Mic Placement

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HearClear

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I've always miked guitar amps 3" from the cone at a 45 degree angle. I've been experimenting with a second "room mic". My results have not been good, but I've heard it can be worth it. Also not sure if I should record the amp at loud levels. Any tips, tricks or experiences.
Thanks
Adam
 
There's a big thread on the microphone forum about polar patterns and miking guitar amps is discussed in detail.
 
Yo Adam:

I have this little neat amp, a GKruger and it has a plug in/out which bypasses the speaker. So, you can amp your ax without using the speaker and run it right into your recorder.

I don't know how many other amps have this feature but the GK is kind of pricy but it may be worth it.

Of course you can mic any amp but loud is not always as good as clear.


Green Hornet
 
The way I've always done it was to let somebody play the guitar at the level they're comfortable with and then walk around the room and listen to where the amp sounds best to you and put the room mic there. Mix it in with the close mic and be aware that you can run into phase problems. You may have to reverse the polarity of the distant mic. Also if you're using a DAW, you can drag the distant mic track into alignment with the close mic track. Of course, your milage may very.
 
I don't have daw. And I'm not sure what reverse polarity means, I understand mics have polar patterns, is that what I need to reverse? If so how?
Thanks
Adam
 
It's not the polar pattern of the mic but the phase of the signal outputting from the mic. Does your mixer or mic pre amp have phase or polarity switch on it? It may not even be an issue. It depends on the room, where your amp is in the room, where the distant mic is in relation to all of the above factores. You'll know you have a problem if you mix the two mics together and it starts sounding hinky ( either the bass disappears or it sounds honky or tuby).
 
My board dosn't have that switch but I'm pretty sure the preamp I just ordered does,(aphex 107) so I'll try it out when I get it.
Thanks
Adam
 
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