Recording Electric Guitar

O

Olijanovi

New member
I want to record my electric guitar through my amp (Fender DeVille 212) and I wanted to know if I should:

1- Completely isolate (closely) the amp and the mics with panels or completely isolate (further away) or not at all

2- Where do you position the mics? One in front of each speaker? One close and one far? (I have 3 different condenser mic and one dynamic SM-57)

I am basically trying to figure out if I will mic my amp or use Guitar Rig with direct in.
 
By the way... I have tried all these techniques not getting a particularly full answer for myself... Hence why I come here.
 
The only correct answer: it depends.

What kind of sound do you want? The most common technique would be to put the 57 on the grill right in front of a speaker. The center of the speaker is gonna be the brightest spot and the sound will get thicker and darker as you move the mic towards the edge of the speaker. So you have to play with it and find the spot that's right for you. You can also tilt the mic off-axis for more flavor. I personally generally like to mic somewhere near the center of the speaker and tilt off axis. If you're miking right on a speaker with a cardoid dynamic like a 57, there's not much need to isolate the cab. You can if you want to, but you're just creating work for yourself.

Then, if you want, and if your room sounds good, you can use one of the condensers back in the room somewhere for a room sound. Blend the two.

And of course your tone has to sound good to begin with. What you hear sitting there in your chair or standing isn't what a mic hears right on the speaker. Adjust accordingly.
 
Greg is right. It depends on the sound you want to achive.
As part of the mic placement experimenting, be aware of phasing issues. Nothing worse than each mic sounding great, and then the two mixed changes the tone due to some cancellation.
 
You don't have to isolate the amp. It just depends. It really comes down to does the amp sound like what you want when you're playing it. if it does, it's hard to screw it up. You really only want isolation if you're trying to mitigate leakage from other instruments. As far as mic placement, experiment. All the time. I've got an amp that I found sounds cool with a 57 laying on the floor a foot in front of the amp.
 
question - are you recording this as part of a group or solo?

If you're in a group then isolation is very useful to keep the mix clean and simple.
If you're recording solo, then probably don't worry too much about the panels (unless you're concerned about room-noise) - just get nice and close with the mic.

Greg's suggestion is a good one, '57s are a standard mic for this application. Can't go wrong.

There is a BRILLIANT article in Sound On Sound, covering mic placement and angels etc with a sample recording of each position to compare.
Here's the link: Guitar Amp Recording Techniques
It might exactly what you need. Otherwise - just go try a few things out and see what you like the sound of!!
 
Thanks for these four answers. It definitely adds to what I knew/thought. I am recording tracks over music. So no leakage can be done. As far as mic placement goes, I will check out moving the mic from the cone and placing a second one, being sure it's not phasing.
 
Get on the floor, or wherever is the same level as the speakers, and listen. Make sure that sound is exactly what you want. Spend a lot of time getting the tone right on the amp. Then put the 57 on the grill and move it around to hear what it does. Then you might need to turn the OD down (I usually knock it down about 30-50% from my live settings). Then you might need to roll on or off a little EQ on the amp.

But, it all starts with getting down and listening to the speakers. Spend the most time on this step, second most on moving the mic around, and then the rest is pretty simple. The whole process will take a long time, but spend as much as needed to get the sound you want, and you'll be set everytime you record.
 
Olijanovi said:
Nice! From your experience, will I gain a lot to do that instead of using guitar rig?
Click to expand...

To be honest there are a lot of good amp sims that can sound really good. I use them sometimes, mostly for not so critical guitar parts. I've found, for me, they work best for crunchy tones and rhythm stuff.

But, recording a real amp is so much more fun. And when I use sims I'm always second guessing and changing settings. With the amp I spend the time up front to get what I want and then I'm stuck with it. It's more rewarding for me, actually kinda easier, and sounds better when I record an amp. But, some sims are really good!

So, if you can get a good sound with a mic and amp it might be an upgrade for you, but if you get a crappy sound using the sim would be better.
 
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