How to Record Electric Guitar

There's nothing like the sound of a wall of guitars hitting you in the face. Though it is solely dependent upon the style of music, we can begin by understanding the fundamentals of achieving the best guitar sound. In this article, I will show you what is required to obtain that perfect sound you've always wanted.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Guitar
• Guitar amp
• Microphone
• Microphone preamp
• Recording device or DAW

1. When it comes to recording rock guitars, it is hard to rival a Marshall amp and a Gibson Les Paul guitar.
   
   I typically select a Les Paul Standard and Marshall JCM 2000 amplifier with a 4x12 speaker cabinet.
2. For the microphone, I have had the best and most consistent success with a simple and most revered Shure SM57.
   
   To get the appropriate level of gain to the microphone, we should include a microphone preamp in the signal chain.
   
   I am partial to API preamps for their fast, transient response and midrange reproduction.
   
   Though, more recently, I have been enchanted by the Chandler TG 2. It's like the API preamp on steroids.
3. Once we set up our guitar amp, have the guitarist play a bit on the guitar.
   
   I much prefer to send the signal out to another tracking room, while keeping the guitarist in the control room with me. Unlike a live performance, the guitarist needs to be more focused on the accuracy of his recorded performance. If he is in the same room with the excruciatingly loud guitar amp, much of the precision can be lost.
4. Once we have obtained the greatest guitar sound known to man, we can now dial in the sound that works best on record.
   
   It is important to note that what is required in a live performance is often vastly different from the recording criteria.
   
   When you begin cranking the bass on your super-duper guitar amp to compensate for the lack of a bass player in the room, you will have problems. Once this cloudy, rumbly bass is removed in a mix to allow for the REAL BASS GUITAR to fit, you suddenly realize that your lovely, girthy guitar tone has now been reduced to a fuzzy, lifeless mess.
   
   I tend to back off the amps gain and severely reduce the amount of bass generated. It is often unnecessary and will lead to problems later in the mix.
5. Now with the guitarist away from the guitar, enter the tracking room to place the microphone on the guitar amplifier's speaker.
   
   Choose one of four speakers within the speaker cabinet. In most cases, any one will do.
   
   I like to place the mic a little off-axis and maybe a couple of inches outside the center of the speaker cone.
   
   I have noticed more high-end generated from the microphone being placed directly at the speaker.
6. Carefully raise the input knob on the preamp to the desired level, and the same with the output knob.
   
   By now we should be hearing back the most vicious guitar sound known to man.
   
   Now press record and get busy!