Guitars sound too soft/lack edge

[P.]

I have this problem that my recorded guitars sound too soft and they lack
edge/crispness/punch. What am I doing wrong?

My signal chain is: Engl Blackmore w/ Marshall 1960 cab -> SM57 about 1/2 inch from the grill pointed straight to the centre of the cone -> RNP mic pre -> to the line in input of Akai DPS16.

I have played with EQ and mic placement for months now without avail.
I am puzzled, any help would be appreciated...

 

[Fragle]

clips?

does it sound good in the room?
another factor could be the playing; maybe you're playing to soft? using thick strings and playing hard plays a great role in getting a punchy guitar sound.

 

[P.]

I think I'm playing as hard as one can without breaking the strings or getting out of tune and I have standard 10 gauge set of strings so I don't think that can be the issue either.
The amp sounds better in the room, at least way more crispy and edgy.

 

[demirichris]

One thing that really made me re-think micing a guitar cab was to get my head right down there by the cab, not a eight feet away like when you are tweaking normally. Ultimately that's going to be where the mic goes, and all that room space can really add something to the sound that is really coming out of the amp.

However, I usually find that my tone is too edgy when I am that close to the speaker and that close to the center of the cone. Clips would be helpfull here.

Also, some kind of boost pedal can make a huge difference.

 

[monstercometh]

I tend to find that when my guitars lack punch, it's because I'm running too much distortion, to the point where the transients aren't cutting through and instead just sound a bit like white noise.

Might not be the problem though. Clips would be nice.

 

[drdan]

Guitar pickups make a huge difference and the scale length on the guitar. Larger scale length and reasonably high output pickups make a massive difference.

 

[abt]

RNP mic pre -> to the line in input of Akai DPS16.

Not familiar with either of these units, make sure you've got the right signal levels that correspond to each input. ie if the input is line level then you need to feed it a line level source, instrument input need instrument level etc.

 

[P.]

Thanks for the replies.
I don't think it's the guitar or pickup because it's high output.
When the amp sounds bright and even harsh in the room I just can't understand why the recorded sound is the opposite...
I have started to think it's the SM57 but as it seems to be the standard choice I don't know...would there be any mic with more presence, harshness and brightness to record guitar with??

 

[DevonSteelman]

Thanks for the replies.
I don't think it's the guitar or pickup because it's high output.
When the amp sounds bright and even harsh in the room I just can't understand why the recorded sound is the opposite...
I have started to think it's the SM57 but as it seems to be the standard choice I don't know...would there be any mic with more presence, harshness and brightness to record guitar with??

Audix i5.

 

[abt]

Clips?

 

[Adenosine]

Try move the mic around. I'm currently using a SM57 1inch away from the grill, pointing straight but aiming right at the edge of the speaker cone.
This sounds huge and crunchy on my framus cobra, but then again my cobra is straight up huge and crunchy

When i started micing with the 57 i had hundreds of tones from drowned out bassy distortion to finally the sweet spot, it just takes alot of mic moving and patience!