Please share -How do you Mic a 4x12?

I'm super basic with guitar speakers. I usually want a dynamic mic (or two) right up on the grill cloth, I think this is best for timing with other players because it's getting the sound as close to when the player hits the strings as possible.

I start aiming the mic(s) where the dust cap and cone meet, and possibly adjust from there.

Generally start with a 57. Pick a speaker in the cab, put the 57 right on the cloth, pointed right at where the cone and the dust cap meet. Turn your amp to mostly mid settings and then listen in the control room for a minute while someone plays. Now go move the mic away from the cap slightly, towards the middle of the cone for less highs and more mids. I generally end up somewhere near the cap, usually within about 3". Now go back and tweak the amp.

Most people tweak the amp first and what happens is that they dial in tons of high end to get clarity and it ends up waaaaaay too fizzy and then they want a different mic.. Then they end up chasing the tail of the dragon. Amps and speakers sound very different to the ear in the room than they do to a mic on a speaker. Set the amp how it sounds best through the mic. Players tend to set way too much top and bottom end because it sounds good in the room, but this is the opposite of what you want for recording. When you end up doing HPF/LPF on the track later because it's all fizz and rumble, you'll be left with nothing.

Set the mic for best balance first, then tweak, never the other way around.

Don't even worry about choosing the best speaker in the cab until you've learned how to identify where to put the mic. Then once you found the best spot on ONE speaker and the best tone for the amp, then try other speakers in the same spot and listen to the differences. Some speakers will have drastically different tones. Even the same speaker have different tones from one side of the cone to the other. That's why I tend to make people play through my cabs, if possible, because I've spent a lot of time over the years moving mics around on them and I sort of know where they sound best to me.

The other magic here is a R121. Right in the middle of the dust cap. Move it back about a fist-width from the cloth. This will work for most clean tones. Put it at the seam between the cap and cone if you're using distortion, and then move it around some. You'll get a lot less variation than with the 57, but it'll be noticeable.

I used to multi-mic cabs, but I've lost interest in doing that. You end up messing around with blending way too much and the phase issues become too apparent, too often, and usually only one mic gets chosen anyway.

One other piece of advice.. Never sit in front of the amp trying to find the right spot while the player is playing. Even with headphones your ears will get fatigued and the rumble and leakage will make it seem different than it is.

Most musicians will tell you it sounds great at the time, but that's because their ears are blown too. They like loud. Loud is fun. So don't ask them if they approve..

Loud is not good for your ears, nor your recording. An amp will be just above talking volume for most recordings. If it's shaking the walls, then something wrong is being overcompensated for.

It depends on the desired result, but generally I would start with an SM57 right where the cap meets the cone and adjust from there. Move away if you need less top/more mids. Pull away/move closer depending on how much lowend you want. Angle it if you want less attack (for leads). From there, usually choose a second mic depending on SM57 seems to be missing. If it needs girth, R-121 or R92 is usually the ticket. Mids and bite, MD421. If the amp has a strong frown face curve, a lone M160 can be great. I also like the Soyuz 023 and 017 FET alot when you want detailed top without all the brashness for mid-gain crunch tones.

I'd say 70% of the time, the SM57/MD421 combo wins. I have M201s, M88s, etc... but I find those two dynamics, properly placed, still just do the thing.

Once I started backing mics off the grill, this became a lot easier for me. I usually pair a dark ribbon with a condenser or dynamic. Go to is usually an Oktavamod Apex 205 with either a Stam tube 87 or a Beesneez BU67. Sometimes I sub a 441 or m160 or m88.

I’m usually a good 6” off the grill at least. Seems way less finicky to me with positioning

The best speaker with a little edge: R121, dead center on the dust cap, 1 foot (30 centimeters back) into a Grace 101 into an LA3a
The best sounding warmest speaker, 1/2 way between the dustup and the edge, 30º angle 6" (15 centimeters) back, SM57 into a CAPI312 into a V3a.

1) Sm57 on grill pointing toward but not directly at dust cap
2) ksm137/141 like a 57 but back off a bit for sdc. 141 is fuller range and captures more of the room.
3) at4033 backed off is sick

Take a di pre pedal always. so many modern amps are crap. So many pedals are crap. Always get the guitarist to sign off that his tone is coming out of the cab and in his monitoring. You don’t want to be blamed for that. You can always reamp later.

One of the first things I learned in pro audio was as cool as they look the problem with 4x12 cabinets is there were 4 speakers in them.
A stack can be cool and provide the power to knock your socks off, but in most cases if you ever measure the 4 12’s individually you will find the sound of a 4x12 is really the sound of comb filtering. I have yet to measure any 4 stamped frame guitar speakers that measure the same. So often the reason someone puts that 57 so close is to try to reduce the level of those other 3 speakers.
Honestly the way I got heads to sound their absolute best was to have a couple of single driver cabinets to mic up.

The other thing about a single 12 vs 4 is the same gain settings you reduce the actual spl by 6 dB.

I like the focus of a cab with fewer speakers, but a 4x12 delivers a specific woof and low end punch that is pretty crucial for some styles.

Great info thanks for the insight everyone…

What would be a good mic to pair with my M88?

easyrider Could you share which amp/speaker combination you’re tying to capture? I’m a fairly recent user of the M88 too. It is a thicker sound than my other go to mics for guitar cab (SM57, M201, I5), so I can see the need to bring it back a few inches.

My main recording amps for dirty sounds are Plexi and JCM800-inspired. They have less lows than something like a Mesa Rectifier, so I can get away with placing the M88 on the grille. On my Tweed Deluxe, with a Jensen-type speaker in a much smaller cab than a 4x12, I have found it helpful to move the M88 back an inch or two for my tastes.

I like blending mics when an SM57 doesn’t have enough meat. I’ve liked the M88 on its own.

Mic it in front with the 57/royer/421/whatever you like and then stick an LDC behind the cab , just under the top, pointed down at a 45 deg angle. Mix it in to replace the missing resonance you aren’t capturing with the close mic.