I've been using mostly SM57 for live mic'ing. I've also tried a 58. I'm intrigued by the SM7B though. I'd buy one if I could afford it.
I would love to get a Cascade ribbon mic although I don't know if that would be good for live. I've heard great recordings with them though and they're way cheaper than a Royer.
I own a Rode NT1A that I haven't tried on a guitar cab yet, but I recorded acoustic on it once and I was surprised how much I liked it.
I always use a seinheiser E609, or something. The cheap one, not the expensive one. I've been wanting to grab an Audix I5 to keep around as well. was considering grabbing one of those cheap MXL ribbon mics to try out and maybe mod.
I don't know too much about mics though...
I vote for the SM57. I'm cheap and I don't really like the Audix equivelent for SM57's and a SM58 is not optimal IMO. Never tried the SM7B though...
I use 57s a lot, meets most every rider out there. That being said Sennheiser MD421 is great for heavy sounding styles, or most anything really has a bunch of low end. Beyer M88 I love for jazz players and their Polytones and other "cleaner" amps. Lately I have jumped on the condenser band wagon and have had good results with a Shure KSM27, now the SM27. I wouldn't use it on a Marshall stack dimed, but for stand As for the Fathead, I have seen people use it live, you just have to be careful where you place it as it is a figure 8 pattern. Out of curiosity what don't you like about a 57? A bit of movement or changing the orientation of the mic can solve many problems. The biggest thing I found is I start outside the dust cap and place it about 30° off axis. Gets rid of the brittle sound you often hear.
Quote from: JohnL on June 01, 2014, 10:55:53 PM
I use 57s a lot, meets most every rider out there. That being said Sennheiser MD421 is great for heavy sounding styles, or most anything really has a bunch of low end. Beyer M88 I love for jazz players and their Polytones and other "cleaner" amps. Lately I have jumped on the condenser band wagon and have had good results with a Shure KSM27, now the SM27. I wouldn't use it on a Marshall stack dimed, but for stand As for the Fathead, I have seen people use it live, you just have to be careful where you place it as it is a figure 8 pattern. Out of curiosity what don't you like about a 57? A bit of movement or changing the orientation of the mic can solve many problems. The biggest thing I found is I start outside the dust cap and place it about 30° off axis. Gets rid of the brittle sound you often hear.
I'm neutral on the 57. I was just curious about what other people are using. I should experiment more with placement for sure.
What kind of music do you play?
I've posted this before, but I think it's worth mentioning again. I LOVE the Studio Projects B1 for studio recording amps (I have the old one without any knobs or switches). Sounds amazing on both clean and distorted tones, and it's not finicky about positioning. I never really bonded with the SM57, I never really use mine anymore. Give the Rode a try, I've had good luck with my NT1000 on most things, but don't use it that often for guitar.
Quote from: JohnL on June 01, 2014, 11:15:00 PM
What kind of music do you play?
I tend toward a clean to mildly overdriven rootsy kind of tone. Single coils into tweed deluxe. Often the speaker is caged behind plexiglas with a lid on it so that's why I'm thinking the ribbon wouldn't work. I would probably get nasty phase issues etc.
I like the idea of the e609 for squeezing in between the shield and the cab.
For live micing, I like a E609. It just seems easier to position and get a good sound compared to a 57. For recording, anything goes.
SM57 is hard to beat for price and being able to use it on anything else. I've also used e609s live and they're quicker to setup
Fun fact: a 57 and a 58 are the same mic, but the 58 has a windscreen.
The 609 is easy to use live because you can literally stick it to your amp with gaff tape. Honestly, if you spend a little time finding the right position for your amp, a 57 will do what you need it to do 95% of the time.
I mostly use ribbon mics at work, though. We have a pair of rare Beyerdynamic M320s at my studio, and those things are awesome. At the other studio where I work, it's usually either a Royer 121 or an old RCA SK-46. Or a 57!
For a little extra $$$, I strongly prefer the e906 to the e609. Much less harsh to my ears. Over the past six months, I've used the following:
Shure SM57
Audix i5
Senn e609
Senn e906
Senn MD421
The e906 is my go-to at the moment, and I still own the i5 as well. I'd like to spend some more time with the 421, as the few times I used it the monitor situation wasn't that great.
Heil PR-30, it captures what you hear... for reference stuff or to get the true nature of a sound without having to deal with the inherent tone print of some mics, like mid pike of SM57 or the upfront brightness of Senn 609 or 906. My favorite instrument microphone among everything i've tried.
Quote from: eldanko on June 02, 2014, 04:20:12 AM
I'd like to spend some more time with the 421, as the few times I used it the monitor situation wasn't that great.
For me personally, I'm not a fan of the 421 on guitar amps. I've used it with good success on other things through amps - Wurlitzer through an old Ampeg B-18 comes to mind - but for whatever reason I can't seem to get this one happening on guitar. I know the problem is me, though; I have trouble making them sound good on a bass drum too. But they're still my go-to for toms.
Quote from: lincolnic on June 02, 2014, 04:38:03 AM
Quote from: eldanko on June 02, 2014, 04:20:12 AM
I'd like to spend some more time with the 421, as the few times I used it the monitor situation wasn't that great.
For me personally, I'm not a fan of the 421 on guitar amps. I've used it with good success on other things through amps - Wurlitzer through an old Ampeg B-18 comes to mind - but for whatever reason I can't seem to get this one happening on guitar. I know the problem is me, though; I have trouble making them sound good on a bass drum too. But they're still my go-to for toms.
That's also what i like them the most for. The only other way i think i've ever used them.. was with a guitarist who had an open back combo, SM57 in front 421 in the back no low cut... got some really nice tones with both mics in the mix.
I'll add that I've used the standards: R121, U87, SM57, SM7...
And they don't really make a HUGE difference (I say this because electric guitar is mostly midrange--high end is rolled off through the transformer/speaker--low end is usually rolled off in mixing). Yeah condensers add more high end than you're used to hearing and ribbons are ideal in a lot of cases...but placement, speaker, cab, amp are a big deal. A lot of classic albums and sounds came from cheaper mics but great players and classic amps. Play around with putting the mic closer to the center of the cone, further away. Close miking is standard these days but adding some distance can be a breath of fresh air. My ideal setup is two mics in front, maybe one in back to pick up the low end better. Play around with phase-cancellation between mics for accuracy or eq'ing effect.
Cool trick I use all the time: play white noise through your amp (via computer or phone). Mic up your amp so that white noise sounds natural when recorded. Now you've got a natural sounding guitar recording. Do the same thing with multiple mics, paying close attention to where the low end goes away. Move them around until you get the thinnest possible sound, and flip the polarity switch on preamp/DAW. Bam. Now you've got some thick guitar tones.
Shure 545, the old 70's one with 4 pin connectors.
I use an SM57 pretty much 100% of the time.
Tried a few condensers and they don't really do it for me (not really high quality ones mind).
I would love to try a Royer 121 though. Those are supposed to sound fantastic on guitar cabs.
In the studio, I consistently pick a ribbon 'sort of close' (probably no closer than 8," and usually more like 12") and a condenser on the room when we do a shootout before a session. It used to be a Fathead and whatever mic we used on Jen's vocals, but now it's the complete spoilers of an R121 and a U47 clone, lucky me ... That combo seems to get just right amount of midrange and air. Though one of my favorite lead sounds on my records was ENTIRELY room (http://midwayfair.bandcamp.com/track/fairest-of-them-all-2), about 10' away, when we accidentally left a mic on, and one of my other favorite guitar sounds was recorded with a vocal dynamic inside a clothes drier on the other side of the basement, so I guess you could say that overall I'm not really much of a fan of close micing a speaker. They're meant to be heard across a room in any case!
I use an e609 when I (very rarely) have to mic my amps live, I just liked it better than a 57.
I'll add that I've tried and been happy with many of the suggestions above - 57, 609, 906, i5, 421, etc.
I currently approach my cab miking with multiple mics. I find that I get more true sound by blending a large diaphragm condenser from between 1 and 3 feet (check for phase issues) and a dynamic on the grill. Currently, I either use a Beyerdynamic M201 or M88 on the grill, and an Audio Technica AT4040 for my dynamic mic.
I can also be happy with any one of the three alone. The key I've found is that you need to get used to what you have and know how to play to it's strengths. Lincolnlc gave me a super piece of advice when I asked him about mic placement. "Mark the spot it sounds best. I spent 20-30 minutes each session finding the sweet spot, and now it takes me less than 5 because I took the time to mark out the best placement for my mics.
Don't just buy new stuff for the sake of having new stuff, and if you want something new, try thinking outside the box, or perhaps in contrast. Getting a dark ribbon mic to accentuate your bright dynamic or your neutral condenser is a better plan than getting a second, bright dynamic mic.
Jacob
609 and a 57 here, with an Audix cab grabber to mount. I do on occasion leave another mic on the middle of the room (usually a large diaphragm vocal mic) to mix it, but truthfully I don't find that it does much for me.
Quote from: midwayfair on June 03, 2014, 01:46:51 PM
In the studio, I consistently pick a ribbon 'sort of close' (probably no closer than 8," and usually more like 12") and a condenser on the room when we do a shootout before a session. It used to be a Fathead and whatever mic we used on Jen's vocals, but now it's the complete spoilers of an R121 and a U47 clone, lucky me ... That combo seems to get just right amount of midrange and air. Though one of my favorite lead sounds on my records was ENTIRELY room (http://midwayfair.bandcamp.com/track/fairest-of-them-all-2), about 10' away, when we accidentally left a mic on, and one of my other favorite guitar sounds was recorded with a vocal dynamic inside a clothes drier on the other side of the basement, so I guess you could say that overall I'm not really much of a fan of close micing a speaker. They're meant to be heard across a room in any case!
I use an e609 when I (very rarely) have to mic my amps live, I just liked it better than a 57.
Absolutely digging the tone in this tune bro. Nice, airy, dimensional... exactly what I have in mind when I'm doing cleans with single coils.
Quote from: GermanCdn on June 03, 2014, 04:02:48 PM
609 and a 57 here, with an Audix cab grabber to mount.
Do you ever have any issues with bleed through or a weak signal when using the cab grabber and 609? That's what I tend to use live and our sound guy/bass player doesn't like it too much because the mic sits too far from the grill cloth (and my amp sits right next to the drums). I often have to just drape it over the amp so the mic sits right on the grill cloth - then sound guy doesn't have to crank the gain on my channel so much.
I've been meaning to pick up an ampclamp since they have an e609 adapter that gets the mic right on the grill cloth.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/619eAe5Q5WL.jpg)
sm57 aimed near the rim of the speaker at some what of 45° and as close as possible + a condenser mic ,centered, 1m away from it where ever it sounds good in the room should do it for a 12" cab
Lots of experience on this site. I have nothing very important to add other than "get the sound you want first" if I walk into a room and the guitar sounds great, then capturing that sound without muckin it up is what it's all about. There are so many great suggestions in all the other posts. Mic position is paramount, mic choice is relative to the situation. The transient response of any mic determines the caricature to a great degree.. If you want to mellow out your sound large diaphragm dynamics are slow to move and can take the edge off, but so can moving the mic away from the center of the speaker.... If you want more bite then condensers which can respond faster with faster transients are the way to go.. or move your SM57 / SM7 closer to on axis...
Just know that all of that bottom end that sounds great when you play by yourself is going away to make room for a tight low mid/bottom end in the mix... but you won't really notice due to masking.
Having worked at a venue where they had both the SM57 and E609 I prefered to use the latter. Nowadays myself I prefer to go straight into the FOH via a device with cabsim output (AMT SS-30 Bulava). Did that just this weekend. Easiest changeover EVER! Soundguy happy because there's no loud guitar amp on stage, me happy all I had to do was plug in a short cable from my pedal board to a DI box, my back was happy because of not having to lug around a heavy amp, and the audience was happy as I got compliments on my sound.