Originally posted by netinsect:

I may rent an Avalon VT737 preamp for that,

Don't rent that...rent a pair of Neve 1073's.
Get a sm57 and a royer121.

I agree with recman....another good mic for 'in-yer-face'guitar would be an older md-409 sennheiser....right on the grillcloth at any volume...

Just keep in mind that 80% of the sound you're after comes from the player.

Good luck renting a 1073 maybe an x73 from Vintech
but not a Neve!

in my experience, 1073's are pretty easy to rent. I bet you can find em. and that would be my choice as well. mic's....57 always. I like the shure KSM's as well for condensors.
I always use at least 2 mics on the cab, sometimes 3. mix and match, listen, balance to find that perfect sound.
I'll start with just a 57, send the assistant in the amp room with earplugs and headphones. While the guitar player blares away, i have the assistant move the mic around each speaker while i listen. every time i hear a killer tone, i stop him and have him mark it. After i've listened to all the speakers, then i'll have him put the mic back on each marked spot one by one and narrow down my 2 or three favorite spots on the cab and put my mics there. then balance and listen.
Often i go for the best bright sounding spot, and the best warmer spot, and when you blend the 2 they are really nice. I'll always blend them down to tape and sometimes bus compress the 2 signals while they are going to tape as well, but not too much usually, just to give it some control.
This is a little time consuming but can make a huge tonal difference. This technique works for any kind of sound your going for, and i've had really good success getting the heavy tones your after like this.
enjoy
-Ken

Sorry to be so simplistic but the best guitar sound comes from a great sounding anp/guitar/ and effects processor. In all the years i've been doing this, it comes down to that. Anything else is just iceing on the cake.

Well, for the "before the mic" aspect I am confidant, for I have already recorded with that guitarist and he masters his instrument. He's got a mesa boogie amp, marshall virtual pre, aural exciter(wich I dont like very much) TC G-force, and J-jonson's pod (like line 6).

no Neve pres available here, the avalon is the best I can get and then it's going down to TLaudio...

So if I follow your recomendations I should not care for recording the direct signal for as long as I get the right tone with the mic, right ?

go with sm-57, forget about condensors like akg 414 or U87...

If this is it, then so be it...and thank you for the tips.

ps. any compression on that or keep it clean for more punch ?

Netinsect

Originally posted by John Grimm (Vintage Studios):
Just keep in mind that 80% of the sound you're after comes from the player.

obviously....but he can't change that. So after whatvever the source is, and especially if's it's to go digital, then a 1073 with a ribbon or a dynamic satisfies the answer.

Just keep in mind that the song is 99% of what matters, if you'll listen to it again a year from now....

I would recommend that you DO use the Avalon 737 and print an unprocessed DI track. You may or may not use it later, but hard drive space is easy so why not have the option to re-amp or process independently of whatever else you do. Having more options at mix down can not be a bad thing.

On a recent project I printed a DI, ran a splitter to a Marshall half stack, a Fender amp modified by Joe Barden, and a Roland twin. As you can imagine the Marshall was crunchy, the Fender warm and the Roland clean.

For every guitar part I printed 4 tracks (DI and 3 amps). In the mix I used all three amps with different EQ and panning. The sound is HUGE and can be customized as needed.

So you could still track two performances from the guitar player, panning one of each amp right and one of each amp left. For both tone and texture, it works great.

Great tech for guitars. I have also had good results with a POD for quick set up and decent sound. Most guitarists dont like playing the pod but really like the sound on tape. Any body heard th boogie rectifier preamp? Being a guitar player, I have a bit of gear lust for the thing. have not heard any real world reviews yet. I have a 0ld boogie amp and it is very cool but is a little loud for studio work. I generally use the fender champ or pro for recording.

Heavy distorted in yer face guitar sound?

Sennheiser MD421 (the black one)