Heavy Metal Guitars

From the sounds of things you might just simply try a different, yet better microphone. SM57's are OK at best but there are much better mics to capture guitars. Then again, sometimes only a 57 will capture the guitar cab correctly but 57's have been hit or miss at best in my experience and it depends on your playing style and how much "woof" or low-end mud you have going out the speakers. Someone said earlier in this post, "I know you've heard this before, but the mic doesn't hear things the same way our ears do." There's half of your problem right there. Try a different mic that picks up the amp more like your ears do in the room and you've licked half the battle. Trust me, there are MUCH better mics than 57's to mic with. I'd say start with a beginner's ($99-199.00) large diaphragm condensor mic and you might be pleasantly surprised or then again you may be sorely disappointed-depending on exactly what you're looking for. Just be sure to get your mic from a store that has a no-hassle return policy so you can try out different mics for a few days or a week to be sure that you'll be pleased with your purchase. I've used an MXL 990 before when an SM57 didn't seem to be getting the right sound. Now I know the 990 isn't the best LD mic in the world but between it and an SM57, I can accurately capture the sound of the guitarists I record. Then again, that's just my opinion based on personal experience and I could be wrong.
 
First: Lets look over some critical 'dirt guitar' EQ ranges and how they affect the myriad of choices/possibilities we might wish to examine in our undertaking. Bottom to top.

20-45Hz. Never say never. Just say rarely.

50-90hz. Ahh the madness. Here's the 'swing' range in our 'chugging'.

100-150. Bottom of the meat.

180-240. Lo-Center of the meat.

250-320. Hi-Center of the meat.

340-650. Danger Will Robinson. Top of meat/Bottom of mids. CRITICAL.

700-900. More danger. Hard to hear. Kills 'newbies' on contact. Will explain.

950-1.2k. Pure Satan. Make or break ya. Easy to hear. Hard to control.

1.3k-1.6k. Ditto the above.

1.7k-2.2k. Top of the mids/Bottom of pick attack range. Oh, the fear.

2.3k-3.1k. Middle of pick range. Picky de poison. Mucho Satania.

3.2k-4.2k. Top of pick range. Pick out a nice coffin. Yer gonna need it.

4.3k-6.5k. Bottom of fizz. Add Beefeaters for gin fizz. Guzzle many glasses.

6.6k-8k. Top of fizzy. Many will kill this range ruthlessly. Careful. Can O' wormies.

8k-10k. Road to hell. Paved with good intentions. Enjoy. Not.

10-15k. Less obvious road(s) to hell. Gravel. Lose a windshield up here.

15k-25k. Same disclaimer as 25-40Hz. Can you say 'sometimes bandwidth matters'?
 
Rokket said:
As far as the volume, it doesn't take a massive, cranked to 11 volume to get good sound when recording. As long as you are getting close to -0dB when you are tracking, that's what's important.
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Eh....no reason to try and hit 0 bd on the digital meters when tracking. You'll run out of headroom that way at mix time. For a 24 bit recording you're safe peaking at -6 and lower even.

And maybe a loud amp is what you need. Try ditching the powerbrake.

Other than that, get some good isolation headphones, play the guitar and the mix together and move the mic while listening on the phones. I always find that' s the easiest way to get the sound I'm after.
 
Always watch the 5K thereabouts for guitars. Hissy hi end ear fatigueing sound. Turn down high end on amp if you get this hi hissing at 5K. and maybe boost mids on amp a bit and ad presence for more clarity usually.
 
i'm sure as hell no guit expert but i'd rather track with smaller amps, so i can burn the tubes without haveing to be at 125 db
is that what the power brake does???
on digital i don't think thare's a need to try and be exactly at 0
 
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