Recording electric guitar issue

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:38 pm

Hello all, and thank you for your time. I'm taking the responsibility of recording the demos for my band, and one song requires the rhythm guitar to have a thick distortion. Basically the guy who wrote it in our band likes more punk styled stuff like the offspring (not really my cup of tea), so I've run into some issues. I have a Roland 100 watt amp, and am attempting to record with an Audio Technica AT2020 condenser microphone. Everything I've recorded with this mic so far has turned out fantastic (acoustic, vocals, piano, etc), yet I can't seem to get electric to go well. Basically it sounds really muffled, and distant if that makes sense. The mic is placed around 4 to 6 inches away from the speaker, and pretty much in the center in order to get a brighter sound. I was wondering if any of you guys have advice on placement, EQ, or anything else that you think may be helpful. Thank you all so very much!
-nocarsgo

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:33 pm

Get an SM57, Audix I5 or one of the Senn 906, 609, etc.
Condensers don't play well with heavily distorted guitars.

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:20 am

Yes, use one above the above mics, I have personally used the SM57 with great results... You can experiment with using the AT2020 as a room mic to pick up ambient room sounds if you want to go in that direction.

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:06 am

Isn't the mic usually placed slightly off centre, sometimes much closer too?

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:16 am

Kind of an amalgamation of the previous posts -

Using a dynamic mic (i5, 57) closer to the amp and halfway between the dustcap and the suspension and you're golden.

My only problem is, for the life of me, I can't imagine a Roland amp driven to heavy distortion. This doesn't strike me as a positive sounding thing.

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 9:56 am

Maybe he's just recording the guitar and using a plugin, but can't get a good basic electric guitar sound? Or maybe it's an effect pedal or something...

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:14 am

Codemonkey wrote:

Maybe he's just recording the guitar and using a plugin, but can't get a good basic electric guitar sound? Or maybe it's an effect pedal or something...

If it's either of these you might consider getting a DI and going direct. If your amp isn't the thing creating the basic guts of the sound, why mic it?

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 4:35 pm

Thank you all so very much! I understand what you mean amp wise, but I feel content with the sound thats coming through the roland (I made the distortion specifically for it). So, I felt like it wasn't the actual sound, just the recording if that makes sense. I will definitely check out those mics, and then try placing it as you guys suggested. I'm sure this will help a lot, I'm still relatively new to recording as you can probably see, so your guidance is incredibly helpful. I can't thank you enough!
-nocarsgo

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