Recoring distorted guitar amp

[ninja_monkey]

Hey everyone im chris and im new to home recording. Hoping to make some friends and learn some cool stuff on here. Today i want to record a live guitar amp with distortion and im wondering if you guys can tell me the best way to go about doing it. Im using an old practice amp with a 12 inch cone that sounds great with my digitech death metal distortion pedal,i have an sm58 mic and 2 big pieces of recording foam i was thinking of making a box with to put the amp in, im using cool edit to record.I also have about $200 to spend on any new gear i may need at this time(low budget). I know eq and layering plays a big part once my tracks are down but im confused on how to get the most crisp sound possible before any tweeking is done and the best way to hook up to PC. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks everyone

 

[Dogbreath]

Greetings NinjaDude

Try just getting the sound and tone you want from the amp and then just put your 58 up on the grill, maybe an inch off.
The closer you get to the center of the cone, the more high end and "tinny" it gets. The further out towards the edge of the speaker, the bassier and wooly it gets.
Somewhere in between is the happy medium.
Position your mic to where it's straight on to the speaker and then try it "off axis"...meaning angle it instead of straight on to the speaker.
Experiment dude.

Oh...and I think you'll find that tracking with LESS distortion than you normally use with a live sound, will help get you better results.

On my rhythm guitars, I always double track. No copy/paste. Doesn't work nearly as well as just playin the same thing twice and pan em accordingly.

Peace-n-shit.

 

[phriq]

Oh...and I think you'll find that tracking with LESS distortion than you normally use with a live sound, will help get you better results.

On my rhythm guitars, I always double track. No copy/paste. Doesn't work nearly as well as just playin the same thing twice and pan em accordingly.

Peace-n-shit.

I second this. Not only does it give it a more "full" sound, in my opinion, but it also give it a nice stereo effect as you never play the same thing exactly as the first take. It adds character to the recording.

 

[grimtraveller]

I second this. Not only does it give it a more "full" sound, in my opinion, but it also give it a nice stereo effect as you never play the same thing exactly as the first take. It adds character to the recording.

I totally agree too. But I bet you most people listening wouldn't even have a clue that it's more than one guitar !

 

[phriq]

I totally agree too. But I bet you most people listening wouldn't even have a clue that it's more than one guitar !

Very true. Most listeners have no idea what actually goes into a "good" recording. I think people have a very naive idea of the recording process. You always hear the "todays equiptment is so good and affordable that anyone can make great recordings" speech. But I think this has led to a large amount of people thinking it does not take much tallent or know how to create great recordings. Alot of the people think the equiptment does it for you. So people would never think about the complexety to get that "great" sound. Especially beginners. That's why I think you really have to retrain yourself to "listen" to music in a whole new light.

Then again there is the obvious answer as well of the distortion hides the "character" of the individual parts. You need to know what your listening for to pick up on the subtleties. That's one reason I love acoustic recordings that really make good use of the stereo field. Makes for a really engulfing listening experience.

 

[Sonixx]

If you don't find this a lot harder than you though, then you're doing something right...