SM 81s on electric guitar

[pigpants]

Whod've thunk it? I was recording a Promise-Ringish band and just for shits and grins, threw up one of my SM 81s where I'd normally jam a 57. ( just for reference, the guitar was an SG and the amps were Marshall JCM 900s and the 2000 series ). I went ahead and put up the normal 57 too and, much to my surprise, I preferred the 81 over the 57. I suspected it would be really tinny and harsh, but it wasn't at all. A little "sheenier" than the 57, but it happened to work perfectly for their sound. You learn something new every day. It was a nice kick in the ass for me to stop doing things the same damn way every time.

Just thought I'd share,

-Michael

Oh, and on a side note, I had a U87 up during tracking in omni mode right in front of the control room glass for a talkback mic. When we were just starting to track I happened to accidentally leave it on and, again, much to my surprise, I loved what it was doing for the drums. And it was about 7 feet to the RIGHT of the kit. Weird.

[Rodgre]

I'm a big fan of SDCs on guitar amps. I like the AudioTechnica ATM33a as well. I find that they're not tinny, but pretty big and in-your-face sounding.

My typical amp micing technique, since seeing another engineer doing it a few years back (thanks Chris!) is to use three different mics on one speaker. Use a 57, a condenser and a ribbon, making sure they're equidistant from the cone, and blend them all together for one fat sounding guitar track.

I'm also really into using omni mics. I use them a few feet in front of an amp to get that "I'm standing in the room" sound. I also love to put omnis across the room to get drum tracks to blend and sound like a drum set.

By the way, anyone interested in some AMAZING sounding omnis, check out www.stapesaudio.com They sell these killer tiny little mics that were admittedly inspired by the Tape Op "build your own condenser" article back a few years, but they go above and beyond... and sound killer on everything. I haven't heard a thing they didn't totally rock on!

Roger