Home › Forums › The Lounge › Your favorite way to mic an amp for recording?

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  • August 15, 2010 at 11:50 pm #80601
    Deluxe Memory Man
    Member

    I’m looking for alternative methods to just putting an SM57 up against the grill cloth over the center of the speaker. I don’t feel it really captures the tone. (and let’s face it, we’re all putting up the money for these amps and pedals that we love, we want that tone we worked hard to get to be heard!) What are your favorite ways of miking an amp?

    August 16, 2010 at 1:05 am #110901
    The Ghost of Sim Tut
    Member

    I like to do one up close, one farther away in the room. That may be 2 ft or well across the other side.

    That said, I’m pretty lazy and haven’t established a good sounding room in my new house (the room is the most important part of miking an amp), so I’m becoming quite accustomed to DI. I use a Behringer Ultra G, which has the unique option of accepting a speaker out from an amplifier (instead of line-out). I put it between my old Peavey 5150 head and cab, direct to the board, and am very surprised with how satisfied I am. The sound I got on tape is just like what I heard in the room.

    August 17, 2010 at 9:00 pm #110933
    TheGhostMachina
    Member

    I’ve been getting good results from DI’ing my Mesa 4Forty lately. It has a recording 1/4inch out, as well as send and returns. Also, Radial makes a nice little box you can use to put between the head and speaker as The Ghost of Sim Tut described. John Angus from the Trews has been using one for years, and they sound great.

    That being said, I still put a mic in front of the speaker as well as the DI. Sometimes I use the SM57, but I love the old Sennheiser BF509. These are hard to find since they’re no longer in production. But they sound Amazing! In a pinch, the Sennheiser e504/604 doesn’t sound half bad either. I would also combine the close mic with a distant condenser mic. Something like an AKG414, or Neumann U87. But don’t forget the microphone 3 to 1 rule!

    Of course, your mic choice and placement is only half (or less!) the battle. A good pre-amp and the right room/positioning are also key. For anything professional I do, I go with either the Avalon 747, or, when it’s available, the Millennia STT-1 Origin. But you can find decent preamps for much less. Something like the TLAudio Purple or Ivory series. You could even try the EHX 12AY7. I bet it sounds great on guitar;)

    Hope that helps. As with anything, the perfect tone is a matter of taste. (And sometimes massive amounts of overdubs). Keep trying stuff until you find what works for you!

    TGM
    http://www.reverbnation.com/theghostmachina

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