Mic Placement for a guitar amp????

[DJTonyMOMO]

I am using a Shure SM58 to record my Old school Fender Guitar Amp. Now I was wondering How close and at what angle should I place the mic to the Amps speaker?

 

[Sklathill]

I like right in front of the amp, right up on the grille, between the center and the edge.

 

[Fletcher]

I was wondering How close and at what angle should I place the mic to the Amps speaker?

Where it sounds good. I'm not trying to be an asshole [the wife says it comes naturally]... but there are sooooooo many possible mic positions that it's kind of impossible to say where nor how close.

A couple of things to consider when mic'ing an amp... first, the amp will sound different in the room than it does out of the speakers if you leave the amp on the floor. When the speakers are coupled with the floor they develop a bottom to the tone that isn't really coming out of the speakers and will be impossible to record if you're close mic'ing the amp. Couple that with you can't really hear what the speakers are doing when the speakers are shooting at your shins... and I think you'll find it pragmatic to get the amp up closer to 'ear height'... a barstool or road case will work rather well to elevate the speakers.

Another thing to remember... the edge of a speaker [the surround] is a lot "darker" sounding than the center of the speaker [where the 'dust cap' lives]. You will get a 'brighter' tone when mic'ing the center of the speaker than the edge of the speaker... the net result being that by moving the microphone between the center and the edge you can vary the "EQ" of what the mic is hearing.

You also have whats known as the 'proximity' effect with a cardiod microphone. The short version is that the closer a cardiod mic is to a source, the more bottom it has... so moving the mic in and out from the speaker will net you another method with which you can vary the tone.

Last [but not least] is the 'angle of the dangle'... as you turn a mic 'off axis', this too will change it's response. Between the 3 available dimensions in space... you have more positioning choices than can be fully explored in any given lifetime...

[oh... and did I mention that every driver sounds a bit different?]

 

[DJTonyMOMO]

Thanks for the info Fletcher

 

[gitrokr]

how will the sound differ when its off axis...and are there different ways of off axis micing a cab??? examples maybe...