For me it depends on the guitar player, what style the music is, and his/her set-up. I'll generally start with a Sennheiser e609 (or an ATM23HE, ATM63HE, or a SM7), a 414 near the cone, and an RCA BK-5B and an RCA 44BX at a distance. I'll usually put all sources to tape and use the sources to liking during the mix.

The e609's pickup pattern is very small and doesn't allow ambient room to leak in which is why I like it for detail and crunch. Sometimes it stands on its own as the only mic I'll use during a mix. It's similar to a SM58 but a little less dumpy. It has a very direct dynamic sound you'd expect from the mic.

The 414 gets snap from the high end while filling out the frequencies the e609 doesn't produce. It’s usually a good mic for switching between clean and dirty tones during a live recording session. Sometimes I'll run it through a gate and duck it slightly for a compressed saturated feel so it seems to be in an overwhelming sound vacuum.

The RCA BK-5B is the glory of all glories. The mixture of high and mid crunch is gorgeous. Either used slightly in a mix or cranked up in the mix it fills in the tones I wouldn't think would be useful. The best way I can describe it is the mic makes my tonsils jiggle and my wisdom teeth rattle.

The 44BX is deep, dark, and spacious. I use it on bass quite a bit cuz I don't need a lot of volume to get some nice and smooth lows. It's somewhat temperamental with loud screeching guitar but placed properly and usually off axis it wields some amazing results. The further I move it away from a source sometimes it bottoms out the lows in an unpleasant way but when it works I get a well rounded tone in conjunction with the other mics.

Other mics like the ATM23HE, ATM63HE, RE20, or an SM7 are alternates I'll use per taste. Each is a bit different in their own right but that all depends on the relationship between the other mics.

I've pretty much poo-poo'd the SM57 after understanding the subtle differences in frequency response from different mics. The 57’s, to me, is dumpy. I like to have a little bite from the guitars and unless I'm EQ'ing the 57, I don't like the initial raw tone it produces. I've been somewhat satisfied with a 57 and an RCA74b Jr together but it seems to lack definition and rounded lows.

There are so many different variables and I'm constantly changing my set-up based on my mood that day. I don't think there's a wrong way but as long as I can keep myself surprised by experimenting (even by tweaking the amp tone slightly) I feel that's a progressive way of approaching it.

Having an extra right hand man/woman to move a mics while I'm monitoring and the guitar player is playing helps a lot in finding a sweet spot no matter what mic is there. I suppose if I had house gear that everyone used and the gear was set-up exactly the same every time sessions would be a breeze but yet again everything coming out of the studio would sound the same and what kinda fun is that? I've had remote sessions where I've worked with both the most expensive mics and the least expensive mics to my disposal and both situations present unique problems and challenges. What might work for one set-up might not work for another. Take lots of notes on what works/not works for future reference and how and why it works/not works. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure. I always tell a band that I like to take a little extra care in finding the right set-up for their sound. It takes a little pressure of me when my own psychology thinks a band comes in expecting me to hear two seconds of tone, pick a mic, throw it up, and it's perfect.

Something exciting but also scary is when a guitar player and/or bass player comes in and says, "I'm not happy with my tone, could you mess with it a bit?"

I have an idea in my head how I like to hear a recording but how am I to know what they're thinking regarding overall tone? I don't like to mess too much with their sound but if I have full reign over the project I could tweak for days then find out they hate the results? I might be heading off the subject but ultimately I guess I'm trying to convey the fact that I try to overcompensate with mic sources so I have something to work with in the mix (especially if it's a rush session). I go with my instincts and lessons I learn from previous sessions and go from there. If I please myself and the guitar/bass player then I know it's going in the right direction, obviously. If I frustrate over a tone I'll use multiple sources and find during the progression of a session that I did cover the range I need for a good tone.

--Adam Lazlo