Trouble with SM57 on guitar amp

F

frown888

New member
Hey guys,

I have been recently getting into a bit of home recording. I have gone and bought a 2 input interface W/+48v power that I plug into my computer to record. I have also got a cheap behringer c-1 condenser, which I use for acoustic guitar and it sounds good to me (It's all I need at the moment). The other day I went a got a Shure SM57 to record electric guitar from the amp.

I tried recording the other day with the mic infront of the amp (Fender Frontman 212r), with some distortion on the guitar/amp, but I noticed that the sound the SM57 was recording was very "tinny" and sounded like crap prettymuch haha. What I was wondering is, does anyone know how to get a good guitar sound? I've been looking at noise suppressors to take out the grainy effect on the guitar. I've also been wondering if a mixer or something would be the way, so I could EQ the signal before it goes into the computer. I tried moving the mic around slightly, but I think its the guitar tone, as it sounds good when i'm away from the amp, but close up its very grainy.

Can anyone give me some ideas?

Thanks
 
Try the 57 together with your C-1.
Put the C-1 out further from your amp say 2 to 3 feet (just fool around with that measurement till it's something that you can use).
Blend the two track in your DAW then Am sure you'll have a workable electric guitar sound.
 
It could be one of two things

1. You have the Mic pointed directly at the center of the speaker, which will give you a brighter, thinner sound.

Or

2. Your guitar sound actually is tinny.

Get down onto the ground where the Mic is and listen to the amp. It will sound a lot different directly in front of the speaker than it does five feet away and six feet un the air, where your ears are. Especially if that amp has an open backed cabinet, because you are hearing both the sound in front and the sound coming out of the back and bouncing off the walls.

The easiest way to deal with this would be to get the cabinet in a different room, so that you could tweak the sound of the amp while listening through the Mic. If that isn't an option, try moving the Mic away from the center of the speaker cone and adding more mids and less treble.
 
Move the SM57 around, at a slight angle to (not pointing straight at) the speaker. Try near the edge of the cone, or half-way to the voice coil. Note that the sound you hear is what you MIGHT hear if you put your ear right where the mic is. The Frontman amp can put out a very sizzly distortion if you don't get the tone and gain settings just right, because its solid state.
 
Yes, those solid state fenders are not beefy sounding amps. They do a nice clean tone, though.
 
Farview said:
It could be one of two things

1. You have the Mic pointed directly at the center of the speaker, which will give you a brighter, thinner sound.

Or

2. Your guitar sound actually is tinny.

Get down onto the ground where the Mic is and listen to the amp. It will sound a lot different directly in front of the speaker than it does five feet away and six feet un the air, where your ears are. Especially if that amp has an open backed cabinet, because you are hearing both the sound in front and the sound coming out of the back and bouncing off the walls.

The easiest way to deal with this would be to get the cabinet in a different room, so that you could tweak the sound of the amp while listening through the Mic. If that isn't an option, try moving the Mic away from the center of the speaker cone and adding more mids and less treble.
Click to expand...

mjbphotos said:
Move the SM57 around, at a slight angle to (not pointing straight at) the speaker. Try near the edge of the cone, or half-way to the voice coil. Note that the sound you hear is what you MIGHT hear if you put your ear right where the mic is. The Frontman amp can put out a very sizzly distortion if you don't get the tone and gain settings just right, because its solid state.
Click to expand...

What these two guys said.


Here's what you DON'T need: noise suppressors and mixers to EQ on the way in. Don't need them. People have very successfully recorded amps with a single 57 since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Here's what you DO need: work on your tone and mic placement. Mics pick up what they hear in the place that you put them. A bad tone feeding a mic in a bad spot yields bad results. Fix the tone, mic placement, or both.
 
Also, get the amp off of the floor and at least a couple feet from any walls. Angled up a bit is nice too. Reflections off of nearby surfaces (most often it's the floor) can come really quick and nearly as loud as the direct sound, and can cause some negative reinforcement, comb filtering, and/or lack of bass.
 
Get the amp off the floor, aim it at your face and get the tone right before even getting a mic out of its case. Then turn the distortion down by a third from what you thought was just right. Now get the mic and put it about halfway between the center and edge of the speaker (try variations on this), anywhere from right on the fabric to 6" out. Try it aimed straight at the speaker or angled. If you can't get a passable guitar amp tone with a 57 it's the amp.
 
I have recorded a frontman 65r quite a bit and I must say it is a somewhat tinny sounding amp. As others said directly on axis is a bad place if you are trying to avoid a thin sound. I usually do a MD421 half way between the dust cap and the edge of the cone and it sounds pretty good. I also noticed that backing the mic about two inches off the speaker improves the tone greatly. Are you using a distortion pedal or the built in distortion? I've also noticed that the distortion on the frontman series is a bit icky.
 
I almost always get my best guitar sound by a distance mic, about 3-5 feet in front of the amp. I'll still close mic and mix to taste, but between the two, the distant mic sounds better on its own.
 
Well put. For beginner purposes, just get the sound in. A 57 on a good amp works almost every time.
Of course, if you happen to have an awesome EQ lying around, I definitely wouldn't be against tweaking it a touch on the way in! ;)

Greg_L said:
Here's what you DON'T need: noise suppressors and mixers to EQ on the way in. Don't need them. People have very successfully recorded amps with a single 57 since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Click to expand...
 
As I saw that almost every single signature is a link to a studio (commercial) or someone selling their album, I figured it was acceptable. If my link is against the rules and a moderator takes issue with it, I'm happy to change it.

mjbphotos said:
Hey, I don't believe 'free' advertising of a commercial website is supposed to be included in signatures, is it?
Click to expand...
 
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