Mic placement for studio 100watt guitar amp

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thinfinn

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Hello,

I am.. reasonably new to recording, that's to say i've never really bothered about where to place my mic to record a guitar amp seeing as I don't really use one often..
I've heard rumours on placement.. I thought you guys would know better ;)

Does anyone have any simple suggestions? Like, infront, behind, to the side .. Thanks!
 
Really depends on the sound your after, ever spot on the cone is going to be slightly different. Best thing you can do is sit at the desk with some headphones and have someone move the mic around the speaker/cab, moving it back and towards it, while the guitarist is playing and listen for something you like.
 
As a general rule, the center is really bright and the sound gets mellower as you move the mic towards the edge. So you really have to just stick the mic somewhere and listen. If it needs to be brighter, move it toward the middle, if it's too bright, move it away from the middle.
 
Just outside the cone in one of the bottom corners is my favorite place to stick it with the mic cocked at a slight angle downward. The only place to put a mic though is where it sounds best regardless of what you heard from other people. You'll need to do a little bit of trial and error to find your amp's sweet spot.
 
On my 33 watt tube 2X12, I have used a ribbon mic on the left speaker and a Shure SM57 on the right speaker.
I placed the SM 57 right up on the speaker on the top right edge and placed the ribbon about 12 inches back from the middle of the other speaker.
Gave each a separate channel then played around with each channel after I recorded to get the best sound I could by blending the 2.
That is just one way of a thousand to do it.
The Shure SM57 is one of the most used mics to record guitar amps, however, it's not the only one or "the" best one.
It all depends on the sound you are looking/listening for.
The SM57 does catch a guitar amp pretty nicely though. :)
 
Sometimes it's better/easier to pick a neutral spot on the speaker to point the mic (like the point where the dust cap meets the cone), bring the head into the control room and tweak the amp until it sounds right in the monitors. What it sounds like on the recording is much more important that what it sounds like in the live room.
 
Why the hell would you need 100 watts in a recording studio? Find a great sounding 15 or 30 watt amp. Every time someone turns up with a 100 watt head with a quad at the studio I know that we will have to clear the room as it will need to be cranked up before "the sound" will be achieved. Even the player can't stay in the room as it's too loud. Another option is a power brake if the 100 watt is all you have.

If you read articles on great guitar players and what they use tin the studio you will find that they use small amps, keep the 100 watt stuff for the stadiums.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
Why the hell would you need 100 watts in a recording studio? Find a great sounding 15 or 30 watt amp. Every time someone turns up with a 100 watt head with a quad at the studio I know that we will have to clear the room as it will need to be cranked up before "the sound" will be achieved. Even the player can't stay in the room as it's too loud. Another option is a power brake if the 100 watt is all you have.

If you read articles on great guitar players and what they use tin the studio you will find that they use small amps, keep the 100 watt stuff for the stadiums.

Alan.
Click to expand...

I think that's a load of bull. If the sound you want comes from 100 watts trying to rip the shit out of 4 speakers, then that's what you use. Just put the cab and mic where you're not. Keep the head with you in another room and run a long speaker cable.

"Great sounding" 15 or 30 watt amps are still totally loud as fuck. I recently bought an 18w amp thinking/hoping it would provide saner recording volumes. Nope. Not even close.
 
Greg that only took you 22 minutes.

What I was trying to say was that in a typical "Home Studio" 100 watts has a heap more volume than you can deal with.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
Greg that only took you 22 minutes.

What I was trying to say was that in a typical "Home Studio" 100 watts has a heap more volume than you can deal with.

Alan.
Click to expand...

22 minutes? What?


Anyway, yes, 100 watts of tube amp is loud as shit. Stupid loud. Too loud for most clubs and definitely too loud for bar gigs. But it's not more loudness than someone can deal with in a recording environment. 100w amps have been recorded for 50 years now. Most of them have a master volume and some have built-in power soaks. I've been recording 100w amps for a little while now. The amp is in a garage, I'm in a living room. No problem, and it sounds great. I also recently bought a 50w Marshall. It's loud as shit too, but damn it sounds good roaring away, and it sounds better than any of the low watters I tried out before buying the 18w Diamond and the Marshall. It seems to me that, this is just my opinion, those little 1w-5w amps don't put out enough ooomph to get a cab resonating or make the speakers act right. They all sound thin. I tried to find a low watter that sounded "right". I found some that sound decent, but the better sounding ones were still louder than you'd normally want to be in a room with.

Bottom line, if the sound you're after is the roar of a big amp, then that's what you need to use. Or a sim.
 
Turning my JCM800 (50 watts) up to 6 or so on the master with the preamp dimed sounds pretty f-in' good, and I can't get that sound at lower levels - especially the way it interacts with the guitar (which means I have to be in the same room). Yes, at my house the cops would be on their way after 2 bars, but if I could get away with it, I would (and probably will).

Do you have a 4x12? One of the speakers probably sounds better than the others. Wear some cans with good isolation, or get someone else to listen or position, and figure out which one and where sounds best. I really like ribbons on these, but a solid dynamic (or both, as mentioned) can be great.
 
antichef said:
Turning my JCM800 (50 watts) up to 6 or so on the master with the preamp dimed sounds pretty f-in' good, and I can't get that sound at lower levels - especially the way it interacts with the guitar (which means I have to be in the same room). .
Click to expand...

Lol, yeah, I've recorded tracks in which I wanted some feedback, so I'd stand just outside the garage and walk back in for the feedback parts. :D

You ever play that 800 with everything dimed? It's awesome. You'll never get that kind of sound with a 1w anything.
 
Greg_L said:
22 minutes? What?
Click to expand...

My little joke on how quick you answered my thoughts on the 100 watt guitar amp comment.

100 watts to way too loud for most clubs and is a very loud beast in the studio. The guitar player in my band (rock blues) owns a guitar shop, he sells loads of 100 watt heads, and what does he use: a hand made Ulbrick 30 watt head (with a power switch to have only 15 watts) and 2 single 12" speaker cabs, this was a 30 watt combo but he had an extension cab made and the amp put in a seperate case to cut down weight (we are old farts with bad backs). He usually has it switched to 15 watts in most of the venues we play at and 30 watts at the the bigger venues and outside gigs. This amp does not sound thin, in fact a lot of guitar players come along to our gigs to watch him play and comment on how good the sound is. I should point out that the Ulbrick costs more than the standard off the shelf amp but you get what you pay for.

alan.
 
witzendoz said:
My little joke on how quick you answered my thoughts on the 100 watt guitar amp comment.

100 watts to way too loud for most clubs and is a very loud beast in the studio. The guitar player in my band (rock blues) owns a guitar shop, he sells loads of 100 watt heads, and what does he use: a hand made Ulbrick 30 watt head (with a power switch to have only 15 watts) and 2 single 12" speaker cabs, this was a 30 watt combo but he had an extension cab made and the amp put in a seperate case to cut down weight (we are old farts with bad backs). He usually has it switched to 15 watts in most of the venues we play at and 30 watts at the the bigger venues and outside gigs. This amp does not sound thin, in fact a lot of guitar players come along to our gigs to watch him play and comment on how good the sound is. I should point out that the Ulbrick costs more than the standard off the shelf amp but you get what you pay for.

alan.
Click to expand...

That's cool. I don't hate low watt amps or anything. I love the relatively low watt Fender amps, and the AC30 is legendary. I'm just saying, let's say your sound is a wide open Plexi. That's the sound you want, and that sound has been very successfully recorded for decades. How are you gonna get that sound with a 15 watter? You can't. It's physically and electronically impossible. Can that 15w amp sound great? Absolutely, but if it aint the right sound, it aint the right amp. I've learned this the hard way.
 
homestudioguy said:
On my 33 watt tube 2X12, I have used a ribbon mic on the left speaker and a Shure SM57 on the right speaker.
I placed the SM 57 right up on the speaker on the top right edge and placed the ribbon about 12 inches back from the middle of the other speaker.
Gave each a separate channel then played around with each channel after I recorded to get the best sound I could by blending the 2.
That is just one way of a thousand to do it.
The Shure SM57 is one of the most used mics to record guitar amps, however, it's not the only one or "the" best one.
It all depends on the sound you are looking/listening for.
The SM57 does catch a guitar amp pretty nicely though. :)
Click to expand...

Just to get back on track, I have in the last 12 months or so been using ribbon mics on a lot of guitar cab recordings, after you get used to it you realise that the sound you get fits into the mix much easier read this article, about why that is.

The SM57 and the ribbon together work very well, however I usually use a ribbon and a large condenser, but that's just a personal choice. If the ribbon does not work for you try a large condenser and something like an sm57. When using 2 mics don't forget to check the mics are in phase with each other. You can tell as the sound will be very thin if it's out of phase.

Cheers

alan.
 
Just drifting off-track again..

Do guitar amps come any lower powered than the "Deacy Amp"? Deacy Amp Replica 2011 « Fryer Guitars Weblog

Powered from a 9v lantern battery and cranking, ooh, maybe 3/4 of 1 watt, this little gem was responsible for many of Queen guitarist Brian May's signature tones.

Ok, back on-track ->

Paul
 
I've heard of a few amps that go down to .1 watt. I've seen one personally.
 
I usually put a LDC right up against the cone (about halfway between the center and the outside of the cone) and then use a dynamic a few feet back. Sometimes I add a room mic or too if I'm feeling it. That usually works pretty well for me.
In case anyone's curious, the LDC is usually an MXL condenser, and the dynamic is an SM-57
 
Joe Baressi video.

I pretty much roll like he does, I'm a 1 57 on the edge of the dust cap guy.

 
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