Recording Guitars and Guitar Amps

Recording guitars can be a bit tricky, so here are some helpful tips. First, you should always track a dry signal of the guitar. Run a DI box before the amp to make sure you get a straight tone in addition to any mic recording you capture. This will give you the option of re-amping the track. Who knows, this could be the track you wind up using.

Try tracking with different mics. Use dynamic and condenser mics on the amp in different locations until you find the tone you're looking for. Angle the mics directly at the cone and then angled off to one side. You'll get very different tones and this can help you shape the texture of each track.

Be sure to check your phase alignment if you use multiple mics for the same take. Using two mics on a single amp can help you blend a tone that is unique and works best for your mix. Just be sure that you don't choke the tone by having tracks that are out of phase with each other. If the mics sound great on their own, but sound thin when combined, this usually means there is some phase cancellation between the two tracks.

These at just some starting points to keep in mind. Leave a comment if you have questions or would like more details about my techniques. Thanks for reading my blog.