Help with DI recording and speaker sims???

[Unnecessary]

Just make sure you're not picking up the in-room sound. I've recorded with little amps that way a few times, only issue in an apartment was occasionally hearing the string noise in the background on the mic and it took a little bit to figure out where the weird ringing was coming from.

 

[lostpoet2]

Have you tried recording the Tech 21 without the IRs? It should sound fine that way. I also like the idea of trying it through a simulation of a clean amp. Either way should sound better than your little practice amp.

 

[JCM 800]

Great. Thank you. Does the amp have to be cranked volume-wise for recording with a microphone such as the SM-57?

No, it can be whatever volume you want. Whisper quiet may be an issue but anything else can be adjusted by the mic pre.

 

[euler1970]

Finally bought an SM57 yesterday. Will micing the solid state 15 watt amp with the SM57 be an issue (with regards to getting reasonably good results) in a small closet? I actually have some Auralex foam I could use, if that would help.

Thanks.

 

[FlyingVBlues]

Finally bought an SM57 yesterday. Will micing the solid state 15 watt amp with the SM57 be an issue (with regards to getting reasonably good results) in a small closet? I actually have some Auralex foam I could use, if that would help.

Thanks.

Mic placement is very important, especially when recording. Moving your mic just a few millimeters can have a very significant effect on the sound. A couple of years ago Ed DeGenaro posted a excellent tip on mic placement for a SM57. You crank the gain on your amp so you can hear it hissing, and then put on a set of head phones and move the mic in front of the speaker while listening to the hiss. You continue to move the mic until you find the place where the hiss is the loudest and that is the "sweet spot".

I always found this a little hard to do so I adapted Ed's technique. I have a couple of reference guitar tracks I recorded in a studio stored on a Boss RC-3 Loop Station. I play the loop through the amp, and follow Ed's approach of moving a mic until I find the sweet spot for that particular amp. Then I take some blue painters tape and mark a small square on the grill so I can always find the same spot for recording or live performances. If I am using a cab with more than one speaker I will find the sweet spot for each speaker, and then decide which one sounds the best for micing. This technique works really well on all of the amps that I own and I've used it with a lot of different mics besides the SM57 with great success.