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Posted by: Xuestor Aug 12 2008, 07:11 PM

Hey, I've got a tubeamp with 2*12 cab that I'd like to record from. So how do I mike it up? whats the best ways to do it. I need to keep the cost as low as possible, although a good microphone is seen as a good investment.

Please share your knowledge with me!

I have a 4 channel soundcard already (m-audio delta 2496 - 2in , 2out + midi)

Thanks!

Posted by: MickeM Aug 12 2008, 07:39 PM

Micstand
SM57

A soundproof box is something I think is good. My mic sessions are almost always ruined becuase

• I can't play ridiciolusly loud
• Kids scream in the background
• a TV is sounding in the next room
• the phone is ringing

Should be fairly easy to build.

Thomann.de has their t.bone SM57 clone.
I think these things would fit
http://www.thomann.de/se/the_tbone_mikrohalterung.htm
http://www.thomann.de/se/millenium_ms2002.htm
http://www.thomann.de/se/the_tbone_mb75.htm
http://www.thomann.de/se/the_sssnake_sk233-10.htm (XLR) or the version with 1/4" plug depending on your soundinterface (http://www.thomann.de/se/the_sssnake_smp10bk_mikrofonkabel.htm)

I think that would get you quite far on a budget. I have a Shure SM57 but that will cost you more, and I don' tknow how well the t.bone clone will do.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Aug 12 2008, 07:51 PM

For recording electric guitars the SM 57 is definitely the perfect choice. About positioning the mic, you should test several different positions, you will see that even slight changes of the mics position can make HUGE differences in the sound, so you should experiment a bit. Place the mic in from of a speaker and record a bit, then move it slightly and record again, like this you can compare the results and find the position that gives you the sound that you are aiming at.

Posted by: Xuestor Aug 12 2008, 08:41 PM

I play my amp through a attenuator, and I can play cranked with very little tone-affection, so hopefully a soundbox won't be needed.

So I looked through the shoppinglist, and it looked as that was good stuff. aiming for the shure sm57 got me at 120 euros with stand and cable. with the t.bone I could probably get away with about 50 euros. BTW, the shure mic comes with this "mic-holder" included, and the t.bone doesn't, right?
It looked like that in the pictures anyways...


Thanks for your help Marcus and MickeM!

Posted by: MickeM Aug 12 2008, 08:56 PM

I don't know if the Shure SM57 comes with the mic holder or not

another idea with the soundbox, besides playing loud, is to keep distubances out and not have tv, kids, dogs and cell phones recorded
A closet should work well too

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 12 2008, 09:42 PM

My vote also on SM57, it is the perfect choice for guitar amp recordings. As Marcus said, test it from several different positions and see what works best. Have in mind that the room has to be somewhat acoustically treated, and if not, try to cover the amp with a blanket or circle the gear with some paddings. This will help to get as dry signal as possible. If you experiment in one space, in other space the sound will be completely different, so a bit experimenting in the start (although it is boring) will mean a lot in a long run.

Posted by: JVM Aug 13 2008, 01:07 AM

You might have an attenuator but I'd advise you that in my admittedly somewhat little experience of recording tube amps, you need a pretty loud signal to get something good from the mic. That could have been lack of experience on my part though

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Aug 13 2008, 04:29 AM

Regarding the positions of the mics I think the Guitar Rig has some of the most common. You can check them out. Also you can check this book.
Thomson - ProAudio- The Recording Engineers Handbook

I hope you find it usefull.

Posted by: Skalde Aug 13 2008, 01:24 PM

Check this out:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=12202

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Aug 13 2008, 02:19 PM

SM57 doesn't normally come with a mic holder, I don't think. Maybe in some package deals from some sellers.

I've seen people mic their cabinet and then throw blankets on top of the cabinet. It blocks some of the sound from the environment and quiets the cab a bit to the room so you can bring the volume up a bit more. Gotta make sure it doesn't touch the mic though.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Aug 13 2008, 02:46 PM

The thing is that as you bring up the volume on your amp, you have to lower the gain at the mic to the mic pre from clipping. Lowering the mic pre gain reduces its sensitivity to ambient noise in the room. I don't do a ton of recording, and I wait for quiet times in the house to do it, but I get a fairly clean recording when I crank it. Not sure what'll happen once I start mixing it in with other stuff.

I don't see anything in the gear list in this thread about cabling and audio interfaces or mic preamps. Regular (meaning not computer) mics go out to XLR. You'll need to convert XLR to USB or to whatever jack your sound card uses for mic input. Or get an audio interface to offload it from your computer.

I'm no recording expert. I've discussed my setup in a little detail elsewhere. I run an Audio Technica AT3035 in a shockmount on a short stand into a Mackie Onyx Satellite that goes to my laptop over Firewire. I got the Onyx Satellite because I wanted multiple inputs (two in this unit) as well as multiple outputs. Also with my laptop, all I have is a single 1/8" mic input jack.

I got the mic with shockmount, stand and an XLR cable on eBay for $100, with shipping. The Onyx Satellite was bought new for $160.

I've had good sounding results so far. Eventually I'll have some examples online. Haven't gotten into multi-mic testing yet though.

Posted by: Skalde Aug 13 2008, 04:22 PM

thomann sells a shure sm 57 + mic holder + XLR cable for 99€(~147$). Best price as far as I know
but do not hesitate and buy it used, they are very well manufactured.

Posted by: MickeM Aug 13 2008, 05:10 PM

Yeah, that was a really good guide!

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 14 2008, 02:33 PM

I must agree with everyone else , Mic SM57 is a standard !! Also soundproof box is pretty necessary to get good recordings.