recording in small furnished room!

[Setherial]

who or what is led zeppelin? i'm recording in a place that would make a semi pro cringe in horror. alas, it will have to do for now. specifically, there's this certain sound that i'm trying to avoid. kind of a mid rangy bath showerish muffle. cooledit has a "shower" echo effect that is similar. yes, cooledit is cool and helps Alot so it's got to be this small room...although alot of this stuff sounds ok with earphones.
because i live in this place things get moved around so i can't "save" the optimal placing of equipment etc.
but generally speaking am i right in assuming in a situation like this that it's best to have the mic as close to the guitar amp as it can get with the amp not too loud? i also get this very high pitched feedback from the amp. sounds like the "cheap springs" echo effect in cooledit. i can't tell if it's the amp dying on me or it's some kinda sound dynamics/bouncing.
it's very high pitched and comes and goes depending on how i attack the strings. it's actually conducive at times...sounds like...high pithched ringing wine glasses or something.
yes, i have a preamp... could this remedy this? have'nt found the right settings if so!

 

[Tom Hicks]

You are recording in a small room with funky acoustics?
By all means close mike your amp.Set the amp so that the TONE is the way you like,regardless of the volume level (usually for output tube distortion this means LOUD).
If I may bounce off your throwaway reference to Zep;
Pagey used an AC30 top boost and a tele on Zep I (small amps can sound like a stack!).Note the number of "clams" he leaves in,obvious mistakes,preferring the energy and ideas of a first take as opposed to a sterile,planned out,get each note down way of tracking.

Tom

 

[Setherial]

thanx. do u know what this high pitched ringing Is?
is there a general guideline concerning pre amp settings?
ah really, i have'nt a clue as to who led blimp is......
.....did i getya for a sec? yes, those little mistakes (instinct) by page are what make those songs phucking magick......funny how so much emotional information can be conveyed in a small flick of the wrist!

 

[Krystof01]

You said"funny how so much emotional information can be conveyed in a small flick of the wrist!" You better be careful for this could be taken the wrong way. Stick to recording comments here; we don't want to know what else you do in that small room.

On a serious note; have you ever thought about direct recording. In little space this usually yields far greater results. I know I'd prefer to crank the volume up and record in an ideal environment but it ain't practical (both the room itself and the people on the rest of the street). There are enough threads covering the POD and other direct recording equipment on this site so I'll not get into that.