Boogie Triple
What Microphone to Use for Recording Electric guitar?
Ok, so I have a little, unprofessional home studio and I am using a 280 watt Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and a Gibson V guitar. I’ve been using Pro Tools LE 8 with an mbox mini 2 and an Audio Technica AT2020 Condenser Mic. The cleans that I record aren’t bad, but all the distortion I use on my guitar (i play mostly rock and metal) and record sounds great to my ear with my awesome amp, but sounds really muddy and overall just crappy after recording…I think it’s due to my $130 condenser mic trying to record an over $2000 half stack, does anybody have any advice to get a more professional sound with my guitar that’s not too expensive (also, I record some vocals with the mic too…) Thanks!
Your amp isn’t 280W, that’s the maximum output your speaker cab can handle. The Triple Rec is a 150W amp, which is an absurd amount of power that no guitarist ever needs (no, not even people playing in football stadiums), but that’s beside the point.
The go-to mic for recording guitar amps is the Shure SM57. Yes, it’s only $100, but a guarantee that most of your favorite albums were recorded with several of those mics. Every studio on the planet has a box-full of them.
If you really want the best sound out of your amp, get the THD Hot Plate. It will allow you to crank the amp but keep the volume at a reasonable recording level. Tube amps sound best cranked. That’s why 150W is such a pointless amount of power. No guitarist in the history of man has ever been in the situation where they needed that much power, moreso, you’re never in the situation where you can actually crank an amp like that. Once a mic goes in front of it, your volume comes down. If amp makers didn’t make so much money bragging about their high-wattage amps to ignorant people who didn’t know any better, THD would be making a fortune on the Hot Plate.
GEAR CHAT: MESA BOOGIE TRIPLE RECTIFIER AMP PART 1
