Third Take

Electric guitar is one of the easiest instruments to record. Maybe it’s because I’m a guitar player and I know what I want a guitar to sound like, but I’ve never had a lot of trouble getting good electric guitar sounds recorded. Even so, there is a difference between good and great - here are five tips that have improved my recordings.

Good Guitar Tone

Start with the source. There must be great tone coming from the guitar amp. If the tone of the amp in the room is not blowing your mind, stop what you’re doing and fix it. The sound you want has to exist first before any microphone can capture it. There are a thousand simulators and plug-ins for electric guitar on the market right now, but you don’t need any of them if you make the guitar sound good in the first place. As an added bonus, great tone will inspire the performance you’re about to record.

It doesn’t have to be loud

There is a myth that big guitar tone has to come from an amp cranked to eleven. It’s simply not true. You can get a huge sound from a 30W combo, and it doesn’t even have to be that loud - a small, great-sounding amp at bedroom levels can sound like gold.

In the “old days,” tube amps didn’t have a master volume - the only way to get more distortion was to turn up the volume. In the modern era of master volume amps, the distortion comes from the preamp, while the power amp is used to drive the speaker. This allows you to get lots of distortion at moderate volumes.

You do have to pay more attention to room noise and room characteristics if you’re recording at lower volumes, but a little tweaking of amp and microphone position can make it sound just right.

Get it off the floor… or not

One common tip is to get the speaker cabinet up off the floor. By putting it on a chair or amp stand and tilting it slightly upward, you minimize the amount of early reflections you get from the floor. This technique can give you a tighter and less boomy sound.

However, I’ve made some great recordings of amps on the floor. It’s just a question of what works best for the sound and the song. You may not always use it, but keep this technique in your pocket for the times it will pay off.

Less is more

If you’re trying to record heavy, chunky guitar parts, use less distortion that you think you need. The chug comes from dynamics, and distortion reduces dynamics; it’s a form of compression. Also, double tracking the guitar part will make it sound thicker and heavier than more distortion on a single take. That doesn’t mean clone the track, but perform the part twice and mix the performances together.

Position the Microphone

If you have great tone coming from the speaker, you want to capture it. Experiment with mic positioning until the microphone is accurately reproducing the sound of the amp. Again, fight the temptation to “fix it in the mix” and take the time to get it right when tracking.

Try several positions. Try the center of the speaker cone, the middle and the edge. Experiment with angling the mic towards, or away from, the center of the cone. Try the mic right up on the grill, and a few inches back.

People try all sorts of crazy stuff - they use multiple mics, they put condenser mics several feet away form the amp, they stick mics in the back of open-backed combos, and anything else they can think of. You can find a lot of good sounds this way. Experimenting can be fun, but sometimes it gets tedious. I can usually get good results very quickly by sticking my e609s or the trusty old SM-57 an inch or two from the grill, half way toward the outside of the cone, and pointing toward the speaker. Try this, and then move the mic around until you find the sweet spot. A few centimeters or a little angle can make all the difference.

There’s no step-by-step guide for a great electric guitar recording, but with a little work and experimentation you can achieve a quality recording. I think electric guitar is one instrument where the home studio can really shine.