the guitar and the pres should be fine.
the sm57 it's an okay mic. i think you can get at least a 'decent' or 'nice' sound with the setup.
try moving and position, and borrowing another mic.

Hey Benny, thank you for answering.

Should I borrow another identical mic, or should I try another model to see how good they merge?

another. i will guess finding another condenser microphone will do the trick. these - compared to dynamic microphones like the 57 - need phantom power, but you already have that with your yamaha aw1600.
try using the condenser with low gain near the amp, or also combination of both close the amp, or the 57 near the cone of the speaker and the condenser some feet away. good luck.

You can get a condenser with a -10db pad built in. Put the pad on. Put the condenser and the 57 almost touching the grill off center from the cone of the speaker. Use a flashlight to line up the diaphrams of the 2 mics. record both signals or buss them together.

From what I read in your initial post I'm not sure far micing is going to get you the sound your looking for.

for crunching guitars, i almost always use a 421. typically with another mic, but even on it's own, in the right place, it usually does what i want. ribbons can be awesome but mine (an m500) usually sounds too harsh on trebly amps. i use E609s sometimes, but they seem a bit dull to me, usually - something i normally associate 57s with.

i've never had any luck with condensers on distorted, granted, i don't have the widest selection. i've heard good things about ksm32s, though.

i have a ksm32 and i used it - close-miking - in a pro junior in the vein of breakup. sounded good.

If the guitar sounds like shit through this shitty amp, all the mics and pres in the world won't polish a turd.

57s are used on some of the best-sounding rock guitar tracks ever recorded.

otisroom wrote:You can get a condenser with a -10db pad built in. Put the pad on. Put the condenser and the 57 almost touching the grill off center from the cone of the speaker. Use a flashlight to line up the diaphrams of the 2 mics. record both signals or buss them together.

From what I read in your initial post I'm not sure far micing is going to get you the sound your looking for.

Actually KSM32 was the mic I had in mind when I read this post. But I think any $300 condenser with a pad will get him closer then just a 57.

Just for the record I hate 57's as well. But it has been used on a lot of records and I wouldn't get rid of it just add to it.

zom-zom wrote:If the guitar sounds like shit through this shitty amp, all the mics and pres in the world won't polish a turd.

57s are used on some of the best-sounding rock guitar tracks ever recorded.

True that.

Shit in = Shit out.

All the high end mics and pres in the world won't fix that.

I've recorded Slash half a dozen times and that guy gets absolutely nervous if you don't put a 57 on his cabs.

So they're good to have on hand.