The Complete
Killer Home Recording
Series

Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar

By Brandon Drury

After completing Killer Home Recording: Audio Engineering and Killer Home Recording: Setting Up, you'll want tackle the ultra-specifics that go into getting a great electric guitar sound in Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitars.

Most electric guitar recordings made at home are fizzy, excessively bitey, and have no balls. Getting big, monstrous tones that cut but don't sound dull or woofy is a challenge, but a solid foundations of what it takes to nail a monstrous electric guitar sound can improve your tones instantly.

The Biggest Guitar Sounds Of Your Life

In Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar, I'll lay out each and every facet that makes up a monster guitar sound. We'll start with the guitar player and end with (well, that's a secret for now). Without spending enormous amounts of money and without needing a zillion dollar studio where you can crank up 20 amps at once, you'll be coming out with better tones than ever before.

In The Interrogator Sessions: Electric Guitar we'll cover numerous hop topics in electric guitar recording land. We'll go through over 20 mics so you can how budget classics like the SM57 compare to modern monsters like the Royer R121. You'll hear preamps that range from budget preamps like the Presonus Firestudio to big dogs like the Manley TNT, Vintech 1272, and Great River MEQ-1NV.

Get ready to start nailing the guitar tones you've always dreamed of.

MULTIPLE MICS ON A CABINET
What's the deal with using more than one mic on an electric guitar cabinet?

Your Benefit: Find out immediately if there is any obvious boost in your guitars sounds by using multiple mics!

GUITAR SPEAKER CABLE WARS
In Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar I tried out four different speaker cables from everything from an expensive Monster Cable to a super long PA speaker cable to the cheapest speaker cable on the planet.

Your Benefit: You find out if there is any significant change in tone when using a cheapo cable. If anything is lost by using a super long cable. You'll see if anything is gained by using an expensive name brand cable.

TAKING AWAY THE TOYS
n most of the shootouts for Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar I used my Manley TNT preamp through my Distressor compressor into my Mytek AD96. How big of impact does all this crap have on electric guitar recordings? What would happen if I just plugged straight into a Presonus Firestudio.

Your Benefit: You'll hear the real world benefit the high end gadgets have on the recorded electric guitar tone. You'll get to put into perspective the impact of these gadgets on a tone which you've heard numerous other factors change (mics, mic placements, amps, etc).

ROYER R121 VS THE WORLD
In Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar I toss the Royer R121 in the ring with numerous other popular electric guitar mics.

Competitors: Shure SM57, Royer R121, Sennheiser MD421, Cascade Fathead, Shure SM7b

Your Benefit:
You'll find out if the Royer R121 is the undisputed kind of metal guitar tone or just another flavor. You'll see if any mics that cost a fraction of the cost can give the Royer a run for its money. You'll be knowledge to decide if the Royer R121 is worth the money.

POWER TUBE DISTORTION VS PRE AMP GAIN
I compare the effects of power tube distortion vs pre amp gain on a metal guitar tone.

Your Benefit: You'll find out if it's worth all the trouble (loud volume, cops showing up, divorce, etc) to crank up an amp to incredibly loud levels.

ELECTRIC GUITAR MIC PLACEMENT
If I had a million dollars for every time someone had asked me where to place a mic on an electric guitar cabinet, I'd have more than $5. In Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar I shed some light on this.

Your Benefit: You'll find out the sonic personality of an electric guitar speaker. I'll show you the sweet spots on an electric guitar speaker

HIGH GAIN ELECTRIC GUITAR PREAMPS
I tossed 11 different preamps on doubled high gain modern rock guitar tracks. Preamps ranged from nearly from $8 to $3,000.

Competitors: Vintech 1272, Presonus Firestudio, Great River MEQ-1NV, Manley TNT, Martech MSS-10, M-Audio Octane, Presonus ADL 600, Presonus Digimax D8, Presonus Studio Channel, RNP, True Systems P-Solo

Your Benefit: You'll know the difference between high end preamps, budget preamps, and a bunch of preamps in between. You'll find out if a high end mic preamps are a solution to your guitar tone problems.

GUITAR LAYERING EXPERIMENTS
I go through 16 layer variations of electric guitar.

Your Benefit: You'll hear the possible benefits of a whole bunch of layers, the benefits of active octave power chords, the benefits adding all kinds of random jibberish, the benefits of blending different tones, and you'll know if all this junk is really worth it.

DI INPUTS PUT TO THE TEST
I compare several different DIs on electric guitar.

Your Benefit: You'll know the difference between Hi-Z inputs and standard inputs. You'll hear the difference between Hi-Z inputs on a Presonus Firestudio, M-Audio Octane, and Great River MEQ-1NV.

CLEAN ELECTRIC GUITAR PREAMPS
I test numerous mic preamps on a jazzy guitar sound.

Competitors: Manley TNT, Martech MSS-10, M-Audio Octane, RNP, Presonus Studio Channel, Trident S20, True Systems P-Solo, Vintech 1272, Presonus ADL 600, Presonus Digimax, Presonus Firestudio, Great River MEQ-1NV

Your Benefit: You'll hear the difference between mic preamps ranging from robo cheap to turbo expensive. I'll make it a little easier to decide which preamp is right for you and your clean guitar sounds. You will compare this shootout with the High Gain Electric Guitar Preamp shootout and decide if all guitars benefit from the same preamp.

OVERDOING THE GAIN
There is much talk about how a person should avoid overdoing the gain, but seldom is this ever put into any real context. Some genres require quite a bit of gain. In Killer Home Recording: Electric Guitar the goal is to shine some light on the issue.

Your Benefit: You'll know what happens with too much gain. You'll knoow a quick and easy way to determine if too much gain is being used.

ELECTRIC GUITAR MICROPHONES
Competitors: Alesis AM51, Audio Technica AT2020, Audio Technica AT4033, Audio Technica AT4040, Audio Technica AT4050, Audix I5, Behringer C1, Cascade Fathead II, Gefell M930, Groove Tubes GT57, Karma K58, Karma K10, Karma K6, Karma K35, M-Audio Nova, MXL V63M, Neumann M147, Oktava MK219, Oktava MK012, Peluso 47, Peluso 251, Royer R121, Sennheiser MD421, Sennheiser PL-20, Shure SM57, Shure SM7b, Shure SM27, Studio Projects B3

Your Benefit: You'll know if expensive mic required for electric guitar recording? You'll know if an SM57 good enough? You'll know if an Audix I5 be better? Find out if ribbons like the Cascade Fathead II, Karma K6, or Royer R121 stack up against dynamics like the Sennheiser MD421, Shure SM7, SM57, or Audix I5? Find out how a budget microphone Behringer C1 or MXL V63M handle electric guitar.

LAYERING
I wish I had a million dollars for every time I've fought about layering high gain guitars. Some people insist that two hard panned layers is all you need. Others like to add a third layer down the center. Others say that four hard panned layers is absolutely required.

Your Benefit: You'll immediately know the differences between 2, 3, or 4 layers of high gain electric guitar. You'll never waste time recording 4 layers of electric guitar when you'd be happier with two. You'll never settle for less when four layers is exactly the sound you are looking for.

20 LAYERS
I tracked 20 layers of a metal guitar riff to illustrate the benefits, if any, of playing the same riff 20 times.

Your Benefit: You'll know any possible benefits of recording an electric guitar track 20 times. You'll know the difference between the way two different high end preamps known for their electric guitar preamps stack (Vintech 1272 and Great River MEQ-1NV). You'll know the real answer to the big time debates I've heard about this high end preamp and that high end preamp in a situation where the tonal qualities of each preamp should be perfectly clear if you subscribe to the preamp stacking argument. You'll know if this preamp stacking argument is a crock or not.

AMPS N EMULATORS
I tossed together some random clips of DI guitar either reamped through a real amp or ran through various emulators.

Your Benefit: You'll know if emulators are ready for real deal recording yet.

ROOM MICS
I tossed a Royer R121 6' in front of a guitar cabinet with its null facing the amp in a typical room I all are likely to be recording in.

Your Benefit: You'll know if there are any benefits to recording distorted elecrtric guitars with a room mic

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