2. GEAR SETUP

Here comes the fun part. You can experiment by combine, tweak, or just try the following suggested setup to get the sound you want.

2.1. Small Amp Big Sound

-If your record studio doesn't have a mighty Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier boozer with 4x12 Celestion stack, don't be panic. You still can get the big, thick, brick wall guitar sound from a 10" or 12" practice combo amp such as Marshall AVT50, Marshall MG50DFX, Behringer GMX212, Line6 Spider II 112, Randall RG75, and alike.

The secret lies in miking techniques (more about miking later on this article) and trim mic level in the mixing console at optimum level. You should spank the record engineer's butt all night long if he (preferably she) doesn't know how to trim mic to head level. Anyway, let's cover a bit how to trim mic level briefly to assure low noise high headroom:

-you should familiar with the amp sound you're about to mic
-put balanced-response pro-quality headphones in your head, plug into PHONE mixer out
-turn all TRIM, AUX send, and fader all the way down.
-disengage all bus channel (1,2,3,4,L,R for 4-bus mixer) assignment
-set all EQ knobs to center (flat)
-connect mic which has positioned to your preference (more about miking techniques later), plug it to mic mixer input
-engage SOLO button (if your mixer has, set solo mode to PFL-Pre Fader Listen to tap signal out before fader)
-begin to rip your guitar off to play a riff you're familiar with.
-begin turn up the TRIM control until meter level set to "0"
-listen to your headphones. Play with EQ just a little (remember with effect and EQ: less is more) to shape the sound contour as close as you hear the combo amp in front of yourself.
-after apply an EQ, adjust the TRIM again to set meter to "0".
-you're ready to rock!

Don’t follow the old rule: "turn the TRIM up until clip occurs, then roll back a bit". Recording guitar involves pretty high dynamic range so be sure not to clip the signal while the guitarist recording at his ultimate feeling and peak performance (which might not be occurred many often).

Position your tiny-baby amp to get the best sound: if you want more bass, put in the corner right on the ground. To reduce bass, put it off the ground by sit in the chair away from room corner.

To create larger sound:

1. Send Amp out (if any) to DI-Box input with 4x12" speaker simulator (like Behringer GI-100) and print to individual track along with mic'd track(s) to mix later. You might want to mess around with effect in mixing stage so don't bounce them now.
2. Split guitar signal to two combo amp
3. Combine 1 and 2.

More on these schemes can be found in next section.