Mic'ing a combo amp

[iHate]

I've had a Mark IV combo for quite a while, and the more I try to get a good mic'd tone, the worse I seem to get at getting good tones out of it. The first recordings I made with it 2 years ago are probably better than what I'm doing now. I just threw a mic up and played, didn't care much haha. The amp always sounds pretty decent in the room, but mic'd it just blows majorly.

It seems no matter what I do with the settings and mic position, it sounds weak and thin, fizzy, no balls. I can crank up the bass until my windows are about to shatter and it will still record fizzy and thin. I am single mic'ing with an SM57 into a firepod.

I know its not the tubes, i've replaced them and mixed preamp tubes many times over the years and it's always been similar. It could be due to my room, cause it does sound better in bigger places but I wouldn't say it makes or breaks the recording. Or it could be the sm57 itself or the firepod, doubtful.

Here are some clips, the first is just the other day with pretty low gain, SM57 on the edge of the dustcap, fake bass. The second is from a year ago, SM57 probably close to the outer edge of the cone pointing away from the dustcap at a 45 lol, no bass. Mic right up on the grille.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3331450/mark iv tone.mp3

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3331450/mark iv tone 2 no bass.mp3


What do you think I should do? Are there any special techniques you recommend for combo amps? Will a cab really help a lot? Maybe this amp just isn't for me? I'd really like a modern tone, but still something unique. I originally got this amp because I really loved LoG's and Chevelle's tones, but it hasn't really worked out.

 

[cloy26]

This could be completely off the mark, but from a newb AE, I found that I get a much better tone, IMO, when its an inch or so off the grill. Its so un-usable to me when its on the grill. I normally mic on the center of the cap about an inch or two away. Just experiment. That's the best advice anyone will give you. Try some really odd things. Maybe try using a 2 mic approach?

 

[ahjteam]

drums are way too up front, they are covering the guitars. What I suggest that you do is that you make your friend play the guitar (or make a loop and reamp it) and you put on closed headphones (I highly recommend Sennheiser HD25-II's), then put the incoming signal from the microphone to them and move the microphone and tweak the settings on the amp until it sounds good in the cans.

 

[greyskull]

pull the mic back

 

[Jind]

There is no chance that something might be wrong with your mic? Just mentioning it as you noted that you used to be able to get decent tones and now you can't. Added to the fact that the amp itself sounds good to you by itself. I'm sure you have tried other mics, but guess it's worth mentioning just in case.