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I tried Micing my Hiwatt Custom 100 and going direct with my PRS straight into the board through boxes and onboard effects, yet when it comes to a nice grinding, crunch sound I end up witha buzzy overdistorted guitar. Is there some magical piece of equipment I am failing to run it through?

Comments

KurtFoster Sat, 05/31/2003 - 18:17

Mic the amp at the edge or in the middle of the speaker cone with a 421, D112, RE20 or a SM57. Directly in the center will make it very bright. Try to keep the pre amp gain as low as possible. A really nice mic pre will be a lot of help. Try a little compression, 2 to 1 ratio with a medium attack and a fast release, about 3 or 4 dB of reduction. After that, adjust the tone of the AMP to taste for the right balance in playback.

Pez Sat, 05/31/2003 - 18:40

I would try something other than a PRS guitar if it's possible. For a good crunch try a Les Paul through a Plexi Marshall or an old black face Fender amp. The build quality of the PRS guitars is excellent but I've had a harder time getting a good sound out of them. YMMV and It's just my personal opinion so don't be offended if you're really attached to that guitar. The most important thing in recording is getting a good sound at the source. If you have that you could throw up a cheap 57 and kick some ass.

anonymous Sun, 06/01/2003 - 13:52

Heavy guitars always seemed like one of those things that just takes practice for me..probably because i'm a guitarist by nature..

I play a prs as well..and have found it a little more difficult to record..but generally..it just takes a lot of practice.

Try using less drive/gain/distortion..what you're hearing from 10' back is quite different than a close mic.
If you can..mic the amp..and track from a different room and have a friend move the mic around to see where it sounds good..
or..track a bit yourself move it, etc

hope this helps
cheers