Recording your guitars, recommendations please

[John Beef]

In 1999 I was taking recording classes at the local community college and my girlfriend (now my wife) bought me a Rode NT1 large diaphragm condenser for Christmas. Not the current NT1A, but the original with the off white plastic housing. It continues to be my go-to guitar mic 15 years later. Nothing else I try makes my guitar amp sound on tape the way it sounds to me in a room.

 

[Dancing Frog]

I usually use an old Boss BR-600 for writing stuff down when I am not at home. It is portable enough that you can take it anywhere. It has a good set of mics built in with some modeling and sequencing. At home, I'll run my guitars through an Axe Fx II XL into Cubase VST I think. Digital modelling has come along way and is less noisy and restrictive than trying to mike something up at home. Back when I was miking amps at home, I was using a pair of Shure Beta Blue 57's predominately. You can do a lot of things with SM-57's, and a lot of classic recording were made with those.