Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[frank kayser]

When I go to mic up a guitar amp I wear my custom molded plugs and put my hand in front of the middle of it after I've listened to the middle of it.

Do people still listen to guitar amps before micing them or just default to halfway through the cone

I'll admit to defaulting to halfway through the cone area.  I can't say I've ever listened closely to the center vs middle cone vs edge.  Sometimes I blindly follow best practices and do not experiment - sometimes I have to buck the status quo and find my own way.


Generally, halfway through the cone has produced results that were not bad - no complaints - which means the results could have been great, good, or merely acceptable. 

[Jay Barracato]

The amount of time ispend looking for a sweet spot on the amp is inversely proportional to the number of pedals in his pedalboard.

Really I am all about neutrality. A 906 on the flat curve, high and low pass on the board, show me your clean, distorted, and boost levels, gain to the sweet spot, soft compression on the group, with a touch of makeup gain, and let it rip.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Luke Geis]

As to mic'ing an amp that showed up on my stage I always default to splitting the cone, or just off axis to the center of the speaker. Why? Well I never really get the results I'm looking for on axis and on center, but I also don't get what I'm looking for going to the speakers edge or being fully off axis. So I split the difference for default and adjust if needed to get a sound that works without major EQ work. If the mic position is too bright I will move it closer to the speakers edge and if the speaker is too dull sounding or muddy I will move the mic more on axis to the speakers center. If I get too much woof but like the sound of the highs I am getting, I will move the mic away to reduce proximity effect and if the mic has too little bottom end and I am off the grill a little I will either add lows, or move the mic closer. You have to start somewhere and I don't think listening to the cab will tell you right away where you need to place the mic. It will simply wear your ears out trying to listen to the sweet spot.

As to the trick of trying to use tape as a beam blocker....... I don't think it will help much. It may fix one problem only to create other problems. There will still be a reflection off the back side of the tape that will direct sound back onto the horn flare. That sound has to go somewhere. And it will mix out of phase with the original sound. While I'm sure the amount of interference is minimal, it still exists.

[Stephen Kirby]

Maybe we need a sticky on micing guitar amps.

I have a friend who is a studio owner (also a phenomenal guitarist in his own right) who built a motorized slide so he could translate the mic across the front of an amp while listening in the control room.  It doesn't take much movement, especially with the default 57, to make a significant difference in tone.

In my project studio I like to use a two mic technique I picked up watching Steve Kimock live.  But I've never had the occasion to use it live myself.

Since the 609 is a bit less placement sensitive I usually know enough about the sound of most amps I encounter to be able to find a decent spot.  It also depends on what sort of tone the player goes for.  On high gain, fizzy sounds I'll typically try to control the fizz by moving the mic off center a bit more so it sounds though the PA more like what the player typically hears off axis.

I used to have a Bogner Cube cabinet that had a circle similar to the BeamBlocker built into the grille frame.  This has to be one of the best small cabinets for live work ever made.  I've heard everyone from Steve Vai to Norman Brown play though them.  If I was a varsity provider I'd carry one around and ask every player to try it, or use it as an on stage monitor for the guitar.  The first time I saw Vai with them he had the big old 4-12s on stage for show, but a Cube on either side of the drum riser was what was playing to keep the stage volume down and make it easier for him to hear.  While I love the spaciousness of an open back cabinet, I had the Cube as I was doing lots of corporate work where I was jammed up against the dreaded heavy theater drapery and it always gave a consistent sound up on a stand around hip high.  The large lip let me hang the 609 on a conga clip mount so I had a consistent sounding feed to the PA each time as well.

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

I tend to put it between 30cm-1m back if I have the space and about halfway through.

If I don't have the space and split the cone I tend to wish I had another mic in a different position.

Maybe I'm just spoilt for choice...

I have never met a stagehand who can put the mic in the correct spot and if I ask them to move it they move it too far.

[lindsay Dean]

a poplular travelling church sound boot camp presenter during a stage micing portion told the student to not mic too close because the sound needs to
"mix with the air" to be gooooood.
wait , what? :/

[Tim McCulloch]

a poplular travelling church sound boot camp presenter during a stage micing portion told the student to not mic too close because the sound needs to
"mix with the air" to be gooooood.
wait , what? :/

Open up the window
Let some air into this mix
I think it's almost choking from
The smell of stale perfume
And that cigarette you're smoking
'Bout to scare me half to death
Open up the window sucka
Let me catch my breath

Mama told me not to mix.... "

- w/apologies to Randy Newman

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

Disclaimer: Bands I work with use 30-50 watt valves turned up to max so the extra space doesn't really make too much difference.

[Bob Leonard]

Beam blockers have a use in the guitar world, but it's totally dependent on the cabinet type, speaker brand, and the sound you want coming from the cabinet. Many players use them, but you'll find that most of those players rely on massive amounts of treble in order to obtain "that" sound. Some use them to control stage levels, and still others use them just "because".

Most of the bands I work with, and my own tone, relies on an articulate sound that can only be heard through a good amp with good speakers. Start adding massive amounts of distortion and that all goes away.

Leo Fender spent as much time with his cabinets as he did with the amplifier circuits. His choice of speakers may have been predicated by what was available at the time. Jensen, UTAH, CTS, all made good speakers, and each had their own tone. Leo was very aware of the needs of the American guitarist and favored headroom above all else. His cabinets incorporated many innovations unheard of at the time. Tone rings, modified cutouts, baffle board type and thickness, cabinet material and size, open or closed back. That quest for the ultimate tone is copied to this day so something was done right which can't be denied. What Leo never used was a beam blocker, something I'll never recommend, or see a use for myself. All that being said, whatever floats the boat is fine by me.

And PS - Dick Dale did not invent or recommend the creation of the venerable D120. That was done by a JBL employee, Harvey Gerst. Read more here.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?5142-Harvey-Gerst-D130

[Dave Pluke]

The amount of time ispend looking for a sweet spot on the amp is inversely proportional to the number of pedals in his pedalboard.

Hah!

In a LIVE situation, unless the guitarist has the sweet spot marked on the cabinet, defaulting to halfway should work the majority of the time.  If there's an offending spike and time permits, I'll re-position it.

Mic placement in a STUDIO environment is a different animal.

Dave

[ProSoundWeb Community]