Plugging in directly or micing??

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:04 am

Hello, I'm new to the recording world, but here's my problem. I have a Yamaha AW 16 G in my basement, and I get great clean sound out of my guitar just plugging my amp directly into the machine, but whenever I get distorted, the distortion sound I'm getting from the machine is FAR different from the sound out of my amp. Amy tips? Thanks alot!

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:48 am

It's like you asked. Try micing the amp. Even with a relatively cheap, but pro quality mic like the Shure SM57 you should be able to get good results.

Plugging a guitar in directly when using distortion requires a special output called something like speaker simulation. Those come with varying results, so to begin recording a distorted guitar, you are better of micing the thing.

The rest is in the mic placement, quality of your guitar and amp, quality of your mic input, gain setting, acoustics of the room.

For lots of highs point the mic at the centre of the cone. Point off centre for more bass response.

cheers

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:25 am

Ok, cool! I actually tried an SM57, but it seemed to not come through as clear as the clean sound.

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:44 am

Give it some more time and experiment some more. You should be able to get a strong signal from that setup. Is your gain setting adequate?

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:49 am

cfaalm wrote:

Give it some more time and experiment some more. You should be able to get a strong signal from that setup. Is your gain setting adequate?

Yes it is. i'll just fart around with it more untill I can get the tone I want. Thanks a ton for your help!

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:50 pm

Here is a professional recording tip!

Most rock-and-roll guitars are Miked with SM 57's, both live and in the studio. It's because it has THAT sound. Anything else will also get you good sounds but they won't get you THAT sound. Direct guitars can be useful and sound good but if you are a real guitarist, you play through real guitar amplifiers because you want that real guitar flavor. Mmmm good.

Could I interest you in a good imitation Rolls-Royce?? Right.....

I don't work for Shure I work to get good sound
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:30 am

RemyRAD wrote:

Here is a professional recording tip!

Most rock-and-roll guitars are Miked with SM 57's, both live and in the studio. It's because it has THAT sound. Anything else will also get you good sounds but they won't get you THAT sound. Direct guitars can be useful and sound good but if you are a real guitarist, you play through real guitar amplifiers because you want that real guitar flavor. Mmmm good.

Could I interest you in a good imitation Rolls-Royce?? Right.....

I don't work for Shure I work to get good sound
Ms. Remy Ann David

Thanks a ton for the tip, I'll take that into consideration!

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