Mark IV Help (pics & Clip )

[Maldeve]

I've had my Mesa for awhile now and I still get fustrated to no end with getting a good recorded tone. I know my main problem is I recently moved into an apartment and the volume must be bedroom level. Hoping you guys could maybe give some tips, tricks, or help with achieveing some what of a decent recorded tone. I went ahead and recorded a clip and took some pictures of the settings used.

This is my chain as of now : Jp6 --> Mark IV --> Sure 57 --> Audio Buddy mic preamp --> plat audigy 64 soundcard --> Sony Acid pro .

Amp settings : (crappy pics in case you cant make it out)
simulclass & Triode (back)
Lead gain : 9 (pulled)
Lead treble : 6.5
Lead bass : 2
Lead Mid : 5.5
Lead Drive : 9 (pulled)
Lead presence : 5.5 (not pulled)

Amp volumes are Master : 2 | Lead channel : 1
Tweed Power
Mid Gain

EQ was enabled on recording

My mic postion on the cab is close to the center of cone

This is what I recorded with the settings above. I basically played the same rythm a few times. I recorded the first rythm once panned it left and then recorded the 2nd rythm and panned it right. I added some drums to the recording using EZ drummer (to loud?) I guess to better hear my tone in a mix, no bass. No post eq'ing what so ever.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9374186

Like I said, any advice would be greatly helpful to me. Im going to be stuck in this apt for at least a year. Im almost on the verge of trading it or selling it. So any extra recording equip you might advise for lower volumes that would help would be awesome too. Maybe some better amps settings etc... I would even re-record and post some of your settings and compare to see if they are improvements. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[kiff]

what don't you like about the tone? personally, I wouldn't mic the speaker where you are. I'd move it towards the outside of the cone and aim it so it's perpendicular to the cone (about 30deg off center). I would use harmonics, not mid gain. Also full power and pentode sounds better than tweed to me... at least for the heavy stuff.

 

[iFreedom]

Dude, it doesn't sound that bad at all! I have no idea what tone you're going for but add some bass guitar and then see how everything sits in the mix. If you are after a certain guitar tone, upload the tune into your DAW and lay down the drums and bass on your own track, then start laying down rhythums and a/b your tone to the tone in the tune and eq from there. Try and eq before your computer, then eq the rest in the DAW. Don't forget, the tone on albums is a combination of many things going on. I'm betting with some bass and overall compression, you'll have good tone, but it may not be the tone you want. Doesn't sound harsh or like a scooped distortion pedal at all.

 

[gummx97]

Dude, it doesn't sound that bad at all! I have no idea what tone you're going for but add some bass guitar and then see how everything sits in the mix. If you are after a certain guitar tone, upload the tune into your DAW and lay down the drums and bass on your own track, then start laying down rhythums and a/b your tone to the tone in the tune and eq from there. Try and eq before your computer, then eq the rest in the DAW. Don't forget, the tone on albums is a combination of many things going on. I'm betting with some bass and overall compression, you'll have good tone, but it may not be the tone you want. Doesn't sound harsh or like a scooped distortion pedal at all.

I agree, see if the tone sits well in the mix, sometimes great recorded guitar sounds "thin" when soloed but sits well within the mix. Also, mic placement, try moving the mic from off-center like what was suggested on the earlier post.

 

[Maldeve]

Thx for the info guys, Is it just me but I hardly can tell any difference what so ever when I slightly angle the Mic of axis then directly in front of the cone. In what way does it effect the tone, color , or volume ? I know if you actually pull the mic away from the grill cloth you can hear a difference. Also on a side not, If I hooked up a bass to my Mark IV at the settings I have shown would it damage my speakers ? Just to add some bass to my recordings at bedroom levels...

 

[iFreedom]

Thx for the info guys, Is it just me but I hardly can tell any difference what so ever when I slightly angle the Mic of axis then directly in front of the cone. In what way does it effect the tone, color , or volume ? I know if you actually pull the mic away from the grill cloth you can hear a difference. Also on a side not, If I hooked up a bass to my Mark IV at the settings I have shown would it damage my speakers ? Just to add some bass to my recordings at bedroom levels...

As you move the mic away from the center, the tone will get darker and the highs will roll off adn you'll loose that crispness and same goes for off axis but your low end will come up. Check youtube, there's tons of mic placement examples.

I wouldn't bother micing your bass, just run it straight into your DI into your DAW and get a bass amp plug-in for best results. Otherwise run it straight into your DAW and compress it - you need to compress it, bass guitar is way too dynamic. Actually, this is a very common studio practice and live too just run the bass straight in - I've never tried micing a bass though, maybe it works good.

Good luck!

 

[Maldeve]

Ok so I bought a bass and tried recording it going through my MarkIV . Im not a bass player at all so don't mind all the mistakes let me know which sounds better in the mix. Ive never tried recording a bass so I have no clue how to get the best results. Let me know what you think about these two clips, did it improve my over all tone, or does it sound worse now? Please dont hold back! :wink:


Mix 1
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9383706

Mix 2
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9383728

 

[iFreedom]

sounds decent, personnaly, I like the first mix. Sounds better with the bass to me.

 

[MesaGod666]

Recorded tone is pretty subjective.

What preamps and/or dynamic signal modules are you using?
What plug-ins are you using?
Are you going for a heavy tone (Metallica, LoG, Emperor, etc.) or lighter tone (Maroon5, Incubus, etc)?

Also, you may want to check out GRAILTONE.COM and search for MARKIV settings.

 

[NJVenom]

try the the direct out - check out some of my tunes, coz that's what you'd hear - i used a strat w/ SD's in lead & mid, keeley modded blues driver, mxr variphase- mark IV - there are some overdubs, but that's the fun part of it all for me- i'm from the jimmy page school of using a different amp, gtr, mic placement, effect etc for each tune.."tone is very personal" hellyeah it is! that's the fun part tho, the eternal search for tone will always continue...
pattyo

 

[paintballnsk]

From the original clip:

When you're micing, you really want to be looking for tone and "presence". You don't want too much thump and mud from the low end. A good majority of the fizz can be tamed by low passing between 4000 and 8000hz.

And ya, about the Mark IV, I hate trying to tweak it. It's not a very user friendly amp in my opinion. One number turn on any dial or a 1/4" movement of any of the EQ sliders can totally fubar the whole tone of it.

I think a popular settings goes something along these lines:
Lead channel
gain 7, pulled
drive 7
presence 0, pulled
high 5-7
bass 2-3
mid 3-4

Sliders, if you could judge from 0 to 10, I'd say go with 6 - 7 - 4 - 7 - 8

This clip starts with the mid slider at about 4, and then moves it down to about 2 to 2.5 when the drums kick in.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9252371

The best advice anyone can ever give, is capture it as close to what you want as you can. I recommend putting the mic 2" from the grill, 15 degrees away from the dust cap, put right where the dust cap meets the cone. Play from there and move straight back to help eliminate fizz. Post processing has tools to use for working on sound and making small fixes to tone, not to create the tone.