?The Royer R121 is a ribbon mic. This means that it uses a totally different design than you'd find on a typical dynamic mic (like a Shure Sm57 or Sennheiser 421) or condenser mic (like a Neumann U87 or AKG 414). Ribbon mics have made a huge comeback since digital recording has become the standard. Ribbon mics can sound dull with a huge low end if used the same way as you would a condenser mic (of course, condenser mics can also have a huge low end too, but tend to balance it out with quite a bit of high end). This “dullness” may sound a more negative than it should. Ribbon mics can ignore high end very very well. This isn't such a great thing on acoustic guitar, for example, but it can do wonders on taming any source with excessive fizz. (Some guys do like the Royer R121 on acoustic guitar, btw, but I certainly do not).

The Royer SF12 (a cousin of the Royer R121), is a very popular stereo ribbon microphone for drum overheads because they tame the cymbals and keep them from ripping a hole in your ear drum. You may need to use some high shelf later on in the mix, but that's no big deal.

The Royer R121 uses a figure 8 pattern which all ribbon microphone use (email me if I'm wrong here). Figure 8 microphones has the most intense proximity effect. This gives you tremendous control over the low end depending on where you place the mic. If you put the Royer R121 on the grill of a guitar cabinet with any amount of low end, you are going to get some serious bottom on your guitar tracks.

The Royer has a magical way of ignoring the high end in a way that is very pleasing for electric guitar. The high end is just fizz anyway. When you roll off the fizz of a guitar track using a ribbon mic, the body of the guitar seams to become more prominent. The real meat of the guitar sound seams bigger and meaner. This is what I love about the Royer R121.

These days, I've been very content recording guitar cabinets with the Royer R121 dead center on the speaker with the mic actually physically touching the grill of the guitar cabinet.. I avoid excessive low end with the mic dead center on the cabinet and the mic has a way of ignoring fizz anyway. This placement works great for me.

I was originally afraid of blowing the ribbon out. I know that many people fear blowing up their ribbons in their Royer microphones so Royer offers a free ribbon replacement for each mic. Somewhere in there, I decided to quit being a pussy. I started cranking my amps with the Royer R121 right on the grill. To my surprise the mic never complained. I've been recording guitar amps on 10 now for well over 6 months and I've not had a single problem with my Royer R121. I just blew up my Celestion G12H30 last week though.

The Royer R121 is not cheap. It'll set you back a good $1,100. I must admit that the mic too some getting used to. I had it for a year before I really “got it”. Once it made sense how to use this mic, I fell in love. I have a cabinet permanently hooked up in my guitar (isolation box) with a Royer R121 at all times. I love this mic! I guess I had to adjust my tones to fit the mic or at least adjust my technique to fit this mic. When I finally got it right, I feel like I really got it right!

I could always go back to using an SM57 and I could probably make it work pretty well. However, I do think there is some added benefit for me to use the Royer that outweighs the cost. I wouldn't bother with a Royer R121 until you had some really good amps and a guitar fort (or some way to crank them all to hell for some serious power tube distortion). If you are recording your amps on 2, I wouldn't bother with the Royer.

Royer R121 Conclusion

On electric guitar, there is no other mic I would pick first. I've been able to capture guitar tones from country to metal with the Royer R121 and they've all turned out great. The Royer R121 is a great mic. It's uses do extend beyond recording guitars, but guitars are where it really rock, in my opinion. The price isn't cheap, but the benefits are worth it once you get used to using the Royer R121.