I love recording in the studio and could spend endless hours seeking the ultimate guitar tone. I am not always completely satisfied with the guitar tones I achieve in the studio but on the single “Don’t Throw Stones” I was stoked with the results and thought I would share how I achieved this tone.
First off, I’m into the old school guitar approach. A great sounding amp with the right mics and a sweet sounding preamp equals the ultimate tone. There was no guitar plug in, amp simulator, or virtual effects used here.
I used my Mesa Boogie F30 amp with a vintage Silver tone extension cab; a Paul Reed Smith 20th anniversary McCarty guitar and my M13 Line 6 floor pedal.
The mic choices on the Mesa was a Royer 121 ribbon mic, the classic Shure sm57, and two Audix i5 mics on the Silver tone extension cab. I used a Presonus ADL600 tube preamp on the Royer and the Shure sm57 and a Focusrite Red1 on the Audix mics.
After I tracked the 4 guitar mics I panned them hard left and blended the tracks according to taste. I then played another rhythm guitar track slightly changing the tone nob on the PRS guitar and recorded 4 more tracks. I panned them hard right and again blended the mics to taste and there’s my rhythm tone. With all the guitar tracks panned hard left and right it creates a huge guitar tone leaving a nice hole down the middle for the vocals to exist.
I will keep you posted on my latest studio set ups and let you know whenever I find that ultimate guitar tone!