?I have to say that I am no longer a fan of using multiple mics on guitars. I like using one microphone in one place and sticking with it. I can always change the tone further up the chain.

#1 Phase problems suck! I don't want to deal with phase issues. Seldom do I have the time luxury to time align multiple mics. Even if I did, my recording style doesn't seam to be benefiting that much from using multiple microphones on guitar amps. I use my single Royer R121 almost every time and I come out happy.

#2 I Get Confused! For example, if I'm using two guitar amps, which two amps do I use? Do I try to get a great sound out of each amp or do I set one to be really dull and the other to be really bright? Do I mic the bright amp in the brightest part of the speaker or somewhere more neutral? Do I try to get one amp fairly clean and one amp fairly distorted? The combinations are endless!!!

I just never really figured out these questions and that is probably why I haven't had much luck with multiple amps.

#3 Too Many Factors Already! For me, different guitars, guitar players, pedals, continuously variable tone controls, and amps causes way to many possibilities for error. It's just too much!! I don't want to multiply my problems by using fancy recording rigs where I don't have time to perfect them.

#4 Focus! I like being able to focus on every part of the chain and shape it to be exactly what I want. I don't like the idea of recording one amp dull and the other amp really bright because then I end up with two shitty guitar tones. What in the hell am I going to do with two shitty guitar tones? So I like the idea of recording one great guitar tone.

Personally, I find that almost all the tone is in how you the player plays, the guitar used, the settings on my trusty MXR EQ pedal and my the settings on the amp. I can get just about anything I want using my Marshall JCM 800 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12H30 speakers with the Royer R121 in the same place every single time. I find that there is basically a sweet spot on every guitar cabinet. If the tone isn't great with the mic on the sweet spot, I don't move the mic. I move the tone controls, EQ pedal settings, ask the player to do something different, or we switch guitars.

The secret to getting a great guitar sound is defining which factors are fixed and which are variable. For example, if I had a guitar player who always used a certain guitar through certain pedals and certain amp that was 100% resistant to using anything else, I'd mic up his rig and go for it. If the tone wasn't there, I'd know I had to change something on my end. I can always make the tone duller or fizzier by moving the microphone, switching the mic out with a different one, or using some of the fancy tricks documented earlier.

Since 99% of the guitars I record these days do not involve a player with his “signature” sound, I personally find that playing with tone controls is far more effective than swapping out microphones. In other words, I like to improve the source and just think of the microphone as less of a “tone creator” and more of just a device that picks up sound in the room.

Conclusion

Using multiple mics on guitar cabinets or using multiple guitar cabinets at the same time all have their place, but the there is a great risk of phase and comb filtering problems. This type of recording takes a long time to set up. This sort of thing may be worth it to the big boys, but personally, I'd rather spend that time on getting better performances. (Basically, my home studio time is limited!).

I highly recommend that beginning home recording engineers stick with a simple SM57 in the sweet spot (you are on your own on that one! Ha ha) and focus on getting the tone of the amp right. Over time, you can try different tricks, but I wouldn't do that until you are getting great results with the one mic. Of course, if you can get great results with one mic, why change it? That's where I'm at, anyway.