01:51now I love guitar amplifiers I'm a bit
01:53of a amp addict I think I love
01:55everything about them I love big amps
01:57and I love small amps but recently I
01:59found myself reaching for a smaller
02:01amplifier much more often than I am any
02:03of my big amps part of it is the
02:05convenience factor and being able to
02:07play at low volumes here in the bedroom
02:08but also part of it is the versatility
02:11see I think you can do everything you
02:12need to do with a small 5 watt combo amp
02:15and then today's video I'm going to show
02:17you how using this the new Gibson Falcon
02:215 this was sent to me by Sweetwater and
02:23I reached out to them to send me this
02:25amp because I want to check it out I'm a
02:27big fan of old Gibson amps I own two
02:30vintage skylarks I've used original g50s
02:33to record on albums and I'm really happy
02:35to see that Gibson has brought back and
02:37resurrected their old amplifier designs
02:40with some Modern touches I've had my
02:42hands on the Falcon 5 and been playing
02:43it up here for a few weeks and I really
02:45enjoy it and we're going to use it in
02:47today's video to demonstrate some of the
02:49ideas and show you why I think a small
02:51amplifier is better in a lot of cases
02:54than its bigger counterpart so if you
02:56want more information on the Falcon 5 or
02:58any of the other gear that I'm using in
02:59today's video check out the links in the
03:01description those are affiliate links so
03:03if you use one of those links I earn a
03:05small commission it doesn't cost you any
03:06extra and it's a great way to support
03:08the channel if you like what I'm doing
03:10here also be sure to subscribe still
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03:22red button down there so with all that
03:24out of the way let's uh get this thing
04:03okay so before we get into this let me
04:05just say that yes there is absolutely a
04:07place for big amps obviously I have
04:09found a place for big amps and there's
04:12something special about being on a stage
04:14with a big amp behind you moving air
04:16there's really no replacement for that
04:18in the right context but the history of
04:21these big 100 watt amps that we all
04:23think about when we think of our guitar
04:25Heroes on stage in the' 60s 7s and 80s
04:27those amps were designed to be solution
04:29to a problem that those players were
04:31having which was not being able to be
04:33heard in a live setting guys like
04:35Hendricks and Clapton needed bigger amps
04:37because they were playing bigger rooms
04:39and small combos were not big enough to
04:42get out and be heard in the audience but
04:44the reality is for most of us guitar
04:46players today is that we don't need 100
04:49watt amps especially if you're playing
04:50and recording at home now the great
04:53thing about small amps is when you are
04:54recording at home you can still get a
04:57massive sound bigger does not always
04:59mean better in terms of recording and in
05:00fact a lot of times the opposite is true
05:03which is why a lot of our favorite
05:05records were recorded using small combo
05:07amps of the time whether they be a
05:09silver tone or a supro or fer champ for
05:12example or even an old Gibson Skylar or
05:28Falcon so how do we get a big recorded
05:30tone using a small combo amp well first
05:34thing we're going to talk about is mic
05:35placement and mic technique okay so here
05:37on the Falcon 5 I've got my two favorite
05:39microphones for recording guitars the
05:41sure sm57 and the aea r92 now the r92 is
05:45a ribbon microphone which we'll get to
05:47in a second but starting with the sure
05:49this is arguably the most popular mic
05:52for recording electric guitar amps and
05:54there's good reason for it it can handle
05:56incredibly High SPL or volume without
05:59breaking up or distorting it sounds
06:01great it has a nice upper mid-range kick
06:03that accentuates distorted guitars
06:05really really well and they're damn near
06:08indestructible and cheap I have a whole
06:10video about the sm57 that you can check
06:12out here if you're interested now the
06:13reality is even though I have two
06:14microphones on this cabinet I can get a
06:16huge guitar sound just using the 57 with
06:19a few techniques mic placement on the
06:22speaker being one and proximity effect
06:24being the second now the side to side
06:26mic placement on the speaker you might
06:28already know determines the overall
06:30brightness or Darkness or the EQ curve
06:32of the sound the closer to the center of
06:35the speaker we go the brighter the sound
06:37is going to be the higher frequencies
06:39come from the center of the speaker the
06:41darker frequencies come from the edge of
06:43the speaker so where you place that
06:45microphone on the speaker has an
07:08now proximity effect is something that
07:10occurs based off of the mic's proximity
07:12to the Sound Source meaning the closer
07:15you are to the Sound Source the more
07:17lowend you're going to get now this only
07:19happens with directional microphones so
07:21cardioid mics or figure 8 microphones it
07:24doesn't happen with omnidirectional
07:26microphones there's very technical
07:28reasons why but what you should know is
07:29the closer you put your microphone to
07:31the speaker cabinet the more lowend the
07:34more base response you're going to
07:52get now this can be a good thing or a
07:55bad thing it depends on what you want to
07:57hear in your mix a lot of times with
07:59guitar amps we're actually cutting low
08:01end out of the mix so putting the mic
08:03right up on the grill cloth isn't always
08:05the best move sometimes you actually
08:07want to back it off to sort of
08:08preemptively cut some of that low end so
08:10you don't have to EQ it out later but in
08:13the case of a small amp using proximity
08:15effect to your advantage can actually be
08:17part of what gives the amp a bigger
08:19sound now there is one thing that I have
08:21a hunch about and I'm not actually sure
08:23if you know more about this let me know
08:24in the comments down below but in this
08:26case we're recording a 10in speaker
08:28instead of your typical 12-in speaker
08:30which means the diaphragm on this
08:32microphone is covering a wider part of
08:35the speaker proportionally because it's
08:36a smaller speaker but in my mind that's
08:38part of why small amps with small
08:40speakers can have such a big sound
08:42that's just a hunch now another
08:43advantage that small amps have over big
08:45amps for recording at home is the fact
08:47that because they're lower wattage you
08:49can drive the amp to Distortion power
08:52tube Distortion actual amp Distortion
08:55without the need for an overdrive or
08:56boost pedal at a much lower volume and
08:58the amp gets loud I mean don't get me
09:00wrong 5 Watts will move some air but
09:03it's not so loud that I'm going to be
09:04getting complaints from my neighbors the
09:06other cool thing is the way small low
09:08wattage amps like this take things like
09:10fuzz I'm a huge fuzz nerd and I
09:12absolutely love it when the fuzz is
09:15hitting the front end of the amp so hard
09:16that it makes the amp sound like it's
09:18going to explode like it's going to
09:19collapse in on itself that's something I
09:21find really inspiring to play and I can
09:24get that effect at a more reasonable
09:26manageable volume with something like
09:28this than I can with some of my bigger
09:53views now one thing I like about the
09:55Falcon 5 is it actually has a low power
09:57setting so I can switch it down down to
09:59basically one Watt and the amp still
10:02sounds and responds like it's at full
10:04power when it's under a microphone in
10:06the room it gets quiet enough that you
10:07can have a conversation over it while
10:09it's absolutely blasting with a fuzz
10:11pedal in front of it but under a
10:12microphone it still sounds pretty
10:32another example is with mic Choice using
10:34a smaller lower wattage combo gives you
10:37more options with mic Choice case in
10:39point one of my favorite mics of all
10:434038 this is a legendary microphone for
10:46not just guitar caps but vocals drum
10:48overheads pianos room mics you can use
10:51these for everything and they sound
10:52great but these are ribbon microphones
10:55and they have an SPL limit they don't
10:57like really high volume or SPL loads
11:00which means they're not good to stick in
11:02front of a loud amp that's moving a lot
11:05of air but they can sound incredible in
11:06the front of a small 112 combo like this
11:09especially when you back the mic off the
11:11cabinet a few feet to decrease the
11:13proximity effect now I can't use this
11:15mic on my big 100 watt amps downstairs
11:18cuz I'll literally blow the Armature
11:20I'll blow the ribbon but I can use it on
12:27at the end of the day guitar is an art
12:29form and that means it's subjective so
12:31how you choose to go about creating your
12:33guitar sound is totally up to you there
12:35is no right or wrong way to do any of
12:37this but hopefully this video taught you
12:39that you don't need a big amp to get a
12:41big guitar sound especially when
12:43recording at home and in many cases a
12:45small amp can do everything a big amp
12:47can do even on stage in a live
12:50performance now there is an argument to
12:51be made about small amps not being able
12:53to fill the space of a stage and get
12:55over a loud drummer maybe we should try
12:58that out gibon also has the Falcon 20 so
13:00maybe we get the Falcon 20 and shoot it
13:02out against the Falcon 5 in the context
13:04of a real band at a real venue let me
13:06know if you want to see that video in
13:07the comment section down below but the
13:09end of the day small amps are great
13:11thank you so much to Sweetwater for
13:13sponsoring today's video if you want to
13:15check out the Falcon 5 or any of the
13:16other gear that I talked about in
13:17today's video check the links in the
13:19description our affiliate links so I
13:21appreciate you using those to support
13:23the channel also you can check out the
13:24free ebook I just published the
13:26fretboard fundamentals ebook that's link
13:29down below as well and uh be sure to
13:31subscribe while you're down there my
13:33name is retel thank you so much for
13:34watching and we'll catch you on the next
