guitar mics and vocal mics

[laaaakes5]

my band has started recording our demo we got one song done. the drums sound alright. and the bass is pretty good. put our guitars sound alittle off and the vocals aren't too good. for the guitar we use a sm 57 at the cab on the speaker. (there is only one) and a mxl 990 conderser about 2-3 feet away to get the room feel to it. and for the vocals we use the mxl 990. i have a copy of waves so i have some good eq plugins and stuff. any advise to get a nice sound. we play like average rock stuff. mixed with a slight old skool rock / rock and roll sound for some of the guitar. just thought id ask to see if anyone has any info that will help us in the recording

[nightshadecrisis]

for a vocal mic, the Røde NTK is a great and inexpensive(400 retail) and versatile mic. for guitars the e609 and the sm57 are good options. try micing the cab in different positions, you'll get different sounds.
ev

[Keith Owens]

i have a copy of waves so i have some good eq plugins and stuff

What do you mean by that statement?

[Aussie169]

What do you mean by that statement?

Stirer

[Chris Cavell]

for the guitar we use a sm 57 at the cab on the speaker

What kind of music is it (what kind of guitar sound are you going for)? This can have an impact on the close distance, placement in relation to the center, and angle of the microphone.

and a mxl 990 conderser about 2-3 feet away to get the room feel to it

Firstly, the 990 is really a small diaphragm condenser in what looks like a typically large di housing...so keep that in mind. Second, does the room sound good...would you want to give an unplugged show in it? If not, why would you want to capture it?

i have a copy of waves

...probably should have said, "I own the xxxx bundle from Waves." You'd have probably less fluff and more helpful response then. If that statement is untrue...lets hope you live in a country where cracking of software available as demo versions for download online is legal...if you don't, lets hope you plan on supporting such a fantastic company as waves in the future (hopefully soon) so the prices don't go up due to piracy.


I hope you don't take these questions to mean that I'm putting down your techniques...quite the contrary, I just need more info if I'm going to offer any more detailed advice. The questions I posed to mic choice and placement are questions you should always consider when diciding how to mic until it becomes completely intuitive.

Cheers,
Chris