guitar sounds weak

[MarkPresti]

I recorded a 4x12 guitar cab today using an sm57. I tried several different mic placements, but i could never really get a nice strong sound. Is this because of the preamps in the 001 or is it just the way it is...i eventually got a decent sound by using a condenser a few feet back along with the sm57 up close, but i had to add a fair amount of EQ to get it to sound decent. is there anything else i can do? is it the 001 preamps (meaning i should get some external pre's), or what? thanks!! sorry i'm such an idiot asking all these moronic questions all the time.

[antnyzman]

MarkPresti,
Ah the elusive guitar tone. Here's a good rule. The sound that you want should be coming out of the speakers of a cabinet or combo. The microphone should be the catalyst to capture the sound you hear coming out of the cabinet. This is why different guitars, guitar players, amps and cabinets are used. Conversely, different microphones and pre amps. The goal should be to get the sound source that you want first. Second, you should use a mic/preamp/signal chain that faithfully captures the sound you hear eminating from the sound source. I actually prefer 47s, 67s, 87s, 414s for guitar amps. If you're tweaking the heck out of an EQ, that should be the flag for you to look at the source first.
Tweak the amp's EQ, try different amps, guitars, guitar players, etc...
Hope this helps,
kw

[antiphase]

use multiple mics on the cab.......... don't just capture once source with one mic. Try 3 mics in different spots around that one source.........then blend them together.

[Dirren]

do multiple takes with same setup but different EQ on the cab, like 2 bright L+R, then 2 more bass heavy takes L+R. maybe transpose one track an octave down. try to get the sound right from the source as the post above suggested. however, I often find the guitar sound to change somewhat efter layering multiple takes (well, it should), so a sound that doesn't sound very exciting from the beginning, might actually work really good after some layering. you'll end up with a bunch of guitar tracks, but then it's just a matter of choosing the right ones to blend. make sure the playing is as tight as possible!

[antiphase]

well........ that would be great if you had a guitarist that can play the same exact thing over and over again, and be able to afford the time to re-record every take. Or you can just do what I said before and duplicate these takes.......and eq them as bass heavy....or high heavy.......and all those other options.

[thin ice]

I don't think the 001 will be the problem in capturing the guitar sound - or the SM57. If you have 4 x 57s, put one on each speaker and see which one sounds best by listening in turn (or record a short section of each and compare). You'll be surprised at how different each speaker sounds normally. If it is for a rock guitar tone I will usually pick the best two and record with 57s close micd (about an inch away from the speaker. If you want a brighter tone move the mic closer to the centre of the cone. Try to get the sound you want to achieve without eq, although you might want to add a little later when mixing. Remember most of the guitar tone is mid range - if you eq all this out, it will probably sound great in a bedroom, but very weak in a mix. Double up each rhythm part as you go and pan one each side. If it's metal you could play two parts each side if the guitarist is tight enough. Then in the mix use a frequency conscious compressor to keep the low end under control. The waves c4 is great at this. Set between 80 and 280 hz for a few dbs of gain reduction.

[RinnyTin]

Everybody's got a different way of recording guitar cabinets, there must be a million setups, and obviously every player, guitar, amp, and cabinet are different. It's certainly not uncommon to use multiple mics on a cabinet, your setup with a 57 on the speaker and a condenser in the room is popular. If you had to use a lot of eq, it might have been a phase correlation issue, try moving the room mic around until you get the best sound. Or until you get the worst sound and then flip the phase on your mic pre or in Pro Tools. Or until you get the worst sound and then record it that way, could be the next big thing.

The mic preamps on the digi 001 are not great, maybe next time rent a 2-ch mic pre and compare, see if that's something that might be worth investing in.

A lot of times, a 421 on the speaker works better than a 57. Those little Beyer ribbon mics are also great sometimes.

I've also had better luck with my Bogner 1x12 over a 4x12, it just seems to fill up the mic better than the bigger cabs. Celestion Vintage 30 in there I think, crunches nicely at less than insane volumes.

Best of luck.

[stewie]

try using a couple different heads with different settings.

[Naagzh]

Foremost, what SOUND are you going for? What kind of cab are you using? what kind of guitar? What genre of music? Give us examples of bands and albums, and we'll give you help instead of arguments.

Secondly, what have you tried already? Have you tried layering? By how much did you delay the second track? Do you have them panned hard?

And thirdly, "nice and strong" is hard to understand. Does the guitar have the right tone/timbre/sound, but enough fullness/body/balls in playback? Or is tone weird, but it sounds big and full when you play it back?

[GORILLA]

I think your biggest prob- is the 001 micpre's....thats assuming the guitarist kicks butt/strings are new/guitar is tuned.
Not a thing wrong with using a SM57, and you can place your mics all over the place--but if they're going thru the 001's pre's, your probably not gonna get the sound you want. Unless your going for an extremely digital sound in(he he eh).
Maybe go rent/buy a Vintech Neve 1272 & a distressor and a good A/D converter. Or try Mcdsp's Analog Channel or PSP's Vintage Warmer.

Thangs WILL warm up!!!