Award Sounds

I've spent a few hours yesterday trying to capture the tone being played through the new guitar amp. Nothing seemed to work properly. I'd tried closed back and open back speaker configuration, close miking, miking at all distances between 3 inches and 3 feet, miking on axis, off-axis, miking the cone through to the outer edge of the mic. I've used a mixture of dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones. But still no joy.

The 2x12

I was using a home-built 2x12" cabinet. It's a great cabinet, nicely suited to throwing in the car for rehearsals or gigs. I built it so I could put the Engl Powerball on top. That amp set the dimensions of the speaker cab. I also picked up some over-size rubber castors to put on the bottom. Beats the standard, tiny plastic castors. Means I can run it over ridges and up and down kerbs with ease.

Sound-wise, it's good, not the best in world, but good enough for miking up for a live gig.

But try as I could, I couldn't record it properly.

The 4x12

The drivers for the 2x12 came out of a 4x12 which has been sitting in a cupboard unused for a while, being too big to transport easily and also lacking two drivers. So I put the drivers back in their original home. The 4x12 is a much better fit for the amp and guitar combination. It also sounds better.

More importantly for me right now, it's easier to record.

It's easier because there's more space around it, meaning it's easier to place microphones. Partly it's the extra air being moved. Possibly it's the interaction of the four speakers. Whatever it is, it was a lot simpler to put the microphones up and record.

Not quite there

It's still not totally happy with the sound. Maybe I'll get a break-through today.