Recording Electric Guitar - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro 

The sound of just the 57s front and back sold me instantly!

Hi Friends, I hope you're doing marvellously well! Thank you so much for all of the positive feedback on Tuesday's Rock Production video! Some of you have asked me to do more Rock production and recording tutorials. Well... ask and you shall receive! ;-) We're back with our Recording Connection apprentice Alex, and this time we're digging deeper into recording electric guitars. Heavy guitars are extremely full sounds, covering almost the entire frequency spectrum. So the frequency response of the microphones your choose and how you place them can greatly help to shape your sound. In this tutorial, we're shooting out three different kinds of microphones: Ribbons, Condensers and a good old SM57, as well as combinations of all of them to see how they affect our guitar tone. You'll learn a special miking technique you can use to add more fullness to your guitars and I'm also sharing one of my favorite amp and cabinet combos I've recently discovered! hope you enjoy it. Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren

The Lewitt on it's own is almost spot on early AC/DC in my opinion. Great sounding mic. Don't know how it would sound like in the mix, but when you solo it sounds great!

0:57 The sound of that Yamaha acoustically in the room is awesome!

what you do is truly a great service. Mad respect to you.

Hey Warren, I love watching your vids everyday at home in the morning and at work (when I should be working haha). Keep up the good work...LOOOVE the interviews, especially the one with Joe Baressi!

Thank you very much for taking the time to show us the process of recording an amp, as someone who is interested in doing this in the future with an sm57 I found this very valuable!

Love it! The dark art of recording electric guitars. Thanks for breaking it down in a way that's easy to understand!

Thanks for the video, I have learned so much from you and guys like you. Add a part II and see how those tones fit in a mix with bass and drums.

Love all the tests! Helps me out in my own testing XD. Thanks Warren!

Its always a pleasure to hear Warren play guitar! great video!

So cool hearing the difference in the micing!

Hey Warren. I didn't you played guitar so well. I'm impressed! the 57's just do it everytime. The polarity flip for front and back mics was very informative. I will experiment with this asap. Thanks so much.

Great sounds, Warren. That's one of my favourite combos to use too, the 57 (or sometimes an SM7B) and a Ribbon, depending on what's on hand. All the combinations sounded like they'd have their use, just depending on the song and sound you're chasing.

Watch all your videos Warren and I have to say this is one of the best (always have trouble recording a good guitar tone). Would love to see a video on recording fuzz guitar.

Dang! That is one of if not the only killer yamaha guitars i've seen and great toot overall on mic'ing cone/polarity/blending. Shred it!!

ok... as soon as i heard sm57 front and back I jumped to the comment section, and... yes we all feel the same. Its amazing how good this mic sound, would believe it

Have to say I rarely see a new headstock shape i dig but that new Yamaha headstock is AWESOME:)

NICE TEST 57 AND RIBBON LOVE IT KEEP ROCKING

Great video warren. Very helpful :) really enjoy watching your videos! cheers from the land down under haha.

Tried one of these Revstar guitars about 6 months ago. Absolutely amazing build quality and playability for the money. Quite a nice alternative to a Les Paul at a great price. A bit thinner and brighter, but I’m not averse to that.

Shared with proud!!!!! Thanks, and my next guitar recording will have a back mic!!!!!

14:41 Phantom of the Opera. Way to sneak Maiden in Warren!

Thanks Warren! Greetings from Chile!

That's a nice guitar! great to hear the different tones by just changing the mic or the mic combination. I usually take my Shure 545 (Unidyne 3), which I think is the predecessor of the SM57, and put it on the same spot of my speaker cabinet everytime (marked it using tape). Took me some time to find the sweet spot! If you use multiple mics, do you also pan them differently sometimes to get a bit of stereo effect? Thanks for the video again!

Warren, Cool video and interesting little Tone Tubby speaker cab, a few years back I took one of my Celestion speakers out of my Marshall 4x12 cabinet and built a small monitor type of speaker cab I could use on stage, then I decided to create a big snuff type box I could put the monitor into and place a 57 in there, this way I could crank up my Marshall JCM 800 and run it through the monitor at high volume but not wake up the wife and kids because the snuff box kept things down to a low rumble only noticeable in the same room, it actually worked out pretty well and once you have you 57 mic placement right it's sort of permanent placement! Ciao, ALDO

I think you got the sweetest of the line there. The exact model I was eying. Do you find much difference in monitoring/choosing your guitar sound with speaker choice, that is, between the little desk top Genelecs and the big console Genelecs?

I would personally use all 3 wt the same time and blend them together with volume, eq and maybe buss them into a compressor to slap them all together. But I liked the condensor with 57 together a lot

Thanks for your videos, they are inspiring for me. I understand that it is subjective but still interested in you opinion. At what price point of the mic/guitar amp it is worth to start using mics instead of plugins to record guitar/ bass? In other words should I spend $300 on gear or should I wait and spend $1000 since plugins will work better than $300 setup? Thanks

hello!!! great your channel!!! i have followed the steps you show, i have a Scarlet interface , my laptop with Mac and an amplifier connected with a microphone that goes directly to the interface. The problem I have is that it does not record as it appears in the Amplifier, it comes out with less volume and I must increase the gain a lot to be heard but with that you hear the hum of the speaker, I do not know how to improve this, it will be because of the interface that is simple or because of the DAW that in my case some Garagaband, the microphone is a sure sm57. I appreciate the help

Tone Tubby!!!!! California baby! Hey guys great job! Keep up the good work.

thanks for this great video.. let me ask one question. how to record 3 mic as diferent line track on same time?

Hey Warren, at 7:20 into the video you measured the wave form to find the sample to apply to the Time adjuster. Where do you look to find the sample time in pro tools as the top of your PT session is not visible to me. Thanks as always!

those new yamahas are where its at! kinda wanna get one! peace Warren!

Yamaha makes great instruments... Nice video, thanks Warren!

Free guitar, good on you mate

Hi Warren, Thanks for the video. It would have been great to have some kind of context for that sound. Most of the times I thought, wow, that's bright ;-).

How would you pan the two mic's for the chorus, to get that massive wide sound if the one guitar was the only guitar playing? Would you pan the mic's opposite, together and double them, or try to add different parts to back-up the lead guitar like we talk about in the academy?

great video as always...I would love to see eqing that guitar sound in a mix.... yes this is my request please and thank you. most of us nowadays are using amp Sims where micing isn't an issue.... the bedroom recording producer. cheers

Nice demo. Guitar by itself it's easy to pick favourites, but unless the guitar is the central feature of your song, that perspective might change if you're looking for a sound that doesn't occupy too much of the stage, right ?

I'm a bit confused about reversing(phase invert??) the back sm57 mic! Need a little help please! :)

Warren brother, I would be very interested to se this idea expanded into double tracking a rhythm guitar. How you pan, eq, comp etc etc... CHEERS x

Great video!!! Those sideburns are looking slick as ever.. I never knew that samples trick with time adjuster. Gotta try that one. How could you tell it was 41 samples?

Hi warren! This was a great video thank you so much! I was wondering why you would turn the amp down to compensate for clipping in the ribbon. Is there a reason not to adjust the trim on the pre to be less sensitive? Thanks!!

What are your dB levels when recording in this session? It looks like they are really hot. I've been following the -12dB peak level when recording.

Hi Warren from Italy 😃!! I have a question: recording electric guitar with two mics in front a tubes amp, just to get a fatter sound, at which level must be setted the master volume on the amp. For example I have already setted the gain on my Focusrite Scarlett in the way it doesn't clip, how should I set the volume on the amp?

Question: instead of making the time adjustment with a plugin couldn't you just move the mic slightly closer or further from the cab? Is there a reason why you didn't do this or it's just easier to do it in the box?

Hey Warren how are you. Many thanks for all your work and teaching. DO you ever record guitar using the 11 rack or similar units? Would you run the outputs of the unit to a preamp? Would you ever do a lesson on getting great guitar tones using some of the best amp sims? Again thanks for all you do.

Watch your master fader, you were clippin'! Thanks for sharing. Are you a fan of using an SM57 with an MD 421? I'm thinking of trying that for my band's next recording session. I love the idea of using another SM57 on the back of the cab. I'm totally going to do that.

Warran! You have to share the model of that Revstar!

Is the rear mic the same distance from the cone as the front mics?

I'm really wondering, it's pretty labour intensive(and fiddly) and with an amp sim via a preamp I'm getting some bigger tone than the 57 I have(just on the front mind you). I did an a/b the other day and I was shocked how thin the 57 was sounding in comparison? Perhaps I have to work harder on it....!

That was brief. The precise placement of the front 57 can yield a full sound, its a bright mic and can be tweaked for realism. I would have warmed it to the side a bit. I am pretty much deaf, and have no trained ear, so this is my opine. To get them even more believable, I end up pushing the mic pre, adding input and reducing output for color. Now we have a bone dry noise, that still lacks in room feel. Massive sounds can be improved with the room mic, and post reverbs and delays. If memory serves me, a single 57 is what many engineers credit, so I have limited myself to that train of thought. What a drag, frustrating and disappointing, but eventually that sweet spot is discovered. Dyna-mount looks appealing, but I have too many channels going to pay the $$$$ for them. The amp-gains I use are always maxed, where the distortion is generated, the power sections are level matched, so not every amp is wide open. They are matched to the quietest amp I have, which is wide open, the 16ohm output reduces the db and the others are lowered to match. The preamps output levels are what determine the final db level, which is actually quite low, otherwise I would blow the doors off of my neighbors. The db levels I use are loud enough to get the speakers screaming and the cabs humming, basically what you would use in room. I used the room within a room concept and enclosed them in a multi lined chamber, 7 amps, 10 speakers, which can cross bleed so I use them mono or two channel hard panned. A side benefit of the chamber is the cats can't get in there and bump the mics, everything stays where I put it. As a very last resort I will use the outboard EQ after the preamp, I only have 2ch of it, but the 2-400 range and the 10-15k ranges are effective at returning us to in-room feel. All of this, a simulation of the wonderful experience being within firing range of rock and roll guitars. I regret my Eventide blew a fuse, and Amazon has new ones coming today, I can't wait to roll camera. You, Warren, are very inspiring.

Hi Warren stupid question here but how would I reverse The polarity for the microphone in the back? I have an Sm57 and a MXL 860 which one would you put in the front and which in the rear?

that guitar kinda sounded awesome even over the camera mic

Great show Warren. Im really curious about the tone Tubby cab and the Winterland speaker combination. Are you using a 100 watt head through a 30 watt 8 ohm speaker? what is the combination? Im probably going to get a 1 12 cab but I'm not sure if I will blow the 30 watt speaker or if they come in a higher range. Naturally I would not be playing anywhere near full volume. It sounds great on your video. Kind Regards

If you're recording jazz from an archtop would you set it the same?

Hey Warren, Great video!! For the next video, can you talk about dynamics in the mix? I really don't know what it is and why you need to be bothered.. It just sounds very important but I can't find any tutorials online.. Thanks ;)

Hey warren great video, I see in a lot of you videos your siting at that small desk, I'm guessing your using the small Genelec monitors?, do you do alot of mixing on them? How are they?

Great video Warren :) One thing i see and hear you talk about in your videos is how great results you can get using inexpensive mics like the sm57 and Lewett, but then you're using a Bae 1028 mic pre. To me that's a bit more expensive. So, my question. Any chance you could make a video comparing different mic preamps (high, low and midprice) in the future? Or maybe you already did it? Thanks

You rock, Warren:)

Why didn’t you try, 57 back with the ribbon mic front..?

For me the hardest part is to shape the tone that it fits perfectly in the mix. Can you do a video about this?

Are the recording peak levels shown when you are listning to mics what you would normaly record at? Do you find when you go to mix your track levels are good for plugins and your master buss is at a good level (NOT Peaking) ?

Warren, love your playin' man! btw, what model is that Yamaha guitar? It sounds great!!

Hey Warren. Thanks so much for all your tips! What has been your experience with the Andy Jonhs aproach to amp micing? 1 sm57 directly on the cone, 1 sm57 same position 45 degrees off cone: the direct controlling hi frequencies. The 45 degree controlling low frequencies?

Wow, you don't want that guitar Warren, you have tons of guitars... Don't you want to gift it to a really needy fellow and show your philanthropy? Awe, I'm just joking, that's very nice of them and it's seriously going to a very deserving fellow for all he does to help all of us out on the webs of cloudy internets... :-) Thanks for all you do Warren!

Today I recorded an acoustic guitar chord part for a new original Song. I played the chordprogression in the rythm and than I played the same chords over it to let it sound fuller. Wile I listened back to it on monitor (and that happends often to my recordings) The chordpattern struggels with the phase and loses its natural sound because the second part is layered nealy directly over it. I tried to correct that by timshifting the second rytmpart a view millieseconds back or forth but did not get lose of it totaly. Do you have any tip or video of yours were you explane focused on "How to get away this phaseaccident"? Thanx Warren for your answer. Ps: Every Guitarpart I played with the same guitar. Would it help to get lose of it by using another acousticguitar? - Dante Rox

Warren, Thought your go-to mic pre was the BAE 1073 ? Why the 312 ?

Lots of great tones there. And much more fun than using guitar amp sims, especially when you have a classic JMP to use. Nice to get a cool new guitar from Yamaha too :-) Which model is it?

Thanks Warren. I thought you might try the rear 57 with the ribbon and front 57. Do you avoid using 3 mics?

After getting the tone do you blend them into a single bus? Or can you use the same take with two different mics and pan them to get a wider sound?

What's the model on that new Yamaha? Looks pretty sick. I'd like to check out the specs.

Is a Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 good enough interface to start with?

Hi Warren, Just out of Interest, What do you use for matching the impedance of the ribbon mic to the Input of the BAE312.

What plugin do you use to move the tracks in phase?

Hey man. A silly question here. Some of us just plug the guitar straight into the audio interface. No amp. Amps are noisy things. Tell me why this is crazy?

I don't know if I missed it, but what is the speaker used?

Does Di box matter

amp sims please

3:06 Technically, a lot less mid-highs make it out through the back, but one could argue the effect "for the ear" is rather the same...

I do dead center on a pretty bright amp... dynamic mic :). Rock! (Please ship me the guitar, I'll pay the shipping cost.)

Reverse the polarity of the (neutron flow) back 57! haha'

My name is Eric and when he started saying “Eric... Eric... Eric...” i was like, this feels strange what’s happening.

excellent. We could all use more Yamaha in our lives. 😤

Is that a new desk?

so he bassicly changed microphone settings ?

Yeah distortion is cool but how about demonstrating micing on a clean sound like a jazz guitar.

1:16 that companion …what an expression….wow new guitar huh ? Fk it….

I was disappointed in this video because I thought you were going to go beyond just tweaking the different mics into how you placed the tracks into the MIX in your DAW. Now, that would be a helpful part 2 to this video.

3:32 That phase trick works really well on girls too.

We wont admit it in America! but The Japenese might make better guitars then us! Fact! Japenese do everything good!

to me, far and away the single condenser was the best sound. and the single 57 the worst. which is why I have NEVER got why people like, or start with, a 57.

why working at 1:15 am ? crazy fools

this guy always fails to show how is his guitar plugged in (the basics: wires going into preamp, etc) for newbies. doesnt talk about the cabinet, or which preamp, what pedals?, or should it be a combo amp? show behind the setup how is all wired.

Could you make a video that describes the elements of a shit recording?

My dislike for 1x12" cabs for rock and heavy guitars just got stronger.