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[Jeid]

Hey,

My band are gonna be getting into some recording soon and I'm looking to get myself a decent mic for recording my guitar. I've never been a big fan of SM57's in the studio as I always think they are a bit fuzzy. I'm looking for a condenser mic that won't break the bank, but will achieve good sounds.

any suggestions?

Cheers

[Keilan 303]

A great quote from Scott Dorsey (rec.audio.pro) "I always wondered what people hated about the SM57, then I heard one through a Mackie desk...I'd hate that too"

[Jeid]

Any recommendation from you then Kielan?

[Jeid]

I've just been informed that this mic is at the studio and is supposed to be alright for guitar. Any ideas?

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wi...8b6/index.html

Condenser mics generally can't handle as high SPL's so I'd be careful if you were recording a cranked high power stack. You could try a dynamic (such as a 57) up close and a condensor further back. Steve Albini uses Coles ribbon mics several feet back but if the room doesn't sound good then this might not work so well. This is why I use small low power amps now.

[Jeid]

If you read my original post, I was actually asking because I dislike the sound I get from a 57. I'm using a 50watt Boogie which I like the sound of un-miced, just when I record I always end up with a fuzzy sound and I'm putting it down to the mic. I've been in two studios and both used 57's close and produced undesireable results.

We've got the above mic which we will try out at some point over the coming weeks and months.

Yes I read your original post. Maybe you should consider the entire signal chain including mic positioning. If there are other weak links, simply changing to a condensor mic won't make a huge amount of difference. I found this out the hard way.

I use a Red 5 Audio RV15 condensor into a Joe Meek VC3Q for recording my Mesa Boogie.

you have to understand that there is a very large difference in near and far field. The best example of this is a cymbal, hit a cymbal and compare the sound of it normally with the sound right near the surface (you might want to hit it softly...). You may like the sound of your boogie from where you stand but when is the last time you stuck your ear right up to the speaker cab when playing?

This is why, as suggested, two or more mics are generally used. A condensor mic WILL break if you place it in the near field, close mic'd to the cab with the amp cranked. You need a careful mix of two or more mics at different positions. Perhaps consider the 57 close mic'd, a condensor several feet away, and one or two stereo mics in the far field to add ambience and natural reverb. If you are recording live then try adding a couple of ambient mics and mix it in appropriatley. I know this works for a lot of people.

edit: fizzes are usually associated with lots of high gain clipped high frequencies, moving the mic more on axis to the centre of a speaker will reduce the amount of highs picked up directly by the mic, perhaps you could even try out a different cab.

Fuzziness can also be caused by overloading low/ low-mid frequency input at the pre-gain stage in your amp. This might not be so obvious if the amp is cranked and the room is shaking. If you listen to a lot of commercial recordings of heavy guitars(including metal), there isn't very much low end going on at all - this is how you can get a tight, separated yet still powerful band sound. A lot of it will be removed at the tracking/mixing stage. There is also the proximity effect of close micing to counter.

You can help all of these problems by reducing the bass control on the amp. This is as long as the EQ is pre-gain which is the case for most boogies. (MKIVs have both pre and post (graphic) EQ). I tend to use different settings for recording and playing live to get the same sound.

* edit - also if you use high amounts of power amp distortion, running high bass settings will just muddy the sound. Lots of guys run marshall plexis with the bass on 0 and treble on 10 to get a fat-yet-tight sound.

on the topic of guitar amps in the studio i think the cornford harlequin sounds ridiculous from the samples online.

http://www.cornfordamps.com/