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[Hogisbald]

Is there a reason why a lot of bands mike the amp as opposed to using the line-out thingy? i.e. difference in sound quality. With 2 guitarists now in Element we have a Randall and a Mesa Boogie and want to get the best guitar possible. We have Shure SM57 for miking (indirectly) into a soundcard, we have a mixer to tweak stuff too. Any hints are greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Hoglogbogsnog

[spellchecker]

some say using line-out's doesn't give you much ambience, and can make things sound a bit too clinical. often as well, the quality of the line out feed is shite. i had a marshall valvestate once that had a line out so shit that it was better suited as a pen holder.

on the other hand, if the line out is good quality, it can be useful for recording. as a general rule try to use as level an e.q. as possible on the amp, don't overdo the gain and turn off any delay, reverb, effects, etc. on the amp. it's better to do this on the computer often, especially in the case of e.q. and reverb. what sounds nice played in a room with a bit of a reverb can often sound a little vacuous once recorded to disk.

try mucking about with your sm57. start by hitting record on your computer, and get one person to play the guitar while another person systematically tries different mic positions, recording the positions as accurately as possible as they go. experiment with different mic positions, different distances from the speaker and if you have more than one mic, try different things like micing the back of the speaker (if it's open/accessible). it all adds to the sound.

[soundian]

Originally Posted by Hog

Is there a reason why a lot of bands mike the amp as opposed to using the line-out thingy? i.e. difference in sound quality. With 2 guitarists now in Element we have a Randall and a Mesa Boogie and want to get the best guitar possible. We have Shure SM57 for miking (indirectly) into a soundcard, we have a mixer to tweak stuff too. Any hints are greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Hoglogbogsnog

The cab and speakers are an important part of a guitars sound, just try plugging your guitar straight into a mixer and you'll see what I mean.

Experiment and see what works best, try using both mic and line as well.

[Keilan 303]

You could experiment with both, recording the line level and mic into their own channels, then blending the two until you get a sound you are happy with. The advantages and disadvantages of close micing amps and DIing essentially contradict each other, what you may be lacking with the DI is what you get with the micing, what you would lack with micing is what you would get with DI. Your ears will know whats best.

Personally, I never DI (except for bass) and use two mics on my amp instead, one large diaphragm condensor mic on axis with the speaker, which gets all the top end and clarity, but doesn't really get any of the dirt and bass, and a SM57 off axis which gets all the dirt and bass, but none of the clarity and top end Again, its a case of blending the two until you get what sounds right, but you have to take their phase relation into account, I don't have a phase invert on my desk and I'm always summing these two channels to one track so it's crucial to get it sounding right before recording it. Bit of experimenting is needed...the cab needs to be another room with as best isolation as you can get. I can't hear mine in my bedroom from my living room (probably cos its at 0.5!) so you know that what you are hearing through your monitoring is accurate this way. I like a slightly out of phase sound because it can do a bit of frequency scooping or boosting without needing to go near the EQ (and as my desk is Behringer, I go NOWHERE near it's EQ ) It's all just in experimenting and all that jazz....my neighbours love me

But yeah...just experiment recording both at once (set one channel of your sequencer to record from left, and the other from the right, and pan accordingly) The sound of the DI might be so shitty that it could work really well as an effect (eg. a breakdown where a chugging guitar is on one note or something with the DI sound, then a reversed cymbal with guitar feedback slamming into a full on sound....shit like that!) Your CPU's the limit

by using line out you bypass the speaker cabinet completely. speakers colour the sound of the amp, if you want that sound then mic the speakers. By line out of the amp you can go straight into the pc and have it dry or feed it into a speaker simulator. It changes the tone of the sound.

i say, do both, and mix it so it sounds good. Try a variety of micing positions too.

[Chi 666]

hog you cant beet a good 57. you lose good ambiance when using a line out. diffrent mic placment can be vital to a good sound.

[Savant]

Also (I dont think this has been mentioned but I didn't read everyone's posts) it's hard for speakers to reproduce high frequencies (or something) so a guitars signal carries the high frequencies at a higher volume, so if you use the raw signal then you'll get a very harsh sound...

[Keilan 303]

Originally Posted by Chi 666

hog you cant beet a good 57. you lose good ambiance when using a line out. diffrent mic placment can be vital to a good sound.

Most mic's probably beat the 57...especially if it has a shit mic pre amp.

Read into the 47, 87, 421, 121 (royer) etc etc....although of course there is no one mic fits all, all amps have different characteristics, as the mics do, and ultimately the players and the tonal preference does....you need to go with what fits.

But if a 57 is all thats at hand it will do I suppose

[Hogisbald]

Bugger, lol. I bought a 57 because it seemed like a decent mike. I want a Neumann because they look cool and are too expensive.

Originally Posted by Hog

Bugger, lol. I bought a 57 because it seemed like a decent mike. I want a Neumann because they look cool and are too expensive.

All my sundaramusic stuff's been recorded with a 57.

I like it for recording saxophone and electric guitar, but not so keen on it for vocals and flute.