simple guitar recording... need advice

[The Magic Hoof]

Alright. Need a bit of help here, and I'm sure it's easily solvable. I spend WAY too much of my time playing and not recording, so that's why I'm here =)

http://members.cox.net/themagichoof/newrunsmall.mp3

A problem I've always had is the bass in my guitar. When playing stuff like this -- when I start up top and go down to the lower strings, there's way too much bass in it and it becomes really muddy. What can I do to solve this? Equalization when mixing/mastering? I've seen people say something to the amount of, 'yeah, I roll off around 80khz' or something like that when speaking of equalization/mixing/etc. Needless to say I have no idea what they're talking about . I'll need to see some examples of equalization -- the settings -- to see what I should set stuff at.

Another thing is compression. I just started fooling around with this software compressor, and what you're hearing is my first go at it. I think the ratio was set to 2:1 and the 'other thing' was set to -5db decibels. It made it sounds a bit more leveled-out. What compression settings do you use when recording guitar?

I start clipping often. I turn my amp up, and turn my preamp way high, and it seems I'm still having trouble getting a good signal... I was shooting for -12db with this one and barely got to it ok without clipping.

Lastly, I need to work on mic positioning. I'm micing my amp with a 57, and I still haven't gotten that down yet. I'm thinking of getting yet another 57 to dual mic the same speaker and make sure it's 'in phase', as they say. I'm not sure how it makes it sound so much better, but I take it that it does.

I can't even position one mic correctly, heh.

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

Hey,

I've had similar experience with the 'extra' bass on the low strings. Try just lowering the pickup you're using on the Low E side. It doesn't take much.

As for the EQ a lot of studio guys ( the good ones as I've heard it ) use a High Pass and/or Low Pass filter on the guitars. The High Pass lets the highs pass through and cuts out the lows above the frequency you set. The Low Pass does the opposite. It lets the lows through and cuts highs out above the frequency you set. As for which settings to use, I'd say check on the Andy Sneap Forum http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap-151/. He's got good guides and lots of guys on there who can tell you whatever you can't find already posted. There's also several good examples/threads about mic placement.

That's about as much as I can help you with. Good luck.