Why can't I get a good recorded guitar sound?

[John_C]

Use a lo-z cable.

for audio purposes you generally ignore cable impedance. It's always so small that it tends not to matter, even at very long cable lengths. A low impedance output however, can drive a signal further than a high impedance output

 

[tr3nt]

Hey guys I put my amp in another room today the best I could so I could only hear it out of my headphones and here's my frist mic placement and settings, I turned down the gain a bit. I'm a lot happier doing it this way, I'll still have to mess around with it this weekend!

This is my recording in a mix:

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=cmczc0w1MGs5NVhIRGc9PQ

and just the guitar track:

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=cmczc0wwdVU5bERIRGc9PQ

---

If you guys could listen to them and give me some feedback it would help lots. Thanks, Godbless my friends.

 

[greyskull]

waaaaaaaaaay better.
still a bit funky, but i dont know what sort of tone your going for so hard to say!
Is the mic straight?
and what guitar are you using

 

[tr3nt]

Just a straight forward rock sound I guess. Whats funky about it? I'll mess some more.
But it's a 2005 Gibson SG standard.

 

[XnaySaturo]

I still crank the amp, but I think the new mic positioning is better so far...
I also got a friend's Schecter with Duncan pickups instead of the Godin with stock ones that I was using to record this particular song. It'll probably help.

BTW, tr3nt, I added you on msn...email = my username.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I betcha your tone issues are a combination of mic placement and amp tone. It can be very frustrating at first, because at that time it's hard to imagine how the tone could get any better when you feel like the mic is in as good of a place as it will ever be, and the amp sounds good in the room, but those conclusions can be completely wrong. It's pretty ridiculous how tricky it can be to balance amp settings and mic placement in order to achieve a legit sounding tone! I've generally fared best when the mic sounds a bit dark when placed right...then you can add some more high frequency from the knobs on the amp, or maybe a bit of high frequency push just from an EQ plug in the DAW. I've never had a "bright" mic placement sound quite right for a heavy tone.

 

[Mesa4x12er]

That tone sounds good to me, but unless I know what you are going for in the end it's hard to suggest what to do next. Play with an EQ a bit. You'd be suprised what the right tweaks can do for the overall sound at the end. Also you may try more layers. It's totally possible to get great heavy in your face tracks with 1 take left and right, but a lot of tones from rock to metal use this technique for a reason.

Also if it's just a matter of getting the sound in the room you are hearing you need to be aware that it's going to be hard to nail that. Most importantly you need to stick your ear right up to your speaker and hear what is coming out right there since that's where the mic will be. One last thing... setting on your amp will very greatly when you record. The idea here is manipulation. You have to find the right combination of things to do to end up at the result you want. This is the trial and error part. There is no set answer.

Easiest way to go about it though is to identify what it is exactly that you want out of your guitars. Mic a few spots and see what you hear. Does this placement have part of what you want but not another? Does this spot have a different thing you wanted but missing what was in the first position? At that point you start to find a middle ground or say fuck it and mic multiple spots.

 

[paladin shredder]

i've recorded one of my friends 2x12 cabs before (custom built, v30's) and have never been satisfied with the results, but it does sound good in the room. i also believe metaltastic posted a thread about how boxy/wolly his 2x12 mesa cab sounds when it's recorded. you could try some different cabs (edit: more specifically 4x12) to see if that yields any better results.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well in my case I felt the 2x12 was very boxy (not too wooly, that was the Stiletto 4x12 ) because it was technically two separate 1x12's in that the interior was divided in half by a stupid panel (which I still need to get around to sawing out). However, I've heard a couple of decent clips of 2x12's, actually only those Harley Benton cheapo ones ironically enough (they still have V30s though), but yeah, I'd definitely rather have a 4x12 for the overall resonance and fullness!

 

[ScootBaloo]

After reading all the posts in this thread I would have to say that mic placement
is coming up all the time as a potential culprit for your disappointing tone but my
own experience is that while mic placement does make a difference it does not
explain a really poor tone ( unless of course the mic placement is ridiculous ).

My theory is that your amp tone that may be lacking.

My suggestions is to get a THD hot plate because it gives you a lot
of flexibility when it comes to setting your amp tone. With the hot plate,
you can have the pre amp and the power amp turned up really high and
also the hot plate has a treble boost which really work well and adds
excellent presence to the sound.

The other thing I thought of that might explain a dissapointing tone is ...
( I am not trying to be insulting here, honest )
You do have the phantom power turned on, yes ? because most mic's
will still produce a signal when its turned off.

Please forgive me if that last suggestion was insulting.

 

[greyskull]

phantom power? with an SM57?????????

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Yeah phantom power is a non issue here.

 

[ScootBaloo]

Woops, sorry about the phantom power thing, I just assumed it needed it.

 

[-Loco-]

only if its a condenser or some other special mic that requires it

 

[paladin shredder]

you always want to have phantom power on with vintage ribbon microphones.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

you always want to have phantom power on with vintage ribbon microphones.

That was good.

 

[lolzgreg]

I usually crank my Mesa (output and master on 7-8)

I think that's your problem right there. You have the amp turned up too farkin' loud. You're probably moving the speaker and running the tubes a little too hot for the music you're trying to record. I can get some killer tones with my Recto and 5150 on volume 2.

 

[GeertSamuel]

Takes awhile to get somewhere. After about 3 years I got something I can be happy with...
Took me 3 amps & 3 cabs to finally get there..
ENGL Blackmore, ENGL Savage, JCM800
ENGL V60 cab, Marshall V30 loaded, Marshall Greenback loaded

I've now ended up with JCM800 & V30 combo which sounds best and about 200 mic position tests......
So just take your time with this, experiment..

 

[Metaltastic]

I think that's your problem right there. You have the amp turned up too farkin' loud. You're probably moving the speaker and running the tubes a little too hot for the music you're trying to record. I can get some killer tones with my Recto and 5150 on volume 2.

Yup, it's definitely possible to get an amp too loud, not only because of farting speakers but also just increasing all the shit bouncing around the room that can come back to the mic and cause phasing