Recording guitars....please help!!!

[TamaSabian]

I´ll be recording rythm and lead guitars tonight, I don´t have much time to experiment so I´m looking for tips on how to get a decent guitar sound, what mic could do better and what preamp should be fine.

Here´s what I´ll use:

Brian Moore I9 guitar (made in china I think, it´s not the expensive one) but sound good.
60' Silvertone 30W amp with 12" speaker, don´t know the model exactly, sorry I´m a drummer.
Mics: SM57 or MXL 990 (who knows, the combination could work)
Preamps: Audiobuddy or UB1002 Behringer mixer. Another option could be one of the Delta 1010lt pres, that leaves me only the 57 to work with.

Is there something that I could use to improve the recording of this amp???, I mean hang some blankets in front of it, put it on a table, you know. I want the best recorded sound I can get with the available gear.

Hope you can give some advice.

Thanks
TS

 

[glimmer_doll]

it really depends on what sort of sound you're going for...

but, as a rough starting point, i'd say get the amp up off the floor, use the 57, and get it as close to the speaker as possible...starting out towards the edge of the speaker (move inward to increase brightness if desired)

that is what i would suggest as a starting point, without knowing anything about what kind of sound you're going for...

 

[Armistice]

What Glimmer Doll said and also try to get it away from corners too. If you've got two mics, perhaps use the second to get some room sound so about 1 or 2 feet back from the speaker - don't really know much about the MXL one though - if you don't like the sound, you can always discard it, but worth trying.

Turn off any reverb on the amp and if you're recording distorted guitar, find the optimum level of distortion in the room, then back it off a few notches to record or it will sound overdone. That big, crunchy distorted sound you may be after doesn't come from lots of overdrive.

Good luck.

 

[TamaSabian]

I´m reading this after recording almost all the guitar parts, but amazingly I used some of your tips. First of all I have to tell you that the amp wasn´t 30w, it was only 12!!!!!! The volume was at 3 or 4 but with pedal board it sounded twice hard, it was killing my ears because the amp was 2' or 3' behind me (I record and play in the same room), I have to use a pair of cans to protect my ears.
As I mentioned I use some of your tips, I put the amp up off the flor, miced off axis, and get away of the corners (I did it without knowing that). I discarded the mxl mic, but I thought about it as room mic, maybe next time.
The music we made is sort of rock and alternative, with a dark mud given by the voice, this song has a lot of guitars making fills and stuff that´s not complicated just effective. I´m happy with the results.

Thanks again

TS