Micing a guitar cabinet with ribbons

[RandomHero]

Hello forum, I recently acquired a cascade fat head II which has worked wonderfully for everything i have used it for so far

now i plan on micing a guitar amp with it. the question is, how do i do this? do i throw it right up there like a '57... or is it more of a room mic?

as you can tell i'm pretty clueless about ribbons.

any tips are appreciated! thanks!

 

[moresound]

Just a few inches of the grill works for me! but as with any microphone you will have to find the sweet spot.

 

[RandomHero]

awesome!!! could i also move it a few feet away where the speakers start to bloom for a beefier sound or will that just sound like crap?

 

[moresound]

Experiment and use what you like. If your going to get off the cabinet some expect room in the capture so ..... you best have a good sounding room.

 

[mixsit]

4-6" here, but nice in that unlike the 57' style mic doesn't thin out as much as you go out farther. (That's to say they start with fuller lows, warmer' overall.
Watch out of 'thumps up close to the grill, = air blast = not good for the ribbon.

 

[drumslinger]

air blast = not good for the ribbon.

good call mixsit.

angle the mic so it's not face on. it'll help protect the ribbon.

 

[witzendoz]

Watch out of 'thumps up close to the grill, = air blast = not good for the ribbon.

Copped that on Sunday, the guitar player had the bass cranked up (to 11) and the ribbon distorted, I turned down the bass on the amp and put a vocal pop screen in front of the mic, all was good then.

By the way I used a Large condenser mic and the ribbon, the sound of the 2 together was great.

Alan.

 

[Sonixx]

I find 6-8 inches, straight on, delivers a very good balance between the top and bottom.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

I've been micing with a sm57 on the grill as usual, and a fat head 6-8 away straight on. Both signals sound great so I'll either mix them, pan them, or chose one or the other. It leaves a lot of options. But yeah, 6 inches seems to be the norm...but that doesn't mean that's what you need to always do.

I don't like the fat head as a room mic for guitar cabs, others do. Oh and I've also placed it behind the cab on open backs and used it as an almost room mic, to get some natural reverb and some more low end.