Micing a small practice amp

[Wadi]

So I got a lil crazy and run white noise signal through my small 10w guitar amp. This amp is salvaged from 2 non working 10w amps(old Ross head and a crate speaker body)

Numerous times I tried to get a decent sound from miking this amp but all ends up either too fizzy or boomy. I've tried edge of cone,direct to cone, 45 degrees facing cone etc etc. Hence the white noise application. Tweaked the amp to my taste with a metalzone pedal and ran white noise through the input jack. While placing the mic, I monitored through a plugin analyser and tried to achieve more or less a flat form.

The position of the mic to be at its best flat form is at the corner edge of the speaker diaphram

And this is what I get http://www.sneapforum.celtiaproductions.co.uk/Wadi/epiloud2.mp3 (I cant be arsed to check the tuning, I'm too excited)

I think the sound is quite usable. What do you guys think?

 

[AudioPhile777]

There isnt enough body to the tone... it would sound cool for a bridge or solo fill or something, did you quad track? maybe that might help...

try adding some lows on the amp?

 

[Soundlurker]

Try removing the speaker from the box/cab of the amp and then mic it. I know it sounds a bit crazy but give it a shot.

Anyway, your results are pretty decent for a practice amp

 

[Omega_Void]

try adding some lows on the amp?

If it's a small speaker I find it's best to have less lows on the amp, then use post-eq to put the low-end back in. Try to get 4x12-style tone balance out of a small speaker will mangle the sound due to the limited excursion of small cones.

Wadi, I can't actually listen to the mp3 where I am, so I can't offer feedback right now. I've downloaded it, I'll maybe post tomorrow if I have anything useful to say about your tone. But good luck dude, it's always cool to wrench a useable track out of zero-budget gear!

 

[metalkingdom]

A real amp or Revalver Mk II and the Mesa impulses.

 

[Omega_Void]

A real amp

Yeah Wadi, just go out and buy a Dual Recto or something, what could be stopping you?

I listened on consumer home-stereo grade stuff: definitely needs more lows. Worth chucking on a few impulses and see what happens. But a good result considering what you're working with.

Add more bottom-end and I'd say it's happily good enough for a demo. Not a world-beater of a tone, but you wouldn't expect that. It does the job.

 

[Wadi]

AudioPhile777 - Not that I didnt try, lets just say, I'm such a sloppy player even for simple chord works

Shadow_Walker - Thanks bro! Thats really encouraging I also recalled someone here posted a clip from a behringer amp with the cone taken out and recorded in a closet? That slays! And another forumite ran a metalzone through a vintage tube amp. Thats crazy!

Metalkingdom - I was just messing around with the "try to get that sweet spot" of the amp. I dont know if theorically, its nonsense to run a white signal and using a normal mic instead of a "frequency analyser" mic (I've seen one of those used in concert halls) to get the so called "flat response" or 'sweet spot' or whatever there is *shrugs*.

Omega_Void - Yeah I expected the outcome not to be of the best guitar tone. And possibly the missing lows are due to my overall eqs during mixdown. Should have posted the un'eqed version for a better picture. But its all good. This is the first time that I tried this method so I was all excited and thought, not bad for a practice amp and a nasalzone pedal!

To sum it up, I was wondering if anyone ever tried using this method? Or perhaps a little tip like what I just did, may have helped another in this forum to get their recorded tone? And stop thinking edge of dustcap, straight to cone etc etc, because from what I discovered from this little experiment, its proof to myself that I should regard those as only guidelines and not a must method,imho. I dont know if bigger amp heads gets fried though.. anyway, I recorded the sample at a very low volume (how unmetal of me!).

Thanks guys for the feedbacks, really appreciated it!

For the fun of it, here's a pic of 'the poor man's rig'.

 

[Exocaster]

That's a totally useable tone. It's tight and clear. The lack of lows doesn't bother me, as I've long been the sort to prefer the bass and drums to handle the low end; the guitar doesn't need massive bottom. That's nothing EQ can't fix anyway.

Congratulations on that. Could it be "bigger"? Yeah, but it's totally passable. For what it is, which is total POS gear, it rocks, hard.

 

[Wadi]

Oh! Thanks Exocaster! *Pats the ugly amp*

 

[metalkingdom]

Yeah Wadi, just go out and buy a Dual Recto or something, what could be stopping you?

I love how you quote the expensive half of my suggestion and then roll your eyes.

 

[metalkingdom]

That's nothing EQ can't fix anyway.

EQ cannot enhance frequencies that aren't there.

 

[devouredremains]

EQ cannot enhance frequencies that aren't there.

Truth.

 

[KeithRT99]

i think it sounds pretty good as it is.

 

[Wadi]

Anyone tried this method yet? Oh I just recalled the Clayman technique and getting the two mics to cancel off each other..Dang! I thought I just made a new discovery.

 

[Omega_Void]

I love how you quote the expensive half of my suggestion and then roll your eyes.

No offense intended, Mr Kingdom. In truth, even ReValver II would be outside my personal price range at present. If Mr Wadi's trying for usable tone out of a 10w practice amp I'd guess he's in the same boat.

RE: EQ cannot enhance frequencies that aren't there

This is true, but the loss of low-end is actually only a relative loss. The driver of a small speaker does still move back and forth at the fundamental frequency, and therefore so does the cone. Therefore sufficient gain of lows and/or attenuation of highs will produce a bassy track from a not-bassy speaker. With admittedly a pretty high noise floor. I know this from experience, the smallest cone I've mic'd up was 2". Not ideal, but when you're stuck with what you've got you just try everything and go with what sounds best.

 

[Wadi]

In truth, even ReValver II would be outside my personal price range at present. If Mr Wadi's trying for usable tone out of a 10w practice amp I'd guess he's in the same boat.

Not ideal, but when you're stuck with what you've got you just try everything and go with what sounds best.

Always loved this quote

 

[metalkingdom]

No offense intended, Mr Kingdom. In truth, even ReValver II would be outside my personal price range at present. If Mr Wadi's trying for usable tone out of a 10w practice amp I'd guess he's in the same boat.

RE: EQ cannot enhance frequencies that aren't there

This is true, but the loss of low-end is actually only a relative loss. The driver of a small speaker does still move back and forth at the fundamental frequency, and therefore so does the cone. Therefore sufficient gain of lows and/or attenuation of highs will produce a bassy track from a not-bassy speaker. With admittedly a pretty high noise floor. I know this from experience, the smallest cone I've mic'd up was 2". Not ideal, but when you're stuck with what you've got you just try everything and go with what sounds best.

That doesn't make any sense. And that little amp of his will never sound good, so screw the "go with what sounds best" approach. Work two jobs if you have to. It'll build character, too.

 

[gibbed]

You can take some of the fizz off by putting a piece of fabric or cloth over the cabinet, between the speaker and the mike.

 

[Omega_Void]

That doesn't make any sense.

Sure it does. Basic physics and common sense. Verified by my experience, and confirmed by a spectrum analyser. Perhaps my description was a little rushed, and would have benefitted from diagrams.

...screw the "go with what sounds best" approach.

Meaning... "if you can't track a great-sounding demo don't make one at all"? That's not an acceptable proposition for any musician with an ounce of commitment!

...work two jobs...

Increasing one's income is often easier said than done - according to the locality, opportunities and resources available. Reducing one's outgoings ditto. However your suggestion that working more hours produces a proportionate increase in income is an intriguing and potentially exciting revelation. I can hardly believe I'd not realized that myself!

 

[Omega_Void]

In support of my previous assertion re. eq - here's a zip file containing a .wav file recorded by mic'ing up a 2" speaker, and a jpeg showing the Voxengo SPAN frequency display.

http://download.yousendit.com/CE2FF50A7C6F4E29

Let's be clear I am not claiming this is a good guitar sound, and I wasted no time trying to make it so. Purely to show that a small speaker does reproduce bass frequencies, and therefore eq can create a bass-heavy tone from a track recorded from a small speaker.

I don't have a sub-woofer, maybe if I did I'd hear something I'm missing, but the SPAN display doesn't indicate a lack of low-end when compared with the SPAN display produced by guitar sounds on commercial CDs recorded with big 4x12 cabs.

On this evidence I humbly contend that the statement "EQ cannot enhance frequencies that aren't there", whilst indisputably true, is therefore not applicable to the case of boosting low frequencies on a small-speaker track.