Recording a guitar cabinet

There are many ways to record a guitar cabinet or combo. Just like any other kind of recording, it requires some adjustments, and no one way is always right. First, let us discuss microphones.

With any recording, you will probably have several mics to choose from. Here is a list of some mics to try:

Shure SM57. This is a traditional mic that has a particular mid frequency boost that has been used to pull the guitar sound out of the mix.

Sennheiser E609. This one is actually designed expressly for guitar amplifier recording. In addition to having the right frequency response, it's also got a flat design which makes it easy to drape over the top the cabinet and lay directly over the grill.

Audix I5. All purpose mic that has a response that is suited for mic'ing guitar cabs.

AKG C414. Everyone should have a C414 in their mic locker. Condenser, flat response, different roll off and polar patterns to choose from. If you have one, grab this to get the most accurate sound posssible. However, can be difficult to work with since it's condenser and you must be careful with the gain if you are in a live situation.

Now, here are some techniques you could try:

Place or drape the mic over the front of the grill. I like to place mine about 1/2 way between the center and the edge of one speaker. This gets a pretty good balanced tone and in a live situation gets you a lot of gain of your primary instrument and not a lot of stage noise.

On the floor about 3 feet out. This begins to capture the ambience of the room, and introduces a natural compression. Primarily for use in a recording studio where the amp is separated from the rest of the instrumentation.

One in front, and one in back with the phase reversed. This captures a lot of low frequency response that you can blend in for a bottom heavy sound. Make sure the one in the back is phase reversed, otherwise you would introduce comb filtering (which might be cool too...).

No single technique is perfect for all situations, and you might find another one that you like. Hope this helps!