Recording Distorted Guitar

[drowningout]

My band is recording a little demo to seel at our school and we know how to record drums bass and vocals, but I haven't figured out how to repcrd distorted guitar yet. I know that i should mic the amp and not go directly in to my recording interface, but Im not sure where to place it or how much distortion to set it at to get the right sound. We arent looking for extremely heavy distortion but we arent looking for really light distortion either. Any help would be greatly apreciated..

The gear I have is..
-M-Audio Fast Track Pro
-Marshall Mg 30
-Digitech Hot Head Distortion
-Ibanez SA120 and Epiphone G400
-Behringer Dynamic Mics and One Condenser.

 

[thebigcheese]

I don't know much about your specific gear, but generally you want to set the distortion lower than you think you should. It might not sound quite as cool live, but it will sound better recorded. As far as positioning, you usually want the mic fairly close to the speaker grill. You probably won't want it pointing directly in the middle, but you'll want to do some experimenting and move the mic around while the guitarist plays so you can see where it sounds best.

If you've tried recording and not liked how it sounds in the mix, then you'll want to mess with EQ. You'll want to cut out a lot of the low end so it isn't fighting the bass. Treble can also be a bit unruly with distorted guitars, so be careful you don't have too much of that.

 

[Tadpui]

This is a topic that gets covered a lot here. More than a lot...a ton, a shit ton. A metric shit ton!

Have a go at the search function, narrow the search to the Guitars & Bass forum (or maybe the recording techniques forum as well) and you'll get dozens of threads full of advice for recording distorted electric guitar.

Once you've done some reading, come on back if you have any specific questions. "Recording Distorted Guitar" is a very broad subject.