mic position for live guitar

[xFkx]

Ssup...

I have been browsing some different bands on myspace, viewing their gig photos and something hit me when i saw on one pic a guitar cab mic'd so that the mic was aimed more or less close to the edge of the speaker (not the cone, the speaker)

I wonder do the same rules with micing cabs apply to live/stage enviroment ? Did the soundguy from said pic just place the mic there by the rule of 'whatever, dude' or is it deliberate to catch the darker tone when mixing live ?

My fave position when in studio is the cone edge, it's fairly bright but not to the point of beeing shrill, maybe when micing like this live it gets too bright ?

Any of you guys have a perspective on this ?


*edit

heres the pic http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/54/l_4d28040ca1c74591b773d288221654d9.jpg

 

[if6was9]

To be honest I'd say that was either the stand got bumped or else the guy just threw the stand up there.
Definately the same attention doesn't get paid to mic position live, I mix in a small venue- about 200 max capacity but normally there's 25- 60 people there. When I put up a mic there's no guarantee it'll stay there. Between bands accidentally moving the stands by knocking into them to bands just plain moving them completely out of the way for little or no reason- i'd say where I work 50% of the time when I mic a cab it'll not be in the same spot by the end of the gig.
Live, I generally aim for right on the middle or slightly off more towards the dustcap edge with a mic, all i'm really doing is re-enforcing the sound of the amp and making sound clearer or heavier than it already is.

 

[Obscura]

What I've done in the past, since some soundmen (not all!!!) tend to close their eyes and drop the mic somewhere near the front of the cabinet, is to find a sweet spot at rehearsal or while recording and use a marker or some tape to outline the general area that the mic was at. It at least puts you in the ballpark. I just started doing this recently and it makes a BIG difference.

 

[xFkx]

Well, i have my recording sweetspot on my cab, but i still don't know if it applies well live.

 

[JonWormwood]

Almost every major show I've been to with popular name acts, have always used those clip on sorta mic mounts that attach right to the cab.

 

[JonWormwood]

Or just an e609 chillen like whoa and shit.

 

[xFkx]

Yeah, i was thinking of investing into a sennheiser e609 just for these reasons

 

[JonWormwood]

Yeah, i was thinking of investing into a sennheiser e609 just for these reasons

I haven't used one personally but like every show I go to, hola to the 609's hanging out on the cabs all night.

 

[Sloan]

the e609 is definitely my favorite live amp mic. it just WORKS and has great off axis rejection.

i usually mic kinda where it's at in that pic, between the edge and cone.

 

[xFkx]

btw, checking the prices, is the e609 worth the extra $ over the e606 ?

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

I know quite a lot of live engineers who mic guitars closer to the edge of the speaker than to the dustcap. I can imagine it works better with a 57 on axis, since they give you quite a lot of fizz in the dustcap area when you mic on axis and you would want to use the desc EQ for tone shaping rather than surgical cuts in the fizz area. that said most descs' EQ have a much to wide Q to do such a thing.

609 slays the 606, but IMO the 906 slays the 609 too