Recording heavy distorted guitars.

[shackrock]

mic = sm57.

pointed at cone center will give you high and insanely crazy amount of distortion sound.
edge of cone will give you much more bassy and low mid sound.

find the happy medium.

an inch or 2 or 3 off the grill.
angle it if you'd like.

turn your distortion gain DOWN at least a few notches. To get thick guitars, you need to turn that DOWN!!!

Record the same part twice, pan 60L 60r. maybe add a 3rd with a bit of a different tone down the center.
and there you have it.

 

[Mr. Moon]

All you need to know about the subject can be found in Slipperman's thread, the link is in Moonrider's post.

If you like the sound of your amp, there are a number of mic that will do an exellent job.

Sennheiser MD421, for an open and bright sound with plenty of lows.
Sennheiser MD441, for a tad lesser bright sound with more lows.
Beyer M88, for a very tight sound with nice low end.
Beyer M69, for a little less low end.

I've never liked the SM57 on any guitar, but hey, that's just me!

There are a number of LDC's (large diaphragm condensers) that will do a great job as well, I've had pretty good sounds on amps with a SP B1, full and clear sound.

Han, Have you ever tried an ATM25 on a guitar cab? I have one that I bought for micing a bass drum and bass guitar cab, and was just wondering if it might be used to complement my new m69 when micing guitar cabs.
Thanks!
-mr moon

P.S. Thanks for all the comments regarding the m69, they helped a great deal!

 

[Lance135]

I take a semi-logical approach to electric guitar sound:

1) Make sure my guitar is happening; good strings, action, intonation, etc...

2) Make sure the connections are all clean to my amp and no AC cables are near my guitar cables or the mike cable.

3) Experiment until I like what I hear coming out of my amp.

4) Experiment with mike placement until I like what I hear from the studio monitors.

5) Record a few bars to hear the end results, then tweak the effects, eq and mike placement and record more samples until I'm happy.

Notes: Pretend that you don't have any eq's in your recording gear and that all your eq'ing must be done on the amp or effects pedals before the sound hits the microphone. In my experience, electric guitar tracks don't take drastic eq'ing very well. You never want to say "I'll fix it in the mix" with guitar tracks. It seems the more you eq the resulting tracks, the worse they sound. Use additive eq'ing as little as possible on the track.

If you're using a reliable guitar amp microphone such as an SM57, what you hear coming from the amp will be pretty close to what you get on tape, with more brightness and articulation as you get the mike closer to the centre of the cone. A common practice is to point the mike directly at the wall of the cone, which means the mike will be at an angle of about 45 degrees from the front of the amp. Most people use close miking.

Amps usually sound better when they're turned up. Tube amps usually sound better for distortion than trasistor amps. Engineers often use small amps ran at a high volume level. Low wattage speakers often sound better for distortion since they break up more easily.

That said, there is no right or wrong, especially with guitars. So don't take any of my suggestions as rules of thumb, because there are no rules. Keep an open mind. There is only what works. If you take every recording session as a learning experience, you'll have more fun, and get better results.

 

[Han]

Han, Have you ever tried an ATM25 on a guitar cab? I have one that I bought for micing a bass drum and bass guitar cab, and was just wondering if it might be used to complement my new m69 when micing guitar cabs.
Thanks!
-mr moon

P.S. Thanks for all the comments regarding the m69, they helped a great deal!

You're welcome! No, I haven't had the opportunity to try the ATM25, hope I will have soon.

As for the two mics on one source thing, I almost never use more than one mic on a guitar cab. Some phase problems are hard to hear, better avoid that.

I use as little EQ as possible too, last saturday I was recording a soul band and the only EQ I've used was on kick and snare. All the other eq's on the board were bypassed. If you don't like a sound, try another mic or placement.

Cheers, Han

 

[MrPixar]

that is one thing I've learned since posting this topic, my tone was saturated with distortion and extremely compressed. Now I have very little distortion gain, a healthy mix of eqs, and light compression. it sounds extremely chunky and distinct

That sounds like very sound advice to me. Took me awhile to figure that little bit out, but yep it works

 

[volltreffer]

mic = sm57.

pointed at cone center will give you high and insanely crazy amount of distortion sound.
edge of cone will give you much more bassy and low mid sound.

find the happy medium.

an inch or 2 or 3 off the grill.
angle it if you'd like.

turn your distortion gain DOWN at least a few notches. To get thick guitars, you need to turn that DOWN!!!

Record the same part twice, pan 60L 60r. maybe add a 3rd with a bit of a different tone down the center.
and there you have it.

Hey, a simple tip withzout urging to buy nu stuff???
Must be sompin wrong with it... Or might there be some truth in it?

Mic placement is sooo crucial to your recordings... Try that first... You can even shape your complete guitar sound with placing the mics - and then you might not need EQ. Be sure to cover your ears often...

aXel

 

[fiveyearslater]

Yeah mic placement guys.. Listen to the difference in sound when you change the mic placement just 1 inch.

When I try to get the ultimate guitarsound by placing the mic just right for my Vox combo, I often end up placing the mic to the side of the speaker, that gives the low end I need.