Recording electric guitars

  • Thread starter Thread starter johnnybgoode
  • Start date Start date
J

johnnybgoode

New member
Hello there, needing some help if possible

I'm trying to record some electric guitar in my bedroom and not having much luck.

I'm using an Epiphone Dot semi-acoustic, a Vox Valvetronix guitar amp, a Shure SM57 and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

At present it sounds awful. Either very quiet, shockingly loud(just a noise really) and a bit crackley at times.

It's the first time I've tried to record electric guitars with a mic, maybe there are some basic mistakes I'm making?

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers
 
Post some sound clips of what you have so we can go from there. What you describe could be about a million different human errors.
 
I've uploaded 2 short clips to soundcloud /craigcasey

I have the gain on my Focusrite up halfway, and the master on my amp is up about a 3rd
 
I'm unable to post links as new member- it's pretty much as above

Should also add that the mic is just right of centre and 1 inch from the speaker
 
Yeah sounds bad. Lol. Are you clipping the pre on the way in? Set your preamp's gain so your track comes in somewhere around -10 on the meters in your DAW. That'll be hot enough to get a clean and clear signal without clipping. Clipping is bad.

Next, how does the amp sound in the room? and get your ear down near the speaker. How does it sound down there? That's what the mic will hear. Feed it a bad sound, and you get a bad track.
 
The amp actually sounds good, thats the problem.

The recording is nothing like what I'm hearing when I play. No volume, no tone, just a very weak sounding guitar track
 
So it's gotta be something in your signal chain. A 57 has been used on guitar cabs since day one. It's not the mic, unless it's physically damaged in some way. Record something else with it and see how it sounds. Try a different mic cable.
 
ok so I think I've dealt with the clipping issue and getting a cleaner signal into my DAW

Any tips or effects I can add afterwards to beef up the sound or would you suggest I just add some EQ?
 
Mic positioning is key as well.

Put on headphones, enable input echo on your daw and move the mic around in front of the speaker while someone plays your guitar.

You will be AMAZED at the tonal variations you get just from doing this.

1/2" in any direction can be absolutely crucial.
 
as a fellow valvetronix player a word of caution

I've very rarely got a good result with just a 57, I normally put either an rode m3 or nt1a nearby to get the lost sounds. remember the 3:1 rule and don't forget it mellow's as you get towards the edge, your your particular brand of folky bluesy stuff, I'd suggest getting a good sound on the amp, putting a 57, off axis about a quarter and a few inches back (around you'll find a sweetspot assuming its similar to my AD30VT) and a condenser at about 1ft away
 
Its really true about mic positioning. You can start pointing the 57 just left of the center of the cone of your amp speaker and move it in half inch increments toward the the edge of the speaker, listening the whole way. Then do the same exercise but tilt the mic approximately 30-45 degrees away from pointing straight at amp (its called off-axis positioning). I suspect you'll find the sound you want with an off axis position roughly half way between the center and edge of the speaker, about .5 - 2 inches away from the grill. Also, I've always gotten better results with a quieter amp compared to how I'd set the amp for playing live. I know its counter-intuitive but try it, especially for an amp like yours that does not need to be cranked to get its tube mojo going. One last point, I'd only use 1 mic on your amp for now until you get comfortable with getting a good sound out of it. With 2 mics you are bound to have phase issues that are a little more complicated to resolve.
 
I imagine the amp sounds good when standing a bit away from it. How close do you have the mic to the speaker? A condenser could work better for this amp...placing it back a little could help too.

Adding a little bit of compression could beef it up some.
 
guitarplayer888 said:
One last point, I'd only use 1 mic on your amp for now until you get comfortable with getting a good sound out of it. With 2 mics you are bound to have phase issues that are a little more complicated to resolve.
Click to expand...

Definitely true. FWIW, I almost always record with two mics, but often find myself choosing one over the other when mixing. It's almost always the 57 :)
 
great thing about using my Palmer is, i NEVER have to worry about mic position.


hook it up and run.
 
I HAD a Valvtronix, I sold it, didn't care for the sound much, though the auto wah was cool.
 
johnnybgoode said:
Hello there, needing some help if possible

I'm trying to record some electric guitar in my bedroom and not having much luck.

I'm using an Epiphone Dot semi-acoustic, a Vox Valvetronix guitar amp, a Shure SM57 and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

At present it sounds awful. Either very quiet, shockingly loud(just a noise really) and a bit crackley at times.

It's the first time I've tried to record electric guitars with a mic, maybe there are some basic mistakes I'm making?

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers
Click to expand...

If it's not too late check out this basic guide: How to Record an Electric Guitar - Audiofanzine
 
Yeah i would double check all your level, and try moving the mic different distances from the amp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top