Can grill cloth affect the recorded tone of your amp??

[J.DavisNJ]

I know some of you guys record without it. I ask because I've tried a bunch of micing positions and am still not satisfied completely with my tone. I own an avatar 2x12 that has the Fender style wheat grill cloth. While it looks cool, I'm wondering if I should record without it.??

I'm just trying to narrow down the things that can be making my recordings not sound so great. Some of you guys get great recorded tone with one SM57. I don't know how you do it!! lol...

I also want to pick up a guitar eventually with EMGs. I'm using a gibson LP with a 500T pickup. While it's definitely a cool pickup, I think I might not be the best for the style of metal that I play.

-Joe

 

[Gnash]

Man, I've been looking at one of my old cabs, thinking the same thing.
DO IT MAN!

 

[JeffTD]

I remember hearing that Andy scared the hell out of the owned of a silver Jubilee cabinet during the recording of DHIADW by removing it's grillcloth one day, but I'm not sure if that was for tonal reasons or to position the mics easier.

 

[Ermz]

Whenever the cab has a removable grille, I will remove it. As well as allowing easier positioning, you don't get the altered tone. Just straight speaker goodness.

 

[Soundlurker]

Yeah, grills have an effect on the sound. Make sure you've placed your cab away from corners and in a room with enough sound absorption before you blame it on the grill, though

 

[Radd]

I could have sworn this topic was discussed before and the general consensus was that it didn't make a difference. No?

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Corners eh? My cab is in a corner, but its not touching the wall. It just seems like my tones are distant, even though the mic is 1/2" from the grill. I'm gonna do more experimenting with sounds this week.

-Joe

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, keep it away from corners. You will get a much more balanced tone when in an even spot in a room. The corners are usually trapping tons of bass and accentuate that typical 125 to 160Hz resonance you get with cabs.

 

[006]

I noticed this as well. Right now I have my stack of shit in the middle of the wall in a room. It's a Marshall 2x12 (V30 and G12T75 - left and right, respectively), then a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Trem-O-Verb combo, then a Peavey XSr™ on top of that. When re-arranging my room to accomodate the amps and cab I tested each positioning to see if there would be problems. I noticed in the corner it fucking blew ass. Horribly. But in the middle of the wall, good schtuff. About 5 inches away from the wall. Huge night and day difference.

~e.a

 

[Soundlurker]

EA, try putting some rockwool/foam/etc behind your cab if you have any lying around, my bet is it'll get even better