mic'ing guitar amps.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hi I'm Biff.
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Hi I'm Biff.

New member
what's the benefit of using two mics on one guitar cab? like, one mic on each speaker also, what are some tips from you guys on where to place the mic to find that 'sweet spot'? thanks!
 
Hi Biff, if in fact that is your real name. :)

Using two mics on a guitar cab is almost always my choice. Placing one mic up close - within a few inches of one of the speakers - and another at a distance...Anywhere from I'd say, 1 foot to 20 feet. The close up mic will give a more direct sound, whereas the distant mic will give you more of the cabinet/room sound. You can then blend these two sounds together to get many different combinations of sounds. Close micing placement has always worked best for me by putting the mic a bit off axis of the center of the cone of one speaker (tends to get harsh sounding if it's dead center). Play with it, and see what you come up with.
 
thanks, looneytunez. the name's bob actually, hehe. i have 2 sm57s i'm using to mic my cab, i'll mess around with room mic'ing. i haven't done too much with that. thanks!

--bob
 
You could also use the 57's as a XY stereo pair a foot or more back. If your cabinet is mono than you would need to go back a little farther to get a more room stereo sound.

For close micing a mono cab then one mic is all you need.
 
hey biff.....Looney tunez gave you good advice...


Couple things you could try in addition to that:



Ideally three mics would work well.....But you should try all of the following even with just 2 mics.


For the close mic technique for the in your face ballsy sound....Couple of different options here.....You can place the mic so it is actually touching the grill cloth or go for the six to eight inches away technique....Also try placing the mic on the parameter of the speaker cone.......always off axis, like looney said.


Secondly, Try a mid range mic.....one anywhere between 3-6 feet away from the speaker giving you more "room" and less detail.


and a third anywhere from 10 to 20 feet away for the room sound..... Try raising this far mic about 4 or 5 feet off the ground..


You can combine all three of these and mix them any way you like inorder to get many different sounds.......Since you don't have three mics I would try both the mid range mic and the distant mic in combo with the close mic and see which one is most successful in capturing the sound you want.


Also experiment a little....move your amp around to different places in the room.....you could also try raising the amp off the ground....there are a million different things that you can try and an infinite combination of those things that will work....


*note* there isn't one way to do anything...these are just some of the things that I routinely try...


Good luck
 
Okay get a couple of cordless mics and rig 'em up securely (with duct tape, of course!) to the blades of a ceiling fan pointing down at the floor. Place your guitar amp beneath the fan pointing up and let 'er rip. Homemade doppler! Record the signal to two tracks and pan to taste. Record a 57 close mic signal as a safety just in case you're gutless.

knownuttin is a limited liability corp. and is not responsible for broken windows or cordless mics in anyone's backyard pool.
-kent
 
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