Mic'ing your amp at gigs... a revelation!

[cvogue]

OK, my rig is a Splawn 1x12 combo and matching 1x12 cabinet. I learned long ago that I should always mic it and go through the PA, SM57 on a stand micing the bottom cab. Yeah it's plenty loud but if not mic'd it means my side of the stage I'm loud and the other side... not so much.

So I've been micing it by just putting the SM-57 straight at the cone, I'd heard about other ways of positioning the mic but never paid much heed.

Big mistake!

We played louder than usual at a larger gig and I did *not* like my tone. It was way too in your face but cutting the volume would mess up the mix. So last night at practice I tried putting it off center, a couple of inches and voila! Great Splawn tone coming out of the PA, nice and warm, not needles in the ears.

Yeah... I'm a late bloomer! Experiment with it folks.

Hope this helps someone here.

 

[baimun]

When I would mic my cab, I would hang a Sennheiser e609 (flat face) just off the center cap. This is one place where a looper or loop function in a modeler is pretty handy. Play a riff and move the mic around and either listen for harshness or watch the graphic EQ if you’re using a digital mixer.

Now days I use the IR out one the back of my Soldano for consistency and zero bleed from the drums or bass.