FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Stereo Guitar Amp

Question:
the assignment is, do a stereo recording of a guitar amp (a small 1*12 combo) using two totally different mics.....a U99, and an SM57. Guitar part is basically a distorted rhythm guitar doing chords... I actually did it the other day, with the SM57 right on the speaker...about an inch away, and the U99 about 3 feet back, above, and titled down toward the amp. I was guessin'. It ended up sounding pretty darned good, but I have no experience in doing a stereo guitar setup. What was the RIGHT way to have done this? I didn't have time to experiment....

Answer:
I don't get it, There is no stereo source in your guitar amp/speaker set up to get a stereo sound from. If you plan on panning these two different microphones hard left and right it will sound just that....different in each speaker. If you have two of the same amp/cab and use some sort of stereo effect unit you can use two (identical) mic's or two pairs (again identical) of mic's to get a good stereo source. This started because I was listening to a record with a rhythm guitar intro. The guitar was only one guitar, it wasn't doubled. Under phones, it was really noticeable that it was coming out both sides, but not because it was centered. I played the same guitar part, panned it center, and it didn't have the spread the one on the record did. So I figured, they must have done this to two channels, or something....so that's what started the experiment. If anyone wants to check it out, it's called OCEAN FLOOR by Audio Adrenaline....I believe it's still up on their site). I hear stuff like this a lot....a single guitar part that sounds way bigger than it would recording with one mike to one channel. Yes, I guess he could have been coming out of two amps, with two matched mikes, panned left and right ( I know, still not true stereo...right?) Anyway, what I ended up doing gave a fair approximation, but it would be great to have someone listen to this and tell me what the best way to achieve the effect is....