on the best way to go about guitar recoding cause right now its pretty bad. Are we just not doin a good job of mixing or what?

thanx whoever replies
 
I started out using a 58 and the 424. You're plugging it straight in, right? Here's what you need. A preamp like the Art TubeMP. Seems the pre in the Tascam is pretty weak. Get something to boost the mic signal and you will like the result you get.

One other thing. Record as hot as you can. Try to keep it just from going into the red.

H2H
 
Also, your mic placement is a big factor on tone. You can't just stick it anywhere in front of the speaker.

Try this:

Place the mic at a 10 degree angle from the face of the speaker at about 1 inch in from the outside of the cone. This will capture the most bass. Play with the angle and moving the mic possibly closer to center or towards the edge of the speaker and listen to the results. At some point you will hit the sweet spot and your world will rock again!! :)

Ed
 
This is a question...not an answer....should he take the ball off that sm58 or does it matter?...
 
I don't think taking the ball off would make any huge difference, but since I never tried it, I wouldn't know.

Also, I think you'd get a much more pleasing result if you also used a secondary "room mic" in the background and panned each mic oppostite eachother. It will create a nifty stereo effect which can really "fatten up" the sound, for lack of a better term.

Isaiah
 
thanks people + 1 other thing

the micing placement hepled a WHOLE bunch. my friends & were just like "what the hell? why dont we put the mic 3 ft. from the amp on the floor & see how it sounds?". all your advice was really good. thanx everyone. but there is one other thing that is kinda bothering me. its w/ my TASCAM 424 Mk. II. lets say i had a track laid down on channel 1 and a track down on 3 & 4. lets say i didnt want the track one channel 1 anymore, is there anyway to get rid of it? or do i have to record over it or something?
 
hello goodlet...try placing the mic touching the grille/cover of the amp approximatly 3/4 away from the center of the speaker....try boosting the low-end and high-end (on the amp) if doing so does not add noise....
generally, it's best to record without EQ, but, you might try cutting the high end just a bit on the TASCAM--at the same time, try slightly boosting your mid-range (again on the TASCAM) between 2k and 2.5k....also, if the TASCAM has a line-level "INSERT" available for your guitar track-channel, try taking a line out of one of your effects boxes and add it to the guitar track/channel--if you have a stereo-effects processor and you are only using one amp, send the left out to your amp and the right out to an INSERT leading to your guitar track/channel.... sans mic-placement, these things will beef-up the signal...and like Hard2Hear said, record as close to the red as possible--with the occasional peak into the red if you can live with a bit of distortion....also, if you can, figure out some way of using more than one mic for your guitar track/channel--i.e. record using the stereo bus on the TASCAM (if it has one)....if you can find a way to use more than one mic, try adding a "condenser mic"--place it a couple of feet away from the speaker, or, try pointing it directly at your strat--no kidding--place it as close to your pick-hand as possible--a condenser mic is more sensitive than a dynamic-mic like the SM58 or SM57....placing a very sensitive mic on your pick-hand will probably not lessen the tinny (thin) sound you've been getting, but, it will create an "in your face" quality that you may like...hope this helps.
 
I'm not really sure if by "lead guitarist" you mean that you play solos (probably). But, on the rythym tracks you could try and just double up the guitar lines. Experiment with placement and EQ/panning (i know you only have a 4-track...but.....) of the two guitar tracks and you can really fatten up the sound. For leads I think adding a condensor or other room mic to mix in could be cool like toyL suggested. I think you'll have to be careful with phase problems though, right?

Also........ditch the Bandit and get some tubes. IMO
 
hey good,
you might try also multi- mic'ing your amp.
i have only read about this but the idea makes sense-
1 @ the grill, 1 about 5 feet away and 3 feet off the ground, 1 @ 10 feet away and 5 feet off the ground. expiriment!
mix'n'match
have fun
i also read of a dude who placed his amp almost up against a sliding glass door and mic'd it from behind!
supposed to be pretty gnarly, dude!
 
just remembered another technique--place one amp facing another amp--maybe a foot and a half between them--then place about 4 mics--two facing one amp and 2 facing the other--fat sound gaurenteed....of course you must have about 21'' of space separating each mic, but, it works great...later
 
BIGGER GUITAR SOUNDS???

JUST IN THE CASE THAT YOU ARE, WHETHER BY WAY OF AMP OR MIXER, I HAVE ONE SUGGESTION...... DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT SCOOP OUT THE MIDS!!!!!!! THAT IS THE FIRST STEP IN A SERIES OF ALMOST IF NOT TOTALLY INCORRECTABLE MISTAKES YOU COULD MAKE. MID-RANGE GIVES YA THE BEEF AND BITE YOU SEEM TO BE LOOKING FOR, AND I WOULD ALSO TRY A SHURE SM-57 ON THAT AMP.... THE 58 WOULD PROBABLY FAIR BETTER FOR VOCALS, BUT HEY, EXPERIMENTATION IS THE KEY FACTOR IN THIS RECORDING THING!!!
LITTLE Z (STEVE)
 
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