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Hello,
I’m trying to get a clean, warm jazz guitar sound when recording, but I’m struggling a bit with the tone, especially with a bit muddy sound.
My setup:
- Epiphone Emperor II (flatwound strings)
- AER Compact 60
- Lewitt LCT 140 AIR (about 30 cm from the amp)
- Focusrite Scarlett interface
Current approach:
I plug the guitar into the amp and record the amp with the mic. No processing except a bit of EQ.
Questions:
- Where would you focus first: mic placement, amp settings, or EQ?
- Any suggestions for mic placement to reduce low-end/muddiness?
- Is it better to mic the amp differently or go direct in this kind of setup?
Any advice is very appreciated!
Example of recording:
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05-03-2026 08:31 AM
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Nice playing, sounds very good to my ears, I'm in the same boat with mud, even worse because I pick with fingers and no nails. I have much more mud that your recording, but I embrace the Mud.
Last edited by GuyBoden; 05-03-2026 at 10:58 AM.
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Nice. You have the warmth in the highs and mids.
Id back off the bass in the eq. Im no expert but from what I hear its getting tubby in that area.
Mic moving would make a difference. You might be overwhelming the mic a little. You also might be too close to capture the whole range of tone coming from the speaker.
Im also no expert but Id just do a lot of tests. Try leaving the eq the same and moving the mic a little. Not too much or you might start to get too much ambient input.
If that doesnt help put it back and try the eq
Just roll the recording, play and make chages (saying outloud what you are doing so you dont forget)
Then listen back. I dont think you are way off base but I agree some cleanup would make it nicer.
EQ: If speaker changes dont work I think you are a long way from any harshness so the eq might do the trick.
Im just thinking out loud..maybe even some minor adjustments to the pole pieces so its not so bass heavy unless you are sure you arent getting the mud with live settings.
Also on mic positioning there are setups where players go off axis on mic placement. I dont know but it supposed to get more warmth. Maybe you can change the eq but mic more warm and get more separation. Just think of it as a dial twisting experiment like it was a new amp. You will find it.
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If it were me I'd use your small diaphragm condenser to record the acoustic sound of the guitar and use a dynamic (SM57 or MD421 are classics) or a ribbon to get the amp sound. SDCs are rarely, if ever, used on guitar cabs/amps. I have been in a Frisell recording session where they had a pair of SDCs on his amp in ORTF figuration.
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Nice playing! I don’t think your tone is muddy. Are you aware of the flat and air settings on your mic? If not, there are switches on it to change from flat response to a slight high end peak that lightens up the tone. You might prefer the air setting.
If you point your mic at the cone rather than the center cap, and angle it so it’s perpendicular to the cone surface, you’ll pick up less of the high end from most speakers with nonmetallic cones.
Palomorado is right about your mic - it’s made for mic’ing the guitar directly. Something like an SM57 or 58 will probably record a slightly warmer sound. But if you’re trying to clean up recorded sound, your mic should do what you want. It’s clearer than the Shures.
But again, I don’t think your tone is muddy. I haven’t heard it through good speakers with big low end, though. I’ll listen through my recording monitor system tomorrow.
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I'm also not hearing muddy through my iPad and earbuds. The top end is just slightly dark, which a lot of jazz guitarists like for solo playing (it'd get lost in the mix with drums and bass, though). You could just turn up the treble very slightly on the guitar and/or the amp, especially since you're playing with your fingers and what sounds like no nails, just enough to give the high end a touch more definition. Or maybe, as already mentioned, roll down the bass just a tiny smidge. You might not need to adjust anything else.
Jim Hall's sound made us think we had to play dark and with a soft attack and that's caused no end of trouble for jazz guitarists. That is not the inherent timbre of the guitar. It's taken me 20 years to realize that- Peter Bernstein was my specific realization that bright and rich is a beautiful sound and Pasquale Grasso was my realization that dark and tubby does us few if any favors.
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Thank you, for your response. I'll definitely will try and move the mic more around, haven't tried that at all
Originally Posted by Sigmund451
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Good idea and nice to know, with regards to SMC and a dynamic microphone, that make sense. Thank you! Originally Posted by Palomorado
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I agree with others that the recording does not sound muddy. I don't know how the guitar/amp sounds in the room, and I can imagine that the recorded tone is darker than that (given how AER's typically sound), but to me it's a good sound. Originally Posted by badb
I don't know that microphone, so it's hard to be specific, but in general, aiming the mic toward the edge of the speaker at an angle tends to reduce bass vs aiming it directly at the center (especially in mics that have proximity effect that makes them sound boomy). You can experiment with that. But I think it's actually a very good sound, and I think it might be more productive to focus on eq'ing it a bit. I actually quite like the mids and high end, so if it were me I'd probably just roll the bass off a little. I'd also add a bright-ish reverb. Originally Posted by badb
I find it easier and more reproducible from session to session to go direct, but I think you're getting a good sound there wouldn't suggest going direct unless you're trying to get a fundamentally different sound. For instance, if the sound you have in mind is more like a blackface Fender, you're probably not going to get there with the AER, but you might with a software plug-in that models/emulates one.
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Nice work on your recording.
Does the sound work for you before recording? Is it what you want to hear when you experience it in the room? That's the first place to start.
The KM54 was used on electric guitars for the Beatles, so I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with an SDC on an amp, but that's a different mic in a different era of gear, too.
I tend to favor ribbons on electric guitar cabs myself. But they tend to have a bigger somewhat darker sound with plenty of proximity effect so that will likely increase your mud problems. Your sound doesn't really strike me as muddy. There's a lot of detail as well. I also think backing the mic off to is a good choice. To me, the cab is part of the sound. Things seem to blend a little better across the frequencies when the mic is back a foot or more. Just a thought.
The combo of micing the guitar itself plus the amp is a good idea that creates a lot of depth.
Many factors at play but those are some thoughts.
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