Guitar Gear Forum

I made some money back by selling both my amps. I didn't get enough back that's worth another guitar and I don't really need a pedal. Buy a mic so you can record your sounds, idiot! Sounds like the most responsible, usable allocation of funds. Sm57 and a good mic stand? I have a focusrite 2i2 and reaper.

SM57 is a standard for distorted guitar, definitely a coloured mic but it does its thing and it's tried and tested. TBH most mics will do a reasonable job in front of a guitar cab and they'll all add their own colour to your sound. Mic placement is the main thing and actually dialing in a tone that sits in the mix properly.

The good thing about a '57 is it's simple, no phantom power needed, takes punishment and will last forever.

based on conversations I've had with my engineer friends the SM57 is just an industry standard, mostly because of everything Cirrus said, it's simple and takes punishment BUT it also works and so many records and live set ups have used it successfully... is it the best mic available?, probably not, will you be able to use it to get good sounds more than likely...

If you can't put a 57 on your grill and get good tone you're doing it wrong.

Telephant wrote:If you can't put a 57 on your grill and get good tone you're doing it wrong.

yup

It's the best bet and everyone should have one so you might as well.

I'm gonna track one down, then.

The Sm57 is alright. I begrudgingly use it. I find I dial my amps in different to avoid harshness when using a 57 and then dial presence back in in post.

Check out the Audix i5. I like it a lot. Similar vibe to the 57 but without as much coloring.

The SM57 just works, if you had to have one it is a good one to have.

I have found that the AKG D40 sounds great, but for me to get that quality I needed to have an adjustable impedance. That was one of the reasons I got my ART Pro MPA II mic preamp. Dropping it to ~200 Ohms made a huge difference.

Cole

The sm 57 utility mic to have if you don't have one. I have a good stand for micing guitar cab which i used to use. Since i got an audix cab grabber, i've been using it instead. Highly recommended.

overdrivenel34s wrote:The sm 57 utility mic to have if you don't have one. I have a good stand for micing guitar cab which i used to use. Since i got an audix cab grabber, i've been using it instead. Highly recommended.

I have been wanting to get one of those cab grabbers. They look very ideal.

Cole

'57 is always a fantastic mic to have around. I also like the Audix i5 for close mic'ing. I have had good results with it in the past. I used the i5 for the Laney IRT60H vs VH100R youboob video I did.

The I5 is a cool mic, it's a bit tighter and clearer than the '57 in terms of how quickly and tightly it tracks the low end but still has a similar, useful EQ curve for distorted guitar in the mix. That's particularly useful if you've got a thick, loose amp because a '57 might give you sludge on sludge. OTOH, with a tight amp a '57 is a bit more flabby in the bass and can be a nice "antedote" mike, particularly at high volumes.

I like the I5 on snare too.

yeah it's the only mic I have. Sounds great on guitars. I use it for vocals as well

57 rules, but you need patience for great mic placement or you may hate it.

....

they're decent mics into really meaty preamps. i dunno, people get great mileage out of them, for sure, but it's not my first goto mic for guitars. for a little more scratch (like 30 bucks), honestly, i'd buy a cascade fathead for guitar recording or basically anything but vocals.

i used to hate 57's before i could adjust impedance. now that i can drop it, i really do love the shit out of that mic-- but it's not an option without preamps that'll do that. but until i could-- i didn't think it was especially good sounding at all- just reliable and indestructible.

Pyle has some knock off 57's PDMIC78

Our drummer used them after we recorded in studio and he got a look at the mics. Engineer said he liked them better than the standard 57's.

I bought a pair for cabs and the sound great. Better vocal mic than standard 57. About as heavy, very similar capsule.

For 10 bucks (BHPhoto), I figured wtf. Bunch of people on recording forums using them for drums, guitar amps. Bunch of reviews on YT to check out.

Shure SM57 is basically the best mic ever for rock guitar. I use one exclusively and you have better interface gear then me and even I get some pretty killer guitar sounds out of it

For example I put it directly in the center of my AC30 speaker and get this sick overdrive tone with a BD-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfRHImCS29k

And it's great for cleans aswell (this one was for a phaser) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFdGzYWeyF0

Only thing I'd say tho is be careful with volume levels on the pedal because if you clip it it'll sound like shite and will cause lots of head-aches having to re-record.

I also recorded every instrument in this song with a single SM57 (one at a time) https://soundcloud.com/sensoryol/one-la ... y-overload

IMO the most diverse mic ever. I paid like $99 for it and it's probably the best bang for buck as far as music gear I own. Apparently it's what Kurt Cobain used to record 90% of his guitar tracks with Nirvana as well (which is what sold me on it)

I like my SM57, but I like other mics just as much... I recently snagged a Blue Encore 100i and it sounds really good too, similar to an SM57. I really dig my CAD D80; it is a large diaphragm dynamic and it captures some killer tones.

Cole

SensoryOverload wrote:Shure SM57 is basically the best mic ever for rock guitar. I use one exclusively and you have better interface gear then me and even I get some pretty killer guitar sounds out of it

For example I put it directly in the center of my AC30 speaker and get this sick overdrive tone with a BD-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfRHImCS29k

And it's great for cleans aswell (this one was for a phaser) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFdGzYWeyF0

Only thing I'd say tho is be careful with volume levels on the pedal because if you clip it it'll sound like shite and will cause lots of head-aches having to re-record.

I also recorded every instrument in this song with a single SM57 (one at a time) https://soundcloud.com/sensoryol/one-la ... y-overload

IMO the most diverse mic ever. I paid like $99 for it and it's probably the best bang for buck as far as music gear I own. Apparently it's what Kurt Cobain used to record 90% of his guitar tracks with Nirvana as well (which is what sold me on it)

All sounds good dude

Ive messed around trying a few different mics, some seemed pretty neutral, & for my recordings they just didnt as well for distorted guitar.

An interesting side-note about 57's..
I was given a crusty old Unidyne3 sm57. It was rattling, so I pulled it apart & the internal foam was decomposed, so I took it out, cleaned the mic up. Tired it without that front grill stuff, & it was quieter just didnt sound great. Then I put it back on without the foam & it had a weird resonance. I had to pull that little resonator chamber apart & replace the foam that had rotted out. Without the foam, the chamber was too resonant & dominant..

Interesting indeed

As Newholland mentioned, the '57 was designed around decks that had 600k input impedance so that's really where they shine. Modern cheap interfaces kinda sound overly bright with them because of this. If you've got a really good pre where you can play around with your input impedance, or you've built yourself a dragbox then it's easy to correct for. I've got a '57 and an Audix I5 and over-all prefer the Audix. The Sennheiser E906 is also a great mic.