microphone placement when recording your cabinet

[6L6C]

Hey
I’m real curios what you guys do out there as far as microphone placement when recording your cabinet.

What mics do you like?
Do you
Go center or speaker edge

What distance from the cabinet
Is your cabinet closed or combo
Do you go off axis?
Do you use two mics (say one close and one backed off for room ambiance?

 

[yettoblaster]

I have had good results with: Shure SM 57; EV RE-11; RE-9; and RE-20's; and Sennheiser 421: slighly off axis and halfway across the paper from center. Right up against the grill cloth.

Ambient room mic's can be placed by ear with headphones or experimentation. Phase cancelation and reinforcement comes into play too. The room is an active part once you go with an ambient mic.

I've even had an engineer put my amp down a long bouncy hall and mic'd with a Crown PZM. It was an old hummy Ampeg but the signal to noise ratio got better when LOUD! 8)

Close mic'ing is consistent and gives more control, but certain types of music sounds better with some ambient mic'ing as well: Roots Rock; Rockabilly; etc.

My cabinets are always open back unless it's an outdoor Rock&Roll concert volume thing with lousy PA reinforcement.

 

[SixVeeSix]

Center of the speaker can be pretty ice-pickey. + one on all of yetto's recommendations for mics. Most decent dynamic cardioid vocal mics will make a useful guitar amp mic. For ambient try putting an omni mic on the floor back a few feet. There are at least a billion different ways to get a great guitar sound so jump in and play!!

 

[eltrain858]

sennheiser e906 and audix i5

very similar placement to yetto, i'm in a terrible room so i only mic up close (used to be against the grill "cloth", now it's the grill "metal" with my halfback =D)

i use both mics at the same time, and also pull the direct/recording out from my Mk IV. i align the phase of all three afterwards in cubase.

i usually have the direct signal very low in the mix, layer all three tones, and make one mic louder on the L and the other one on the R. if i don't doubletrack the guitar, i delay the R by -7ms and the L by +7ms, the tone loses a bit of definition but makes up for it in spatial presence.

relative volumes

hard Left
Direct - 1
e906 - 4
i5 - 6

hard Right
Direct - 1
e906 - 6
i5 - 4

 

[redmax61]

I've found that miking with a 57 - while it can produce some really stellar results - is a hit or miss proposition. 57's are highly location sensitive. A change in angle of only a couple of degrees, or a movement of 1/4" will totally change the sound.

Half the fun is experimentation and finding the really cool tones.

 

[fuzzypuke]

http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

rants, raves and heaping overflowing piles of delicous information

Slipperman's Recording Distorted Guitars Thread From Hell

 

[TriAxis6]

I know the 57 and Beta 57 are the "standard" for guitar cabs for many years. However, I have to be the only idiot in all of “guitardom”who never liked the sound of a 57 on a cab. For my taste, the highs always ripped my face off, or if not too bright, it would be too muddy and not tight and defined. I know a good deal about mic placement from our studio, so I've tried many things... but still was never happy. I used to use a combination of a 421/57, 414/421 and I had to fight to get what I wanted. Then there were the phasing issues if they were too far apart. I also did not want to have to do a ton of salvage EQ on the native sound, I wanted to get my sound down and then use the EQ to enhance and sculpt, not correct mistakes made by incorrect mic choice and/or placement.

A few years ago I got a matched pair of Royer 121 Ribbon mics. The Royer 121 was a game changer for me. The ribbon sound is warm, organic, and still BRUTAL if you want it to be. It also sounds like your cab, not too colored. For crunch guitars it totally kills! We use them in the studio and we use them live too. I get an amazing sound with minimal passes at mic placement...in 10 mins I have my sound every time After I got them, I never looked back...not interested in anything else..

Mic Placement - whatever mic you use, and assuming you are after a fat crunch sound that will not rip your face off with the highs or presence try the following...close mic at about 2-3 inches away from the grill cloth. Do not point the mic directly at the cone go for the edge of the speaker, unless you want it brighter. Also, angle the front of the mic a couple of inches off to the side of the grill, not directly into it---off-axis. Do this to taste.

 

[Trey Blue]

I don't mind using an SM57, but I have been using the AKG C1000s with the hypercardioid adapter for a while now. I place it about 2 inches away facing the edge of the speaker. Even with a full band, it pretty much ignores the other instruments, nearly zero bleed.

I have used a second (ambient) mic a few times, but never really got excited about it.

 

[gonzo]

of late, i use a Palmer PDI-09, no mics, and the sound is full, dry, in your face, and always consistent.


i also mix mics in with this, close, or a few feet away, or even out in the room.

it's a great balance, and sounds modern.



when i use mics, i use sm57's, adk Hamburg, and Shure KSM44

 

[Given To Fly]

I know the 57 and Beta 57 are the "standard" for guitar cabs for many years. However, I have to be the only idiot in all of “guitardom”who never liked the sound of a 57 on a cab. For my taste, the highs always ripped my face off, or if not too bright, it would be too muddy and not tight and defined. I know a good deal about mic placement from our studio, so I've tried many things... but still was never happy. I used to use a combination of a 421/57, 414/421 and I had to fight to get what I wanted. Then there were the phasing issues if they were too far apart. I also did not want to have to do a ton of salvage EQ on the native sound, I wanted to get my sound down and then use the EQ to enhance and sculpt, not correct mistakes made by incorrect mic choice and/or placement.

A few years ago I got a matched pair of Royer 121 Ribbon mics. The Royer 121 was a game changer for me. The ribbon sound is warm, organic, and still BRUTAL if you want it to be. It also sounds like your cab, not too colored. For crunch guitars it totally kills! We use them in the studio and we use them live too. I get an amazing sound with minimal passes at mic placement...in 10 mins I have my sound every time After I got them, I never looked back...not interested in anything else..

Mic Placement - whatever mic you use, and assuming you are after a fat crunch sound that will not rip your face off with the highs or presence try the following...close mic at about 2-3 inches away from the grill cloth. Do not point the mic directly at the cone go for the edge of the speaker, unless you want it brighter. Also, angle the front of the mic a couple of inches off to the side of the grill, not directly into it---off-axis. Do this to taste.

You win! :shock:

 

[deeman]

i've found the audix i5 works well for what i do. Cost is comperable to the 57

 

[Markedman]

I've found that miking with a 57 - while it can produce some really stellar results - is a hit or miss proposition. 57's are highly location sensitive. A change in angle of only a couple of degrees, or a movement of 1/4" will totally change the sound.

Half the fun is experimentation and finding the really cool tones.

This is right. You have to experiment and it can be fun if you're prepared to spend some time.