Isolating a Guitar Cab

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Katauskas
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David Katauskas

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I get this aweful reflection sound while recording my guitar amp. It reflects the most aweful frequencies which converts a great sound into major crapola.

Without treating the whole room, is there a way to compactly isolate room reflection from the cab mics without spending a gazillion dollars? I read that Hetfield used a makeshift amp tent but cannot find any of the specifics.
 
Similar way with the Hetfield tent I used,
1. Get bed sheet
2. A couple of supports eg broom handles, kitchen stools.
3. Build tent over mics and amp leaving room to breathe.

Looks hilarious but works.
Very cheap.

If you leave this set up overnite just check inside the "tent" before turning amp on and recording your next session, " Children may have taken up residence"
 
How do you know it's the room and not the:

  • tones coming from the amp... (use headphones to dial in the tone)
  • the mic... (change mics)
  • the amp
  • pickups

because the amp sounds Okay in the room, does not mean it will sound good recorded based on several things...

  • Mic
  • Mic placement
  • Preamp
  • Tones emitting from just in front of the amp, where the mic is. Don't confuse this with what your hearing in the room. The room sound is much more complex.
  • Is this an open back speaker cab?
  • How loud are you playing? Can one speaker handle the power? Consider a speaker box?
  • What's the dimensions of your room?
  • Wall surface types?
  • Is the room empty?
  • Is this a bedroom?

Instead of trying to isolate the cab, which is almost impossible, stack boxes and round objects around the amp to diffuse the sound... the denser the better

Move the amp in the room... maybe you're in a node that has stacked frequencies... don't move the cab much at a time.... maybe a foot or so

Move the mic around in front of the speaker... starting at the speaker dust cover and move outwards

Select a different speaker

Try another amp

Try different pickups
 
Last edited:
Gorty:
Are the sheets are enough to block the upper frequencies? I'll give it a try.

Sonic:
Good question...I'm not 100% sure that it is the room. There is just something ear-piercing about the sound. It is more noticable when I start stacking more guitar tracks over each other. I'm really having a hard time figuring this out.

Here's my chain,
EMG 81 and single coil -> PSA-1 Preamp -> Crate ss clean channel -> e609 (and xml991) up close -> ub802 mixer -> soundcard

It is an open back combo. It's loud enough that you cannot have a conversation without speaking very loudly.

Room : 24' x 24' paneling (over concrete) with carpet (over concrete) and fiberglass drop ceiling.

Maybe I'm also using a bad technique combining all of the tracks...?
Track 1 : e609 and 991 panned hard left
Track 2 : e609 and 991 panned hard right
Track 3 : e609 and 991 center played up 1 octave
Track 4 : e609 panned hard left
Track 5 : e609 panned hard right
Track 6 : e609 center played up 1 octave

Here are 3 samples:

Tracks 1 thru 6 completely raw:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=2721847

Track 1 only (centered)
http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=2721849

Track4 only (centered)
http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=2721853

I sincerely appreciate your time.
 
I have to disagree with the sheet thing... yeah it may block some upper stuff some, but that's about it...

do you have a another mic...

try this, each time you track, change the EQ on the amp just a tad and move the mic just a bit also... I'll bet the problem is at least tamed if not solved... if the tone radically changes and you can't handle that, then backup half way on one ot another... repeat as necessary

What kind of speaker?

which clips on your SoundClick page? your links take me to a cover page.
 
Sonixx said:
What kind of speaker?
which clips on your SoundClick page? your links take me to a cover page.
Click to expand...

The speaker is the "Custom Made" Crate speaker...I'm sure it isn't the best. But I'm willing to do some swapping if necessary.

Sorry about the links...the samples are in order of the above descriptions:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=283771
Guitar Sample 1
Guitar Sample 2
Guitar Sample 3

I'll update their descriptions.
 
gee David... I'm not sure what you don't like in this guitar tone since I can't hear what's in your head and what you're hearing in the room... it's definitely scooped

I don't particularly care for condensers on heavy guitar. I prefer the 421 sound and I mix it with a e609S often... I think your other mic is a condenser.

have you tried a 57... I've not had much luck them, but it'll give you a lot more mids than the e609S... both mixed may help. see if you can round up another cab with V30's, GBs or G12H30s

try rolling off above 7500Hz

I'd play around with mic selection and placement first...
 
Sonixx,
When mixed with the foundation, it just stands out and my ears start to hurt...even when bringing the level down significantly.

The 421 is actually the next mic I've been wanting to purchase. Should be in the next few weeks.

I'll also try to borrow another cab to see if that helps.

Thanks again for the help!
 
Forget the sheet, you need something a lot heavier. A quick solution might be to surround your amp and mic with chairs, wooden kitchen chairs should work then cover the whole set up with heavy blankets or quilts. It wont be as effective as a padded iso booth but it will do a lot more than something as flimsy as a sheet draped over a broomstick.
 
instead of / in addition to covering the whole amp...you can also place stuff around your mic to minimize reflections if it's right up against the grill.

i just did this with some foam around a 421 and a 57 in a fairly snappy room...worked well when we ran out of blankets.

Mike
 
Sonixx said:
I have to disagree with the sheet thing... yeah it may block some upper stuff some, but that's about it..


David,
This procedure and set up may well not achieve what you are chasing for in your guitar tracks but I used this so called "tent" set up to record a very clean, jangly Stratocaster through a 100watt Laney valve head and a slant faced quad box with a SM 57 in a empty bedroom with just carpets on the floor.

At the time of me recording using this tent set up the room was very live, all I was trying to achieve was remove the ambience of the room and some shimmering type sound (excuse my definitions). In regards to what range of frequencies that may have been removed I am not 100% certain.

All I know is that I achieved what I set out to by trial and error.
I had a listen to your recordings albeit on my PC speakers at work and as a suggestion maybe you might achieve different results (more favourable perhaps) without layering to much. I thought you had slightly more definition in your single tracks than your layering.

Gorty (Kev)
Click to expand...
 
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