Artie Owl Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I rented a Shure SM-57 instrument mic from L&M for a month and I'm planning on buying it if I like it. I think I'll be mic-ing up the blues jr and the SG together, and record it through the Boss Micro BR-1 as a preamp/recorder. Does anyone have any tips for mic-ing an amp as I've never done it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbabig Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Experiment on how far away from the speaker it is, if there is more than one speaker, experiment on where to put it between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldenone Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 You have picked an industry standard, the SM57 ( without the foam filter ) is one of my all time favorite guitar amp and drum mics. I have miked thousands of guitar amps and have found the best mic placement to be just off center of the speaker where the dome and the cone meet and with the mic almost touching the grill cloth. Hope this helps, it's never let me down, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chase1410 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 i actually just orederd a SM57 my self yesterday with the X2U USB adapter...I'm pretty excited to start recording for the first time...I've heard around here that Audacity is the recording software to use, so I'm gonna give that a go..I'd love to hear some tips as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 I should mention I don't have a mic stand, What should I use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I usually mic my amp like goldenone or facing just the speaker cone. Usually either a few inches back or right up to the cloth. My friend has these little short stands that are perfect for micing amps. They have a small foot too so they don't get in the way. Before we got those we just taped the mics to stuff like guitar stands and stuff. I like the sm57. It's solid but I wouldn't say it's amazing or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I should mention I don't have a mic stand, What should I use? Anything that is the right height. Just get a bunch of tape and tape the mic to whatever you can find. You can also use drum stands, or broom sticks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I should mention I don't have a mic stand, What should I use? You could try stacking up books in front of the amp and setting the mic on top of the stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldenone Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Mic stands are relatively cheap, get the right tool, a shorty with a boom will give you all the flexibility you need. If you decide on another mic you just swap clips. Watch out when using tape on rental gear, the wrong tape and you may pull off the finish. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Drape it over the top. I've been told 45° off center is optimal, but tweak to your taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilpanda Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I should mention I don't have a mic stand, What should I use? I use a bingo/table mic stand for my amp, theyre nice AND cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 The table stands are good but you can't adjust the height. I've wanted to try draping it over the top for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 I took the contents out of the bag and I got the microphone, the peg you put it onto a stand with and a cable. The Cable has a female end, going to a half inch plug. The Microphone has a female end as well. So they rented me a lesbian microphone kit. Great. Going back tomorrow to get the right cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I took the contents out of the bag and I got the microphone, the peg you put it onto a stand with and a cable. The Cable has a female end, going to a half inch plug. The Microphone has a female end as well. So they rented me a lesbian microphone kit. Great. Going back tomorrow to get the right cable. Haha! Thats funny. Lesbian microphone kit! LMFAO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Well it was a male to male end not female to female, either way in the end I was right I couldn't use it as it was. Took it back got a mic stand and the cable swapped and now I'm rolling, more to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 So, as it turns out the Boss Micro BR-1 only takes a 3.5mm input for a microphone, the half inch input is only for guitar or bass. So now I need an adapter from half inch to 3.5 or just get ANOTHER cable. Bugger. It's been said before what can go wrong has, and once that's all done there's nothing else that can go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Mmm I love my M-Audio Firewire 1814.....1/4" inputs for guitar and bass and XLR inputs for mics!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Naturally, I bought the wrong mic (C01U Samson) to do the recording from my amp. I made the mistake of buying a large diphram mic, which is apparently more sensitive. I have to mic the amp from half way across the room because the volume level is too loud and the distortion is high, plus being across the room, it really does a lousy job of catching all of the nuances of the amp/speaker. C01U is a great mic, but not for micing amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Ok, after a before work trip to a few audio stores and them being closed I went to Wal-Mart and bought a stereo adapter kit that was more than I was looking to spend ($13) but it includes a; single 3.5mm to double 3.5mm adapter, 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter and the one I needed a 1/4" to 3.5mm, as well as a 20ft audio cable extension cord. Let's see what else I'll possibly need, more to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Keep in mind Owl, any adapters you use will degrade the signal....maybe just a tiny bit but its something to think aboot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Keep in mind Owl, any adapters you use will degrade the signal....maybe just a tiny bit but its something to think aboot... Maybe it'll give me a nice crunchy sound? I don't know the pre-amp in the Boss is pretty good from what I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Maybe it'll give me a nice crunchy sound? I don't know the pre-amp in the Boss is pretty good from what I understand. Yes its likely good and you may get a nice crunchy sound from it...what I mean is that the signal will be degraded before it even hits the BOSS device...as soon as it hits the adapter. The more connections, the more signal loss you will encounter. But in the end Owl...if it sounds good, it doesn't really matter right?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Yes its likely good and you may get a nice crunchy sound from it...what I mean is that the signal will be degraded before it even hits the BOSS device...as soon as it hits the adapter. The more connections, the more signal loss you will encounter. But in the end Owl...if it sounds good, it doesn't really matter right?! Yeah I'm not too worried about it, it's direct from the Mic, to the cable to the adapter, so not a lot of room for degredation. Might not get to try it for a couple days now, but I've got the mic for a month so I definitely will post samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Cool! I'm of the mind that if I can do it with no adapters, i'll get the best sound...but thats me! :) Looking forward to hearing your experimentation with mic placement too! Good luck man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldenone Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Naturally, I bought the wrong mic (C01U Samson) to do the recording from my amp. I made the mistake of buying a large diphram mic, which is apparently more sensitive. I have to mic the amp from half way across the room because the volume level is too loud and the distortion is high, plus being across the room, it really does a lousy job of catching all of the nuances of the amp/speaker. C01U is a great mic, but not for micing amps. Samson is not a professional quality product but never the less it will work. Any mic you use to mic a guitar amp running at volume will over load the preamp input. In order to get a clean signal you will need to pad down the input level on your preamp. If your pre amp does not have a pad on the input there are inline pads available. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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