Just my take after a lot of experiments the last few years.
Ultimately for distorted rhythm guitar ala rock, hard rock, metal, grunge etc. I say always go with an amp simulator or direct box and of course, record direct.
For lead/solo, this is a lot more challenging.
If you record direct for solos, you pick up transient noise and "signal garbage". It's not a weakness in playing, just the nature of a raw signal that has no room to breath.
I also have about a dozen mics to work with. Your common condenser is a bad idea. They sound bland and loose on a speaker unless you're using a blaring midrange driven tone which I admit is common with most lead metal players but not I. No mids and no depth effects. Same issue with the cardioid, bland and loose. I tried a lot of expensive and legendary mics including the SM58.
What finally worked?
Pencil mics with the small capsule.
I have some very cheap pencil mics that produced better recordings on a mic'd guitar amp speaker than my 200 dollar condenser. For other purposes, obviously they can't compete but this specific task, nothing proved finer.
Nice tight focused sound like a direct recording but no transients or "signal garbage".
My ultimate pencil mic for this task turned out to be an MXL 603 condenser.
Now I know why the SM57 is so popular after seeing the capsule on them.
Ultimately for distorted rhythm guitar ala rock, hard rock, metal, grunge etc. I say always go with an amp simulator or direct box and of course, record direct.
For lead/solo, this is a lot more challenging.
If you record direct for solos, you pick up transient noise and "signal garbage". It's not a weakness in playing, just the nature of a raw signal that has no room to breath.
I also have about a dozen mics to work with. Your common condenser is a bad idea. They sound bland and loose on a speaker unless you're using a blaring midrange driven tone which I admit is common with most lead metal players but not I. No mids and no depth effects. Same issue with the cardioid, bland and loose. I tried a lot of expensive and legendary mics including the SM58.
What finally worked?
Pencil mics with the small capsule.
I have some very cheap pencil mics that produced better recordings on a mic'd guitar amp speaker than my 200 dollar condenser. For other purposes, obviously they can't compete but this specific task, nothing proved finer.
Nice tight focused sound like a direct recording but no transients or "signal garbage".
My ultimate pencil mic for this task turned out to be an MXL 603 condenser.
Now I know why the SM57 is so popular after seeing the capsule on them.
