how do you record YOUR guitars?

[spencerwalters]

meaning mic placement, mics used, compression, reverb, Eq, etc......

i've been recording but im starting to get serious with it.

please help me out and reply how you record your guitars!!

[The Real MC]

There are enough guitar recording techniques to fill a book.

[RefD]

electric or acoustic guitar?

it really varies according to role within song, part, instrument, desired texture, humidity, frequencies occupied by other instruments, my hair, caffeine level, sound imparted by whatever amp/speaker/room, how dirty or clean the electricity might be, radio frequencies invading due to overhead air traffic (2 military airfields and a major international airport within 20 miles of me), age of strings, etcetera.

for electric, my chain is usually:

guitar -> pedal(s) (if any) -> amp -> speaker cab (if amp isn't a combo) -> mic (maybe a dynamic but also might be a condenser, lo cut might be engaged or not, pad rarely as i seldom use a big or even medium sized amp when i record; usually just one, but placement can vary wildly) -> pre (lo cut might be engaged or not) -> converters

once in a blazing blue moon i might ad something post-pre like EQ and/or dynamics processing of some kind, but i can't remember the last time i did that.

there are a bunch of variables i'm not even mentioning here, but i don't really have a single (or even just a baker's dozen) way of recording guitar.

[inverseroom]

Presently: electric: '64 Epiphone Pathfinder mic'd with a Beyer M160 about six inches from the grill and 2 inches from the edge of the cone.

Acoustic: Alice condenser, 12 inches from the join.

[RefD]

oh yeah, acoustic!

Nady Starpower 3 positioned BBC stylee (12th fret, angled towards the end of the fingerboard and firing across the soundhole) into an Aphex 107 with the lo cut engaged.

even tho i'm happy with the result, i plan on upgrading my choice of mic as soon as i'm not broke anymore.

[No Wave Casio Kitsch]

How much do NADY pay you per post, RefD?

[RefD]

How much do NADY pay you per post, RefD?

$35

[JASIII]

Electric: CAD Trion 7000 (about 4-6 inches off the speaker) > PM1000 or Meek VC3Q > whatever

Acoustic: AT 4033 or 414 (about a foot back pointed at the neck/body joint) or pair of MK012's in XY a few feet back>EH 12AY7>ART Pro VLA>whatever

[GarryJ]

It all depends on the client and the songs, but lately for my own purposes I've been enjoying:

Jazzmaster -> Ampeg Gemini I -> AKG C414B-ULS in cardioid, at varying distances from the grill, normally fairly central on the cone and angled a little towards the edge.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

usually the m160 ~a foot away, pointing straight at the center of the cone. sometimes the md409 or sm7 instead. almost never are the mics any closer than 6". i always have a *whatever* up as a room mic to facilitate easier communication with the players, and if i happen to notice that sounding cool i'll record that as well. usually end up with just the close mic in the end though...

DAV pre-->FATSO-->lavry A/D-->computer. sometimes i put the drawmer 1969 in there before the fatso just for the tone...

i don't like to eq guitars if i can help it, i try to get it right between swapping out mics/guitars/eq on the amp. doesn't always happen though...

if there's any effects i prefer them between the guitar and amp rather than added later. but that said, my most abused 'trick' by far is running guitar tracks out to my namesake and back in, and blending that with the dry track. done right you don't hear the echo at all, you just hear AWESOME GUITAR.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

If it's someone else guitar anyrhing goes.
For my guitar these days it's -
Kay Jazz II -> pedals -> Garnet stencil series 15w combo -> Apex 204 ribbon or EV 664 or Beyer M88 or EV 635a usually on the center of the speaker, 1 -2" back from the grill-> McCurdy broadcast console -> Pro Tools.

[JGriffin]

Guitar -> whatever amp is nearby -> whatever mic is on the stand -> 002 (or Studer if i feel like switching it on).


For acoustic, delete the amp step above.




Not entirely that stupid, but close, lately.

[???????]

I do love me some m160. I get great results with it and the SCA N72.

[Mane1234]

Last time was Fender Strat---Marshall JCM 800 w/ a Mesa 2x12 cab---Audix i5 mic bout 6 inches back pointed straight at the cone----Scully 280 pre.
And then endless variations on that theme...Ribbon mics, Dynamic up close with a LDC further back...sometime run it through an 1178 or an LA4 on the way in. I'm completly nuts about the PM1K for electric as well, although I think the Scully may give it a run for the money.

Acoustic....I kinda suck at recording those. I've never got a sound I'm really happy with. I don't write a lot of songs that have an acoustic as the lead guitar so a lot of time I just use a LDC out front pointed towards the neck, sometimes I'll toss in a SDC and then squash it to use it more for a rhythmic thing under the electric....I need to start using the M160 more.

[JWL]

Just recorded guitars today.

Electric: most days I'll stick a ribbon in front of the amp and see where it sounds good. Today it was a Nady RSM4 just off the center of the cone, up against the grille, angled in toward the center of the cone.

Acoustic: TONS of options. Today it was a CAD M177 condenser in front of the 12th fret, angled slightly in toward the soundhole. The condenser went into an ART TubePAC with some light limiting going, then into a channel of my Mackie Onyx mixer. I also used a Nady RSM4 ribbon down by the bridge, also angled in slightly toward the soundhole. Basically both mics were equidistant from the soundhole, like an isoceles triangle, maybe 12-15" apart or so. The Ribbon went straight into the Onyx' mic preamp.

Both channels were EQd slightly, and submixed to a single channel. This is the channel I recorded.