Pretty heavy music...group I am working with right now...

Lead gtr: Jackson something or other thru a Boss Metal Zone pedal into a Peavey Valveking amp - mic = FatheadII
Acoust gtr: Martin 000-16 mic'd with Fathead II
Bass: DeArmond (?) into REDDI and Pacifica pre, board EQ
Drums: later


All mic pres straight off the Soundtracs Solo32...a touch of compression from old Ashly and Rane stuff...

This is very difficult for me to do, as I have no idea what or how this is supposed to sound

Not my genre but sounds to me like that genre generally sounds--if this is your starting point, you are already doing pretty well.

The guitar, I don't know. Just not quite feeling it, which may be genre--it's really compressed and damped sounding, very controlled. I look for a bit more screaming abandon in that sort of thing. [Cheesy hard-rock reference alert] If you've ever heard the live-album version of Rush's 2112 suite compared to the studio album, I always preferred the live guitar because it screamed and sang, where the studio version was compressed into behaving well. Then again, dry, damped, compressed, and controlled might well be the sonic aspirations here.

Are there vocals for this band? I'd suggest a parallel rig that's more lively in the mids, wild and screaming, and have the vocals side-chain a compressor or gate when they kick in. (I like this trick on ambient mics on a single rig, too.)

Bear

I think Leifson's guitar tone is considered mild and passe compared to what is being done these days...I had to practically BEAT the guy to dial in some mids on his amp....

There's also a complete and total absense of dynamics...fade ins and space for the subsequent (and yet to be finished) vocals will have to be done in mix....

Not my genre either (I don't think I have a genre anymore....)

Yeah, I wasn't holding it out Lifeson as an example of a tone to shoot for, but as an example of the difference in feel. Maybe Vernon Reid's abandon might serve better for explaining the territory I would be pushing for, but again, that might be off-genre. I always found thrash and death metal sounds fairly fascistic in how militant, disciplined, and ordered they tend to be. I always figured most of the fun of distorted guitar is a little chaos rather than making the trains run on time.

And yes, mids are good, even for metal genres. If you don't like mids, you shouldn't be playing the frigging guitar.

Bear

Not my genre either

Hmmm...

I dunno....the scooped thing can be kinda cool sometimes....I'm not for the extreme cut on the mids AND extreme boost on the the top and bottom, but in the right context...

I have given the matter a lot of thought, and as an experiment will be reamping thru a 4-12 cab...I think there in is part of the monster mojo