Meteor Mic Recording a Guitar Amplifier

Placement of the microphone when recording an electric guitar can impact the tone as much as the choice of instrument and amplifier. Guitar amps are usually close-miked but consideration must be made for the type of signal the amp will produce. While condenser microphones like the Meteor Mic have fast transient response, they cannot handle extreme high SPL’s. The Meteor Mic should be placed approximately 4 inches from the grill of the amp. For a brighter sound, the microphone should face the center of the amplifier’s speaker cone. By moving the microphone off of the center of the speaker, the sound becomes mellow, rolling off some of the high frequencies. To add more of the room sound, the microphone can be angled away from the amplifier, or placed further away from the speaker.