Favorite mic placements, mics, techniques etc for guitars

[Mesa4x12er]

This is in the main forum but it was suggested to me that it should be here, so here it is.

I'm sure this topic has been done, but I've been doing a ton of recording lately and trying a ton of placements with different mics... and I like a lot of them honestly. Some would be suited better for different types of music etc. But I think I've found my favorite.

In any case what are your favorite mics to use?

Favorite placement?

Cab placement?

What amps?

What interfaces?

What kind of sound you going for?

My favorite combo has to be the SM57 and MD421 so far. Both mics on axis between the cone and dustcap. Not too harsh in the highs, good amount of lows, and still really clear.

I like to get my cab away from the wall. I stack 2 mesa cabs on top of each other and mic each. Bottom cab has casters.

Just got a Chandler TG-2 and so far it seems to kick the crap out of my Firestudio Project, which is also great btw. Just a lot more clarity and depth coming through with the Chandler.

The tones I go for are a little looser than some of you would probably like. I still like the lowend fairly tight though. I just at all costs try to get the guitars to sound huge and epic.

Lately all I've been recording is this... and I love it.

Your turn

BTW a lot of you guys are really talented. I've heard better clips on here than most pro engineer forums!

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Thanks for moving your post here. Drives me nuts having to trudge through the main page.... anyway, I'll try to answer a few questions:

1) Mics Sm57, pair of 57's in on/off axis config (see "that Clayman" thread), or 57 & 421 straight on the cab.

2) Mesa Standard cab away from walls.

3) 5150, Dual Recto, JSX, Krank (last two on the the "to buy" list)

4) RME fireface, choice of API 512c, Vintech Dual 72, or Great River Mp2nv.

Usually, I'll start with 1 sm57 on edge of dustcap/cone of the best speaker on the cabinet. (a 4 take 30 second reamp can help you figure that out real quick.) Then I'll add other mics to taste, if needed. It really depends on the player. "The sound is in the hands" is something Andy said a few years ago, & believe me, it's absolutely 100% true. Big strings, big picks, low gain, overdrive pedals & quad-tracked rhtyhms are where it's at.

As for the "type of sound" I'm going for: The heaviest tone I can squeeze out of the player!

 

[aramism]

hey oz meant to ask you, do you ever notice a difference between wooded floor and carpet floor?

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Not as much on guitar as I do with drums.

 

[noarin]

Oz.. what's your favourite overdrive pedal if I may ask?

 

[LSD-Studio]

well...among my favorite mics for guitars are:
sm57, md421, m160, re121, 906, 606, 414.

I'm using the 57 in like 95% of my recordings...very often combined with one or two other mics.
I prefer v30 for heavy-guits, usually starting with 1 57 where it sounds best, then adding another mic or two.
I dig API preamps for guitars, usually through RME adi8 converters.

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

I almost always use a combination of 906 (on axis) and 57 (45 degrees of axis) on the same speaker, aimed at the edge of the dust cap. For high gain / quad tracked stuff I stick with these mics. For dubble tracked / more open stuff I usually add an LDC (rode NT1000) next to the cab, aimed into the room, phase inverted to pick up some room sound and to add some heaviness, makes the guitars sound more real. Don't use it when quad tracking because it usually gets to dense then.

Cab placement: never in the same line as the walls, also never 45 degrees to the walls. Somewhere around 30 degrees angled and at least 1 meter away.

The sound I'm going for is usually the sound in the room. I've found to get a quite near perfect representation of the actual room sound with this micing technique.

For high(er) gain stuff I love 5150's (for their attack) with v30's (for there smoothness)
For rockier stuff I love marshalls (for their bite, openness and ringyness) in combination with greenbacks (mids!), G12H30's (dryness and pressure) or 75T's (bite and directness)