Thin guitar sound! please please help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter MeanMrMustard99
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MeanMrMustard99

New member
Hey everyone,

I am new here and really would appreciate some advice on recording my electric guitar and achieving a great tone.

My current method is as follows...
A shure 57 or 58 mic in front of my Fender Champ while playing either a Les Paul standard or American Strat. I am running the shure mic into a Zoom R24 (which I use as my interface) and running into my Mac using Gargeband 11 as my DAW. I record on 2 tracks simultaneously , one a direct line into the Mac using a Pro Radial DI box and the other track is the signal from my shure mic (usually a 57).

My problem being is no matter what I have tried the guitar comes out sounding thin and distant on both the direct line and mic'd up amp. I have tried playing with EQing and some of the built in effects/tones that gargeband has to offer but my guitar sound is always lacking???

Would a mic pre-amp help? Should I be just trying different mic placement? should I move to Logic? am I doomed with a thin guitar sound on my recordings for ever!??? :facepalm: Please help!

Cheers,
MeanMrMustard99
 
Good luck bro. Let me know if you learn the magic secrete so you can tell it to me :D
 
Thanks man, will doo....I'm gonna keep playing with mic placement and hopefully some others can still help me out with some tips on here :guitar:
 
you can skip the DI and just use the mic.

How's the champ set? Does it sound pretty beefy to begin with? Is the 57 right on the grill (less than 1 inch)?

You should be able to get 95% of your sound just from guitar/amp settings, and mic placement. Play with those two things until you are sure you can't get a beefier tone. If just can't get it, something is wrong with your equipment...an LP or strat into a champ with a 57 should be able to get some solid tones.
 
I find that with the mic I pick up a lot of hiss/room noise because I have to turn up the gain so high on my interface to reach a suitable recording level. Would a pre-amp solve this problem do you know? or maybe I should have the amp cranked up a little louder? I have the mic right on the grill of the amp but it is hard to see where exactly the mic is over the speaker because the cloth covering is so thick you cant actually visually see the speaker. My guitar sound is made up of pretty much all BOSS stompboxes (Blues driver, metal zone, chorus, dd-3 etc.)
 
MeanMrMustard99 said:
I find that with the mic I pick up a lot of hiss/room noise because I have to turn up the gain so high on my interface to reach a suitable recording level. Would a pre-amp solve this problem do you know? or maybe I should have the amp cranked up a little louder? I have the mic right on the grill of the amp but it is hard to see where exactly the mic is over the speaker because the cloth covering is so thick you cant actually visually see the speaker. My guitar sound is made up of pretty much all BOSS stompboxes (Blues driver, metal zone, chorus, dd-3 etc.)
Click to expand...


Take all that crap outta the chain, try and get a decent recording with just the guitar and amp, then mess around with the other stuff.

You don't need to see the speaker, the centre of the cloth will be centre of the speaker, right?
 
Grab the mic and talk into it like you were reading the news. What does that sound like on playback? If it's thin and distant as well your problem is in the settings of the Zoom and/or DAW. Check if the inputs have switchable settings (+4/-10) - try the other. Search "signal chain".
 
MeanMrMustard99 said:
I find that with the mic I pick up a lot of hiss/room noise because I have to turn up the gain so high on my interface to reach a suitable recording level. Would a pre-amp solve this problem do you know? or maybe I should have the amp cranked up a little louder?
Click to expand...
Yes, play louder. You shouldn't be having to crank the mic pre so much that it gets noisy. Turn the amp up. Louder is better.

I have the mic right on the grill of the amp but it is hard to see where exactly the mic is over the speaker because the cloth covering is so thick you cant actually visually see the speaker.
Click to expand...
Use a flashlight and shine it through the grill. Speaker grills look thick and dense, but they aren't. A light usually shines right through it. The exact middle of the speaker can be a bad spot. Weird things can happen there. Get it just slightly off center for the brightest sound, and it gets darker the further you move out from center.

My guitar sound is made up of pretty much all BOSS stompboxes (Blues driver, metal zone, chorus, dd-3 etc.)
Click to expand...
That could be part of your problem right there.
 
Greg_L said:
Use a flashlight and shine it through the grill. Speaker grills look thick and dense, but they aren't. A light usually shines right through it. The exact middle of the speaker can be a bad spot. Weird things can happen there. Get it just slightly off center for the brightest sound, and it gets darker the further you move out from center.
Click to expand...

Yea cos if you have a ten or 12 inch speaker it's not possible to work out where the centre or edge of it is gonna be in relation to the grill.

Shutup you goof. :D
 
CMunch said:
Yea cos if you have a ten or 12 inch speaker it's not possible to work out where the centre or edge of it is gonna be in relation to the grill.

Shutup you goof. :D
Click to expand...

Dude, you don't record anything. Go back to the cave and stop pretending to know something.
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Grab the mic and talk into it like you were reading the news. What does that sound like on playback? If it's thin and distant as well your problem is in the settings of the Zoom and/or DAW. Check if the inputs have switchable settings (+4/-10) - try the other. Search "signal chain".
Click to expand...

+1 ..............
 
First..do you have the volume on your guitar cranked up to at least 8 or more with your tone somewhere in the middle.
You also have to crank up the amp to get a nice beefy sound.
Feel the front of the grill on the amp and find the side of the speaker. Come in about 3 inches and place your mic just about touching the grill cloth and pointed about 30 degrees away from the center( towards the outer edge of the speaker). If you get too close to the center, you will get a very thin sound.
Be sure to set your gain on your recording device until it's peaking in the yellow and hopefully you'll get a nice fat sound once you hit that magic red button.
Good luck Amigo!
 
I only have a SM7b. you think it will do a good job micing up an amp?
 
You're going to have to spend some money. Try an SM57 on the grille and an LDC way back in the room. Blend the two as it suits your tastes. A nifty trick in a DAW is to shift the 'time' of the LDC up just a couple of milliseconds or so (again; use your ears to judge), and EQ it differently. It'll sound as big as all outdoors.
 
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