The closer you are to this position, the brighter and more present the recording will sound. You should start off by placing the mic directly in front of the middle of the speaker, pointed towards it at a 90-degree angle.

Distance of the mic to the speaker cone.

Point of the speaker cone that the mic is pointing at.

Basically, it boils down to three variables. There are countless books and resources – as well as heated debates – on this topic. Recording Amp/Cab Speakers and mic technique I’ve used cheap £20 microphones to get great results, just by placing them well and using the room and guitar amp speaker to my advantage. Whether you opt to use dynamic microphones such as the classic Shure SM57 LC * or a Sennheiser E609 *, or even a high end ribbon mic like the Royer 121 *, at the end of the day, it’s all about microphone placement. My advice is to use what you have and don’t be afraid to experiment with microphone technique. There are many opinions on which microphones you should use for recording electric and acoustic guitars. I myself have been using a pair of Sennheiser HD-25 * for over 20 years now, and would say they are also worth checking out. If you are looking for a set of decent headphones, I can recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x * or the Sony MDR7506 *, as both are great all-round pairs for monitoring when recording. I would, wherever possible, recommend you monitor on headphones, as this is what your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, or recording software) or old vintage four-track tape machine is picking up.

You really can’t go wrong with modern audio interfaces, as long as you have a minimum of one XLR input and one 1/4″ instrument cable input. If you have more of a budget, you can try the Apogee ONE*. The Focusrite Scarlet Solo* or the Presonus AudioBox iOne* should do the job just fine. Unless you’re using your laptop’s built-in mic or a USB mic, you’ll need to plug in your microphone’s XLR cable somewhere to send the signal through to your computer.

I will also add some links to free recording software for those of you on a shoestring budget. In this article I am going to give you a few simple ideas to help you get a good guitar tone. If you have a great riff or song ideas that you want to get down somewhere so that you don’t lose them, recording your guitar is the best way to build up a body of work.

Best guitar recording software for mac