RODE NT-1A for guitar cab mic

  • Thread starter Thread starter pure.fusion
  • Start date Start date
P

pure.fusion

New member
Quick and painless question,

I own 2 microphones: 1 x SM57 and 1 x NT-1A

Would you guys ever use a RODE NT-1A for a guitar cab?
For distorted or clean?
If so, how would you position it?

Cheers,
FM
 
Maybe clean... would use the 57 for distorted most likely if that's all I had.

Probably at least a foot back , maybe more depending upon many other variables.

Best thing to do is get yer ears where you think you might want the mic and move it around a bit and see if you can find a place where you think it sounds good.

Put the 57 somewhere there as well and check the difference between the two sounds - maybe you can comp them together - watch phasing though, you may need to invert the polarity of one channel.

There are a lot of other variables here though - room, amp, guitar, sound treatment, volume.... hard to give exact answers.

And I don't own a NT-1A - it doesn't seem to be much liked around here, but if you like what it does, go for it.

Cheers
 
Try it and see what you think.

As mentioned, you could close mic the cab with the 57 and put the Rode back a ways to get some interesting stereo effects, just watch for phase problems.
 
I do own two NT-1s, and I am one of those that doesn't really like them for a lot of purposes; they tend to be quite shrill and brittle-sounding on the high end for my tastes.

That said, they do have their place on occasion; there's no such thing as a mic that has no use, Would I use them for electric guitar? Personally, almost never. But if there were a situation where the guitar happened to be particularly anemic on the high end, or I wanted to specifically get a sound that was extra crispy I might try it.

Otherwise, fuggetaboudit. I have almost never failed to get what I needed from an e-guitar with a good ol' 57 or 421.

Heavy on the IMHO YMMV Etc.

G.
 
I don't know that particular Rode mic. But I've used a SM 57 with extremely good results. It's a standard.

Just listen to your cab, alone. Use your ears, and listen to how the mic is translating to your monitors after playback (given your monitors and room treatment are good), and on other systems.

If it's the same, it's good. (If that's what the sound you want).
:)
 
moresound said:
And you live in OZ? What is the thoughts from people on it?






:cool:
Click to expand...

Problem with buying gear in Australia is that, because Rode is an Australian company, you run into them everywhere - all the major retailers stock them, whereas some of the other mics that you guys routinely recommend are much harder to find...

So in your local Allans music shop - the major all purposes music store player - you're going to see a bunch of Rodes, a few Shures, a Sennheiser or two, dynamics mainly, the AKG Perception line and probably a few others tossed in, Behringer etc..

And you'll get the sales spiel about it being a great Aus brand etc. and in light of what else is in the cabinet, if you don't know much, chances are you'll walk away with a Rode.

Now I have an NT2 and I really like it on voices I record, and I've had NT5s and I sort of liked them but they didn't match the guitars I was recording, but that's not a quality issue. I've never had an NT-1A but I've never heard anyone on this board saying much nice about them...

There are more specialised recording shops hidden away in Melbourne (where the OP is from) and Sydney (Sound Devices in particular) but you tend not to find out about them until you get exasperated enough with your crappy results to go seeking higher end gear... that was my path anyway.

These shops carry a much greater range of mics, including all the ones that you'll see at an Allans, and will give you frank and fearless advice, but newbies tend not to know about them... and they don't discount nearly as much either...

So it all tends to work against you in the beginning. :cool:
 
Short Answer, use both, long answer read on.

I have 2 NT1 mics but the very early versions that were out before they released the NT1A, I also have an old (early) NT2 and they are great, in fact the NT1 mics I have sound almost the same as the NT2 but they have not omni mode. I also have an NT1000

Now to guitar, I use my NT1 mics all the time on guitar cabs, sometimes I use a NT1 and a SM57 which is my favourite set up, I just blend the 2 together or sometimes pan on left and one right. But I sometimes try other mics, MXL V67G, a senheisser ME20 Omni, Sennheiser 421, try anything, SM58 and a mix of any of these. The NT1A you have should get a great sound don't worry about other people say.

I position the mice just off the speaker cloth and about 2/3 out from the centre of the speaker, if it's too bassey I move it into the centre slightly or too bright towards the edge, this makes a big difference. Don't put too much bass on the amp as it turns to mud (a common guitar player thing).

Sometimes I set up room mics a meter or 2 from the amp and blend this with a close mic, this only works if we are recording guitar on it's own, the room sounds good (which it does), and it's the sound we actually want.

And yes I use compression when mixing, again all different settings and brands depending on what I want.

Cheers
Alan.

P.S I am in OZ
 
Some time back I owned a pair of the original NT-1s and I can't say I was impressed with them at all.

My recommendation is keep the SM57 and, if possible, sell the NT-1A and buy up. Possibly a ribbon like a Fat Head or trion7000. There are others less expensive that I've heard on gtr cab that do sound pretty good.
 
Heheheh. I love posting here. :p

I'm just doing some home recording and you guys are discussing MXL V67G, a senheisser ME20 Omni, Sennheiser 421, SM58, NT1, NT2 etc. Really I should have specified "Cheap condender mic" as opposed to a dynamic mic.

But I got the answer. "Yes" people use conderser mics to record guitar cabs and it's worth trying. I've been worned previously not to go to loud or too close with the condenser, or I'll bust my cheap mic.

It's funny what you say about Rode, Allans music and Newbies. I went into Allans, noticed the price on the NT1A with the pop filter and extra bits and thought "that's a good deal" . Obviously marketed towards me!

Really, I think I've got *great* results from the SM57 in front of my amp but the world is about to change - the amp is getting a few mods, the guitar has new pickups, a change in the guage of strings and the amp will now be in a Iso Booth. So my great sounding standard I've been recording withis about to go out the window...

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
FM
 
pure.fusion said:
Heheheh. I love posting here. :p

I'm just doing some home recording and you guys are discussing MXL V67G, a senheisser ME20 Omni, Sennheiser 421, SM58, NT1, NT2 etc. Really I should have specified "Cheap condender mic" as opposed to a dynamic mic.
Click to expand...

Yes sorry to get off the track, I was trying to point out how different things all work.

Buy the way,
XLV67G bought second hand ebay AU$100
Senhiesser ME40 second hand about AU$150
Sennheiser 421 Secondhand AU$150
SM58 New AU$200
NT1, NT2 Can't remember price so long ago but I actually bought my second NT1 many years ago on special at Allen's Melbourne when I was there on a trip.

The point I am making is that the prices are reachable for all these models.

And yes I love Rode mics and I don't find them harsh or bright and I have always been impressed (in the price range), it's just that sometimes it's not the sound you are after and you try something else.

Cheers
alan.
 
I've used the NT1-A on guitar cabs, and yes, I personally found that I liked the sound. I actually prefer it over a 57, I find it to be much more open, while I liken the sound of the 57 to it's tiny directional range. I want more breath out of my guitar sounds. It's all preference though.

Edit: I've also gotten really yummy results by close-micing with the 57 (would probably choose something else in an ideal situation) and placing the Rode about 2 to 3 feet from the speaker, in a semi-open recording space. But again, I'm a home recordist, and my experiments are basically me flailing about in the dark. But heck, it sounded great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top