Could someone provide their best methods of mic'ing guitars? I'm brand new at this and I just got a shure sm57 and a tube preamp which are running through my computers digital interface. The equipment is working great, but I still can't seem to get the guitar sound I'm looking for. Always sounds a little thin and brittle. What are the best mic placements that you guys use reliably? Also, what are the best mic positions to record an acoustic? I could also use some help with compression and eq settings as I really don't know how to mix these tones in really well. Thanks everyone. :thumb:

First of all get some sort of cutter. In my case I picked up my trusty Dremel tool. After that, get a 50 CD box top, cut it out carefully. Then you take some duck tape, fix it on the cheap mic (in my case), stick it under in between the keyboard and the table, or in front of yer trusty amp, and voilá!

My god, whats that for?!?!?!

Hell, stick a mic in front of an amp and play man!

My god, whats that for?!?!?!

Hell, stick a mic in front of an amp and play man!
Hell I´m starting to get sick bout you chasing every post I make man, ever since 101. On the other hand I have a blast!:yourock: :lol:

It's all in fun my friend. .

:D

But seriously - micing a guitar amp has never been an issue for me.

That new song I made, "The Are Here" (http://www.guitarblast.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=913&d=1162531791) was a song with a miced amp. We did nothing special - just stuck a mic in front of my amp and I went for it.

For Electrics, I mic right on the grill cloth with the mic pointed at the cone (not the center of the speaker). I usually have to turn up pretty loud to get good tone. EQ depends on the tune I think. I try to record flat, and adjust things in the mix (what do you use btw)? Compression is essencial for me. I have learned that vocals, acoustic guitar, and electrics can all sound in the ballpark to what I am looking for with slightly under 2:1 compression. The type of Reverb also smooths things out if you are sounding really brittle.

These are the things I do. I definitely am not an expert. If you use Cool Edit or Audobe Audition, I can put up some screen prints of my settings. Perhaps they can get you a jump on things.

First of all get some sort of cutter. In my case I picked up my trusty Dremel tool. After that, get a 50 CD box top, cut it out carefully. Then you take some duck tape, fix it on the cheap mic (in my case), stick it under in between the keyboard and the table, or in front of yer trusty amp, and voilá!

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not sure what you mean by this. What is this supposed to do?

For Electrics, I mic right on the grill cloth with the mic pointed at the cone (not the center of the speaker). I usually have to turn up pretty loud to get good tone. EQ depends on the tune I think. I try to record flat, and adjust things in the mix (what do you use btw)? Compression is essencial for me. I have learned that vocals, acoustic guitar, and electrics can all sound in the ballpark to what I am looking for with slightly under 2:1 compression. The type of Reverb also smooths things out if you are sounding really brittle.

These are the things I do. I definitely am not an expert. If you use Cool Edit or Audobe Audition, I can put up some screen prints of my settings. Perhaps they can get you a jump on things.

Thanks for the info man. I actually do have Adobe Audition, so if you have those setting, I'd love to take a look at them.

When you point the mic at the cone, do you put it smack in the middle of the cone aimed straight at it? I've been trying to do that, but I had the mic about 4-5 inches away from it instead of right up on the grill. Does that make all the difference you think? I hear some people turn the mic off axis too, what do you think of that?

It's all in fun my friend. .

:D

But seriously - micing a guitar amp has never been an issue for me.

That new song I made, "The Are Here" (http://www.guitarblast.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=913&d=1162531791) was a song with a miced amp. We did nothing special - just stuck a mic in front of my amp and I went for it.

Wow, your tone is really impressive man! Great song! Where did you place the mic exactly for this?

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not sure what you mean by this. What is this supposed to do?
Sorry I put it down. One lil simple gadget, thats all, works good for me..:)

Sorry I put it down. One lil simple gadget, thats all, works good for me..:)

Ahhh, I see. That's pretty cool. And that really helps drive that sound straight into the mic huh? Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that. :thumb:

Wow, your tone is really impressive man! Great song! Where did you place the mic exactly for this?

The mic was basically placed right in front of the grill - as close to it but without touching it.

The basic premise is to get it recorded with a generally good sound - then use a graphic EQ to see what frequencies are lacking, or what frequency's are too strong.

Thats what we did for this song.

Thanks for the nice compliment too.

The mic was basically placed right in front of the grill - as close to it but without touching it.

The basic premise is to get it recorded with a generally good sound - then use a graphic EQ to see what frequencies are lacking, or what frequency's are too strong.

Thats what we did for this song.

Thanks for the nice compliment too.

Ok, cool. I see that most people are putting the mic right up on the grill as you do, so I need to try that. I appreciate your help very much, thanks!

Oh yes, when recording acoustic, where should you place the mic?

Oh yes, when recording acoustic, where should you place the mic?

What I do for that is place the mic as close to the sound hole as possible - but not so close that you smash into it.

You need to make sure your levels are such that they aren't clipping. You need a good level.

Then once again, make sure it's EQed right.

What I do for that is place the mic as close to the sound hole as possible - but not so close that you smash into it.

You need to make sure your levels are such that they aren't clipping. You need a good level.

Then once again, make sure it's EQed right.

Makes sense, I tried that once and the results were alright. I asked because I read somewhere that you should place the mic near the 12th fret and record from there. It didn't work for me very well and was wondering if everyone did it that way. Thanks for you help again.

Makes sense, I tried that once and the results were alright. I asked because I read somewhere that you should place the mic near the 12th fret and record from there. It didn't work for me very well and was wondering if everyone did it that way. Thanks for you help again.

But the sound doesn't come out from the 12th fret - it's comes out of the soundhole.

On this acoustic song (http://www.guitarblast.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=729&d=1160610760)- I recorded it as I just decribed. And I didn't use a $5000 mic either. I used a $15 computer mic - and it sounds just fine.

But the sound doesn't come out from the 12th fret - it's comes out of the soundhole.

On this acoustic song (http://www.guitarblast.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=729&d=1160610760)- I recorded it as I just decribed. And I didn't use a $5000 mic either. I used a $15 computer mic - and it sounds just fine.

And that's exactly the kind of tone I'm looking for too. Great song and on a computer mic...amazing.

But this is what I use (more or less). No expert here as I said. It's always my starting point anyway. Dial-in to your preferences.

EQ and Channel mixing are other things I do, but the compression setting is particularly helpful for me.

Hopefully they work for you as well bro.

Yes yes - Compression is good. .

Forgot about that. .

Thank you 3fingers! I'll have to try those, much appreciated.