LWMR Wiki

Guitar Recording

9 min read

Guitar Recording

Overview

Abstract

Guitar recording in recording-talk covers electric amp/cab miking, acoustic guitar stereo techniques, DI workflows, and the philosophical approach to capturing guitar tones. The community emphasizes that polar pattern selection is an underutilized tool, that doubling with different guitars beats stereo miking for width, and that the player’s relationship with their sound directly affects the performance.

Community Consensus

  • The guitarist plays differently through different sounds — Performance is linked to the monitoring chain
  • Polar patterns matter as much as mic choice — Figure 8 on guitar cabs is hugely underrated
  • Double with a different guitar for width rather than relying on stereo miking techniques
  • A guitar speaker is a heavily filtered lo-fi device — What sounds good solo’d may not work in the mix
  • API preamps are favored for guitar alongside drums

Electric Guitar: Amp/Cab Miking

The SM57 Standard

The Shure SM57 remains the default close mic on guitar cabinets, but the community encourages looking beyond it:

  • Pairs well with a ribbon or condenser for blended tones
  • A 3D-printed bracket can hold an SDC and SM57 on one stand
  • Vintage Unidyne III SM57s are reported to sound better than modern ones

Figure 8 / Polar Pattern Approach

BatMeckley (2022-07-25)

“Polar patterns are a HUGELY underutilized tool in the box for most engineers I know. I love figure 8 on a lot of sources, guitar especially. I have a sneaking suspicion that much of what many people like about ribbons on guitar cabinets has as much to do with the fact that most are figure 8 patterned as it is the ribbon. I’ve loved a 414 (a real one) on guitar cabs and or acoustics in fig 8.”

Ribbon Mics on Cabs

  • Royer Ribbon Mics (235 mentions in channel) are a staple for guitar cab recording
  • Figure 8 pattern naturally rejects side bleed in live tracking situations
  • BatMeckley’s insight: the pattern may be as important as the ribbon element itself

Reverb Placement in Guitar Chain

BatMeckley (2024-11-08)

“A classic drippy spring type verb I’ll usually put before the Iridium so it gets that 60’s coming out of your combo amp type sound. A big stereo room or cathedral I’ll often use something like 7th Heaven in the box after. Cian hit the nail on the head, in that a guitar speaker is a pretty heavily filtered lo-fi device.”

Acoustic Guitar Miking

Stereo Technique for Wide Acoustic

cian riordan (2023-01-14)

“Widest I’ve gotten is when you get two small condensers, preferably good ones, and you have one at about the 15th fret, above the guitar, about 4-5 inches off of the low E, at a 45 degree angle. Then the other mic is also at 15th fret, below the guitar, pointed up at the high E, 45 deg angle, 4-5 inches off. Pan those hard L and R and you get a wide image across the strings. It can sound massive.”

Doubling vs Stereo Miking

Eric Martin (2023-01-14)

“I usually just double with a different guitar because I feel like all those techniques end up being big mono for me.”

Keeping the Player in Position

cian riordan (2024-01-03)

“A fun EV trick he did back in the day is he’d have a mic stand with three cheapy laser pointers attached and would have tape with three dots on the acoustic guitar. Once he had the mics and the player where he wanted them, he’d setup the lasers to point right at the dots on the guitar. That way the player could look down and line up and try and stay in that position.”

Acoustic Guitar Mic Selection

  • NoahNeedleman: “each guitar is different. Martins & Gibsons & Taylors may have tendencies, but to count out any make isn’t super helpful when looking for your unicorn”
  • Neumann KM184 / KM84 are praised for acoustic guitar
  • Go light on EQ when tracking — “the fundamental shifting from song to song in different keys can really fuck you” (NoahNeedleman)

Guitar Tone Philosophy

Jack (2024-11-13)

“One of the reasons I own a few guitars, a few gain stages and a few amps — aside from mad dopaminergic satiation — is so I can pick from a mindmap of how these pieces of gear express tonally and can choose my palette based on a sessions demands.”

  • The palette approach: different guitars, amps, and gain stages for different songs
  • Do not chase tone solely through pedals — the instrument and amp are the foundation

DI and Reamping for Guitar

  • Always capture a clean DI alongside the amp signal for editing reference
  • See Reamping for detailed DI workflow and gear recommendations
  • The guitarist’s performance is shaped by what they hear — a DI-only take may lack energy
  • Creative reamping through guitar pedals works for vocals and synths too

Tips from the Community

  • Schedule guitar tone time separately from the full band — “If you wanna focus on guitar tones, have the guitarist come in early” (NoahNeedleman)
  • Try figure 8 on a condenser before reaching for a ribbon mic
  • Use different guitars for doubled parts rather than stereo miking a single take
  • Laser pointer trick for keeping acoustic players in the sweet spot
  • Check how the guitar sounds in the mix, not solo’d

Common Mistakes

  • Defaulting to SM57 without trying other options — Especially polar patterns
  • Stereo miking when doubling would serve better — Big mono is a real risk
  • Solo’ing the guitar mic and judging tone — It needs to work in the full arrangement
  • Heavy EQ on acoustic guitar at tracking — Key changes make baked-in EQ problematic
  • Not capturing a DI for editing reference on electric guitar

25 photos shared in recording-talk. Showing selected highlights.

Deleted User (2022-03-05) — Thought you dorks might appreciate this vocal reverb chain. Reamp through the pedals and the Spamp recorded back in with the Peluso 47. 🤙🏽

cian riordan (2022-05-13) — I’m very picky about my audiophile cables:

hyanrarvey (2022-10-17) — Last reamping session 🔥

Ross Fortune (2023-04-11) — Here with my own noise issue for the guitar heads. @GaspardMurph posted this troubleshooting guide a while back, and I’ve eliminated some of the poten

stefanmacc (2023-04-20) — These are my main panels I’m wiring up for the Main live room and my control room… pulled from my old studio. Still have 200 ft of 24 ch cable for the

Iwan Morgan (2023-05-09) — I’ve been recording in this place over the last few days. One of the best experiences i’ve had in the studio. It’s an interesting space designed by th

Iwan Morgan (2023-05-09) — I’ve been recording in this place over the last few days. One of the best experiences i’ve had in the studio. It’s an interesting space designed by th

BatMeckley (2023-07-11) — Jon Foreman into a green bullet into little marshall amp into u87.

*Ross Fortune (2023-08-22) — Thanks! You can just about see it here, under the white tape. It’s a C-Ducer, looks like a watch strap.

Also that’s a Flea47 with a shower cap becaus*

Eric Martin (2023-09-25) — I spent around 16 hours at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls this Saturday helping my friends execute two tribute shows to In Utero at the studio it w

Adam Thein (2023-11-28) — Hey! Just recently moved to a UFX III over here and admittedly latency wasn’t quite the jump ahead I expected from my MOTU Ultralite Mk5, but I would

Adam Thein (2023-11-28) — Hey! Just recently moved to a UFX III over here and admittedly latency wasn’t quite the jump ahead I expected from my MOTU Ultralite Mk5, but I would

cian riordan (2024-01-02) — Fun story: for the second album which I worked on, Slash wanted to record without headphones so we built out an iso booth in our giant live room just

David Fuller (2024-01-02) — This is the response curve of a Vintage 30 (in an open test baffle, the response will change especially in the low end when actually in a cabinet)…

Ross Fortune (2024-01-24) — Not sure how heavy an iPad is, but as long as this is clamped on to something decently thick, it’s pretty sturdy. Cheap enough on Amazon I think

louisvie (2024-05-05) — can that 5 samples difference between the OH be considered a flex ?

chrissorem (2024-06-28) — Sorry to break it to y’all but indie amps look like this

James Redfern (2024-06-29) — Got a pair of Marshall branded G12-65 from the original run of JCM800 cabs and they’re 🤌🏻

Brian Reynolds (2024-11-13) — NEED ME

jordana (2024-12-03) — It just has one I think

See Image Index for all 25 photos.

External Resources

Videos

Audio Samples & Shootouts

Gear Listings

Articles & References

See Full External Resources Index for all links.

See Also

Source Discussions

Discord Source

Channel: recording-talk Matches: 945 Key contributors: BatMeckley, cian riordan, Eric Martin, NoahNeedleman, Zack Hames, Jack, David Fuller, Calvin Lauber

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