Help, recording hard rock guitar...

[Sydewynder]

Hello everyone, got a problem. I'm trying to get a good crisp guitar crunch recorded (similar to a Godsmack or Disturbed sound) and I can't seem to find the right tone. The crunch is great, I'm micing my amp with an sm57 directly into my computer set up. But, I'm getting entirely too much low range and muffle. Tweeking the low and mids on the amp doesn't work at all, does my solution lie in compressors? I've never actually used one before, what will this do for me?

Here's a few examples of the sound I'm getting:

Thanks guys!

 

[F_cksia]

didnt download your mp3 yet, but what i saw first was that you don't use a preamp, maybe your computers pre-amp, which mostly sucks. First buy yourself one, this helps a lot without a doubt.

 

[F_cksia]

cool dude, is that Ozzy?
you've put the guitars WAY to low, I can't hear it that well, but I guess it is the pre-amp ..



maarten.r

 

[Sydewynder]

Nope, not Ozzy, all me actually. Every instrument, all vocals. Thanks for the compliment though.

 

[Sydewynder]

Good point. Try the other song (Soccer Mom Nazis), the guitar is a lot heavier. I'll also post another song, the last 1/3 of the song gives a good example of the problem I'm having.

Here's my entire guitar set up, pretty basic for recording:

Les Paul Custom -> Metalzone Distortion -> Crate 4X12 head+stack -> sm57 -> direct sound card input

 

[Richard Monroe]

Get a mic preamp!-Richie

 

[Sydewynder]

Thanks guys, that's what I needed to know.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Word on mic preamps- wicked cheap- M Audio Audiobuddy. Upgrade- Studio Projects VTB-1. Upgrade more- FMR RNP. Upgrade more- Grace Design 101 or Joemeek twinQcs. Upgrade more-Davisound TB-10. Upgrade more-Pendulum MDP-1 or Avalon 2022. Upgrade more- SELL YOUR HOUSE! Those are some good notches along the way. The real bottom line is that the best mic you can afford with the best preamp you can afford equals the best sound you can afford to make. You get what you pay for, but like in car racing, 90% of the money goes for the last 10% of performance.-Richie