Steel - Recorded Direct From Amp With A Shure SM-57

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 6 Jun 2019 7:17 pm

This clip was recorded with my Excel S-12, Boss RV-6 reverb set on hall (mono), Goodrich 120 pot pedal (HotPotz), Allen Encore amp with TT-12 speaker, Shure SM-57 about 8" in from and slightly off axis from the speaker cone. Zoom R24 captured the steel as a wav file then ported it to Reaper for mastering with the rest of the track mp3 at 320 kbps.

No additional EQ, compression or reverb was added in Reaper. This is just the raw amp and guitar setup sound in an 8' x 10' room with no sound insulation, hard ceiling, and hardwood floors. The SM-57 filters out most of the room's echoes and ambient noise due to its focused pattern.

Most of the steel is in the intro and outro. This is a backing track I am working on for our church.

Hear It!

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 7 Jun 2019 3:54 am

Sounds Really very nice. Good tone and your playing is always great.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 7 Jun 2019 4:39 am

I liked that Greg... really nice clarity on your steel.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 7 Jun 2019 5:50 am

Thanks for listening! Our vocal group likes sparse backing tracks with very little leads as they have 4 voices. I'll eventually blow this into a steel instrumental for my own web site. One of the reasons I posted this was to show how a very simple setup in an ordinary house room can be used quite effectively with a mic like the Shure SM-57.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 7 Jun 2019 6:34 am

To me the Shure SM57 and 58 are nothing short of miraculous. They go on delivering - how long have they been around now? - without apparent modification. And inexpensive and hard-wearing.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 8 Jun 2019 9:16 pm

Plus there are some great mods you can do to a 57. I have a couple where I replaced the cheap output transformer with a TAB/Telefunken tranny that really smooths out the mic without losing the punch of the original. Tommy Detamore also turned my on to an in-line coupler called the Killer 57 that lowers the impedance on the capsule and takes a lot of the spikeness out of it. Would never be without a couple, modded or not...

David Weisenthal · Post by **David Weisenthal** » 9 Jun 2019 6:27 am

Sounds great Greg. Your steel playing is so clear. I never tried tilting my session 400 back at an angle like that...something to try.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 9 Jun 2019 2:53 pm

Don't be distracted by the gear. The clarity we hear comes from Greg's cultured hands and would come through on any reasonable equipment. Of course his setup enhances his sound, but it doesn't create it.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 10 Jun 2019 5:52 am

Thanks Ian and David! Everything affects the sound.

Cables, amp, guitar, pickup, mic, mic preamp, not so much the Zoom recorder but in many case the mastering can add stereo reverb, compression, EQ, leveling (but not in this case), cables, strings (these are D'addario NYXL). Damping technique, bar type and pressure and tuning.

My guitar was tuned with the stock Peterson HD E9th open and pedal tunings with appropriate bar slants and centerings for all the out of tune pedal combinations.

The greatly out of tune bass guitar was due my having the strings set way too high and pressing way too hard on them while playing. I usually just tune the bass a few cents lower to compensate for this but forgot to do that here.

Be sure to avoid the cheap Chinese knockoff SM-57's. They sound just awful! I've got a ton of mics in my home studio and they all can record well but the SM-57 is best at filtering out room ambient noise like guitar mechanics and echos.

The Zoom R24 has really terribly noisy preamps at low input levels and the Studio Projects pre-amp boosts the incoming signals from the SM-57 to overcome this.

Setting the amp volume pretty high and playing somewhat loud allows the amp's inherent hum and white noise to be all but eliminated.

I've ordered a used Nashville tuned acoustic guitar off of Reverb and will be posting about that soon. Hopefully that will eliminated the need for using a capo'd up rhythm guitar or mandolin for rhythm parts. Or maybe it will complement them!

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 10 Jun 2019 8:26 am

Still, none of the things on your list can rectify poor technique.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 10 Jun 2019 9:57 am

Thanks again Ian!

Here's some more great technique from Lloyd Green that I'm tabbing out. It's the 4 note lead in that I really dig and it was used a lot in the 1960's. Four super, well blocked notes, played quickly, each one distinct followed by 2 pedaled notes then a common Lloyd riff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0s7phXvngI

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 11 Jun 2019 1:12 pm

What Greg is describing and sampling is his years of experience . I suspect Greg, like many who have been doing this for a long time, could get a clear recording with minimal gear. Its the process, adapt with the gear we have.

A $1000 mic doesn't guarantee that we will get a $1000 recording. Knowing our gear and having seat time with it is what drives the process.

I believe this is the point Greg is making, knowing our gear, as Greg does, from the tuner to the monitors ! The price tags don't make it clear and enjoyable, the ears of the guy in the seat with the knobs do that. Another point not mentioned is knowing what we want the end product to sound like. This is key as we are tracking. Greg knows exactly how he wants his instruments to sound on his tracks, he is not hunting and pecking. Experience with his gear is front and center.

Greg is an excellent resource here on the Forum.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 11 Jun 2019 4:01 pm

Tony, now you just need to get me out of PA. My son lives in Charlotte, downtown, 3rd ward. When I visit him I can walk or take the scooter over to the DoubleTree Inn for cookies, Chic-fil-a, Bissonte pizza, or walk down to the ballpark and a million other places without driving a car. I rent the bikes and scooters using my phone app. I'm close to retirement and the cost of living in Mecklenburg County is a bit prohibitive.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 11 Jun 2019 4:15 pm

Well Greg, I live in Union County, the next County over going East. Way less than half the taxes and expenses !

Come on down , always room for one more !

Give me a heads up next time down, maybe we can hook up.

t

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 15 Jun 2019 12:51 pm

Here's the finished product with lead instruments:

How Long Has It Been