So I have 2 SM57s, which other mic should I buy for guitar cabs???

[J.DavisNJ]

I'm slowly piecing together more of my recording rig. I have more RAM, an external HD, monitors coming.

I have 2 SM57s...I think they are good for guitar sounds, but would like to blend in another mic. what would be my smartest choice? I'm thinking an MD421.

-Joe

 

[ffaudio]

421s are great.

However, there are infinite different mics you could buy.

SM7. RE20. One of those new Heil mics. Senn 441.

What are you missing that you're looking to capture and blend in?

 

[J.DavisNJ]

421s are great.

However, there are infinite different mics you could buy.

SM7. RE20. One of those new Heil mics. Senn 441.

What are you missing that you're looking to capture and blend in?

Maybe I haven't messed with position as much as I should, but my palm mutes, etc. don't sound as defined. While I think I come close to the room sound with my SM57, I'm not so sure.

If you go to my sound click page, check out the recording of the Marshall JVm and tell me what you think. I used one SM57 on it:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=452533

Basically I want a thicker, meatier sound, more definition. How about a condensor mic?

-Joe

 

[Matt Crooks]

For meat I'd go Royer 122. The 421 will give you a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but no what I'd call "meat". YMMV.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Hey thanks for the reply...I figure, I have two SMs to work with, so to add something else to the equation might help.

I'll check out the Royer. Ouch, very expensive I notice. I don't think I can spend that much on one mic right now.

-Joe

 

[Jackal_Strain]

The holy grail of micing a cab is 57, 421 an droyer 122 together, or so I've heard.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Yeah that Royer is damnnn $$$ though. Maybe I should invest in some better pres first, mess with the mic placement more before I get another mic??

I'm just getting familiar with digital performer too. I used garage band for a long time just to get the basics down.

-Joe

 

[Matt Crooks]

I'm using the 57/421/122 combo for my current project. It basically lets me "EQ" the sound without EQ. Need more mids? Turn up the 57, more highs? turn up the 421. The Royer is not cheap though.

 

[Jaymz]

£300 for the 421 is insane!

 

[J.DavisNJ]

I'm using the 57/421/122 combo for my current project. It basically lets me "EQ" the sound without EQ. Need more mids? Turn up the 57, more highs? turn up the 421. The Royer is not cheap though.

Yeah I noticed!! lol...Well, I think I'm gonna work with my 57s for now. Oz'nimbus got a great sound in the clayman thread. I guess I'll work on the Nordstrom technique for now.

Now, any EQ plugins I should pick up that would help me out?

-Joe

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Oh and Matt Crooks, got any clips of that 3 mic combo handy??

-Joe

 

[Matt Crooks]

Oh and Matt Crooks, got any clips of that 3 mic combo handy??

-Joe

Nothing that I can post at the moment.

FWIW - I think it's very possible to get a great sound with a single 57. I would work on mic placement with *one* mic and get a great sound. From there you can add additional mics if you need, but with some patience you can get a great sound.

I am using all three mics because I can, not because I need to. For the last four years I've just used the Royer, but I figured I'd try the other mics with it as well. Honestly, they all sound good by themselves, and I could make a fine record with any of them.

For plugs, I use the URS API graphic to notch a bit of mids out, and add a touch of bite. I'll use a good parametric to cut everything below 60-90hz. I've tried the Sneap compression trick as well - it all depends on how tight the source track is. If the palm mutes are waaay louder than the rest using just the low band of the multi band works great, if not, just rolling out some lows clears up some space for the kicks and bass guitar.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Nothing that I can post at the moment.

FWIW - I think it's very possible to get a great sound with a single 57. I would work on mic placement with *one* mic and get a great sound. From there you can add additional mics if you need, but with some patience you can get a great sound.

I am using all three mics because I can, not because I need to. For the last four years I've just used the Royer, but I figured I'd try the other mics with it as well. Honestly, they all sound good by themselves, and I could make a fine record with any of them.

For plugs, I use the URS API graphic to notch a bit of mids out, and add a touch of bite. I'll use a good parametric to cut everything below 60-90hz. I've tried the Sneap compression trick as well - it all depends on how tight the source track is. If the palm mutes are waaay louder than the rest using just the low band of the multi band works great, if not, just rolling out some lows clears up some space for the kicks and bass guitar.

Hey thanks for the reply. I think I am going to just work with the SMs for now.

What is the Sneap compression trick you are talking about?? And which amps have you been working with?

-Joe

 

[JeffTD]

What is the Sneap compression trick you are talking about?? And which amps have you been working with?

-Joe

Sneaps C4 setting to compress the low mids - keeps the low mids of the guitars form fighting with the bass and kick for space.


IIRC, Mr. Crooks has been using a Powerball, Road King, and 5150, but I'm sure he'll chime in.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Sneaps C4 setting to compress the low mids - keeps the low mids of the guitars form fighting with the bass and kick for space.


IIRC, Mr. Crooks has been using a Powerball, Road King, and 5150, but I'm sure he'll chime in.

Ah cool I see...

I guess I have some experimenting to do. I have some Mackie HR824's on the way, along with 2 gigs of RAM so my Mac will be 2.5

It's been a bit sluggish lately, so I'm reformatting and moving all my mp3s/video/crap to an external. I hope this speeds it up a bit!

In the meantime I'm gonna start out w/ DP and my new monitors and see how it goes. Thanks again guys,

-Joe

 

[JBroll]

I'd say 421, maybe 441. Another thing to try would be removing the transformer from one of the 57s - it opens up the sound a lot and cuts down on the nasal sounds you often get... you can put the transformer back in the mic, or use it as an outboard box later, if you want, but I wouldn't think about putting the bugger back in mine.

Jeff

 

[deathtotaliban]

i5 hands down

 

[LSD-Studio]

I often use Beyerdynamic m160 or m130 awesome ribbon-mics (en par with royer IMO) for a good price.

with ribbons you have to take care of the precedence-effect though, they're great and full sounding and perfect for cleans etc, for heavy distortions I'd probably not use a ribbon as the only mic, it is VERY full sounding but not as clearly defined in the lows as a 57 (esp. at high volumes due to the precedence effect) but together with a 57 and 421 they're most awesome.
most heavy dist.git. I still record with just 2 57.
cleans with the m160 and crunchy stuff often with a combination of 57 and ribbon.

 

[Mood Bender]

note that the 421 is scooped. also, it's fairly expensive relative to other "guitar" mics

 

[Matt Crooks]

IIRC, Mr. Crooks has been using a Powerball, Road King, and 5150, but I'm sure he'll chime in.

Yup - The RK is my L/R distorted sound, the 5150 is my C distorted sound. The Powerball is providing my clean sounds.