Your Favorite Mic for Guitar Cabs?

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punkin

punkin

Univalve & Avatar Speaks
Notice I said "Favorite" not the best...I didn't want to start another one of those threads.

Anyways, I just received my new 2x12 guitar cab from Avatar. It's a custom with one Vintage 30 and one G12H30 (Celestions). This cab sounds great...much better than my 2x12 with 2 Vintage 30's. It has a wonderful bottom end but I'm having difficulty capturing it's true sound. For what ever reason, placement or mic selection, I'm getting all the mid but very little of the bass.

I've utried my old standby set up with two SM57's...one right in the speaker grill at the G12H30 center slightly off axis and another about 3 feet back. That didn't cut it so I put the dragon fly on the grill. This seems to have helped but it still sounds a little mid-rangy.

What's your favorite mic for bassy speaker cabinets?
 
never used it but heard all good things about it and have heard tests using it and i am very pleased with what i hear


SENNHEISER e609
 
I find myself using a couple of mics on cabs everytime, a Sennheiser MD421 for a crisp and heavy sound, a Sennheiser MD441 for more bottom and a little less agressive sound, or a Beyer M88 for a very tight sound, somewhat like the MD421 but more tight. Plus the mic is more rejective.

I don't have a 609 but I'm sure this mic will sound good also.

I don't ever use an SM57 anymore.
 
The usual suspects I have around the house I go to for cabs are Sennheiser MD441s, Sm-57's (of course), AT4033's or AKG C-1000s. I put up mics till I like what I hear.
 
For a while..AEA R84 or E609 or 421 most of the time and AT4033 and a 57 once in a blue moon
 
Senn 441 for cleaner or bluesier stuff, or anything where I want a natural, fuller or "pretty" tone. Senn 421 for more aggresive and heavy stuff or where I know it will need to fit with a bunch of other heavy gutiar and bass tracks so I want it to take up less space. Senn e609 for brighter stuff or as an alternate for the 421, but I don't think I'd ever use it for all the guitar tracks on a song, maybe just a track or two.
 
is there a huge differance between the e609 and the e609 silver?
 
Any other's with comments on the E609?...I hear that it can be a little on the bright side and what about the E906?

On the other hand, I don't have a ribbon yet...I'm intrigued as I heard they can be very flattering to deeper sounds.

Thanks for the suggestions all.
 
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xstatic said:
So far hands down my favorite is the Royer R121. Of course I almost always run it with a Chandler TG2 and either a Distressor or a DBX 165a. Thats a pretty tight (and expensive) setup regardless of budget.
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Ya it is... :)
 
punkin said:
On the other hand, I don't have a ribbon yet...I'm intrigued as I heard they can be very flattering to deeper sounds.

Thanks for the suggestions all.
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its hard to distort with ribbons, they can take a lot more volume than dynamics and certainly much more than most condensers..thats why they're used right? anyway, put a popfilter in there, you dont want the air from the cab hitting the mics (ribbon or condenser) and that way you can mic closer too...
 
diogo said:
its hard to distort with ribbons, they can take a lot more volume than dynamics and certainly much more than most condensers..thats why they're used right? anyway, put a popfilter in there, you dont want the air from the cab hitting the mics (ribbon or condenser) and that way you can mic closer too...
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Erm .... what? Ribbons are very delicate ... don't be confident about sticking them in front of a cab ... !!!

And, er, you DO want the air from the cab hitting the mics, because that's what makes the sounds you are recording!!! :eek::eek::eek:
 
FWIW - The MD421 doesn't often get used for my own music, it's a little too 'sterile', which makes it perfect for 'heavier' stuff than I make myself. But it's obviously a classic and is also ace on toms.

I still use my Shure 545 quite a lot - one of the few cases I would use the words 'warm' or 'rounded' to describe a microphone's sound ... but at the expense of both high and low end detail.

My current fav is the Beyer Soundstar MkII ... just great ... and I tend to mix in a condenser further back, usually my T3. :)

Nik
 
noisedude said:
Erm .... what? Ribbons are very delicate ... don't be confident about sticking them in front of a cab ... !!!

And, er, you DO want the air from the cab hitting the mics, because that's what makes the sounds you are recording!!! :eek::eek::eek:
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hey mate..

thats not what i meant ;)

in front of the cab..i was just forwarding the info i got on a similar thread i posted a while ago...ribbons are logical cause they take higher volumes better..but u have to protect them of course...

hence the popfilter...what i meant with air (sorry if i used the term wrongly ;)) is the wind that comes from the speaker..u dont want that going into the diaphragm believe me...put your hand in front of the speaker and feel whats coming when u play...this gets a bit more serious if you're playing a powerful amp..my hotrod deluxe's speaker feels like a damned windmill. lots of wind going out of that speaker.

i didnt mean the "air"...if a popfilter killed the air, it wouldnt be used for vocals right...

i really mean the wind from the speaker..u dont want that in the diphragm, let along the ribbon..its often an overlooked matter because dynamics will take that with no problem...

sorry about the mixups mate..i posted that rather quickly. :D
 
Here's a pic of my AC30 being miked with my Royer 121 (tilted off axis to avoid wind blast) and an SM57.

royer121.jpg
 
Oh yeah, the BLUE Baby Bottle sounds pretty good on amps/cabs as well.
 
ouch!...those Royer's are gonna leave a mark...a red one in the check book. :eek:
 
Erm .... what? Ribbons are very delicate ... don't be confident about sticking them in front of a cab ... !!!
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Ribbons are delicate when it comes to blasts of air (wind).

I can't speak for all ribbon mics, but over time I've pushed the envelope further and further. I have no problem putting my R121 in the same place I'd put an SM 57 (on a guitar speaker anyway). I always use a pop filter.


Back to topic.

In most cases, I find the R121 to sound too smooth for me. I've been told to turn the mic around backwards because the back half is brighter (figure 8 mic). I like agressive guitar tones that are more raw than smooth, generally. I've tried it through API, Great River, Vintech, Presonus, and Mackie and have never LOVED the tone. It can be pretty damn good, but it's not my idea of the perfect tone, personally.

If find myself using the 2 57s on the same speaker trick almost everytime these days.

Brandon
 
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