Fighting with guitar fizz

[szymon]

Hi,
We finally started to record my band's new song, and i'm quite stuck with guitars.
Our decision was to record in a "classic" way, to catch some nice vibe, so: amp + cab +mic.
My question is: how should i deal with that strange hi-end fizz/"grain"?
It's especially hearable in palm mutes and fast 16th note riffage, and mostly dissapears when leads or orchestra come in.
Is it mic placement, cab settings (I think of gain - too much or too little?), eqing stuff, or everything combined? I tried to locate those fizz spikes but i end up in something muffled sounding like somebody playing guitar in another room (so its all over the high mids to be specific).
Heres the guitar in context:


Here is guitar soloed (if anyone would be willing to hear it):




PS If you write something longer than 2 lines of text, be sure to write it in the notepad first...

 

[JohnTheRipper]

It sounds pretty under-gained to me when soloed (but only in the firs part, the rest sounds fine), and i'm willing to bet you mic'ed the cab with an on-axis sm57. If the raw sounds bad, i hope you know you won't be able to get it to sound as good as if it were recorded better, but there are a few things you could try.
First of all, try low-passing, but if you get lower than 10khz abandon ship. If that doesn't work try cutting at 5-8k with a pultec style eq, and combine that with a low-pass. Another thing producers do is using a de-esser on the guitars, but personally i've never gotten very good results like this.

Even if you don't get rid of all the fizz, it still sounds good to me. Some saturation is good in this genre of music.

BTW, was the amp a dual recto? The cab sounds like a 4x12 mesa, but I'm curios about the amp and settings used.

 

[szymon]

I've done all of these - its lowpassed at around 8k (too low i suppose), and there are already several big (but narrow) cuts at 3-6k (but I willl try with pultec style eq) + tape saturation plug-in. I tried de-essing also and it sounded odd...
Speaking of the amp/cab: it's not Mesa this is Laboga Mr.Hector and a 4x12 cab with v30 mic'ed on axis with sm57 indeed (not in the center though - mic is placed where the cone meets the dustcap. Going any further to the edge resulted in dramatic loss of high-end...)
According to what you have said, it seems that we have to re-record it better, and that's what im looking forward to.
It all turns up to be the microphone placement, and to get it right first at the source.

Thanks!

 

[ArthurD]

First option is to try a different mic position. I usually put 7 SM57 side by side in front of the cab and choose the best.
Second option is to dig the fizz out with a parametric EQ that has good Q control. Just boost a frequency with a high Q setting until you find the fizz. Then cut them.
Sometimes its necessary to use 10 or even 15 cuts, especially when you didn't record the guitars.
Then Low Pass it between 9K to 12k with a 6db/oct.
I recomend using Equality plugin.

 

[Diego Rugiero]

I like your tone and I agree with John that some saturation is good for that style. Anyway, the Brainworks Shredspread plugin is really good to apply to doubled guitars and acts like a filter removing a lot of fizziness. Try it if you can.

 

[lolzgreg]

Guitars are definitely undergained for the style IMO, but they seem to have more 4khz and 7khz content than the rest of the mix. if you brighen up your snare and orchestra a hair, they should sit great.

 

[JohnTheRipper]

If you re-record these guitars I recommend using another mic, maybe a sennheiser e906 or an md421. Those mics don't have the treble boost of the sm57, and they'll beef up your midrange (think Gojira tone on the new album). Also, try lowering the treble on the amp and bringing up the presence and mids (i usually start with the mids on 10/10 on most vst's and amps).
If nothing else works, screw it, it sounds fine as is (not just saying it, it really does, especially in the beginning).