Recording guitar question

[Post 2 Decision]

I'm just starting out recording with a small set up at home. Mic'd my guitar amp with an sm57 and it's running through a focusrite Scarlett solo. It sounds great but I'd love to get a heavier/fuller/thicker/deeper tone. Adding my bass track does make it sound a lot better.

Wondering how many guitar tracks I should record, or how many I should copy, and what are the best ways to pan them out.

4 separately played tracks?
2 separately played tracks, each copied for a total of 4 tracks?
2 tracks good enough?

Pan one hard left, one hard right, and the other two panned slightly left and right?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately I didn't invest in an audio interface where I can use 2 mics at once for the amp, and also can't afford a nice condensor mic right now either haha.

I know this depends on my amp too, but surely there would be tips/rules for any amp used.

Specifically targeting any sorts of metal sounds/tones

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

I'm just starting out recording with a small set up at home. Mic'd my guitar amp with an sm57 and it's running through a focusrite Scarlett solo. It sounds great but I'd love to get a heavier/fuller/thicker/deeper tone. Adding my bass track does make it sound a lot better.

Wondering how many guitar tracks I should record, or how many I should copy, and what are the best ways to pan them out.

4 separately played tracks?
2 separately played tracks, each copied for a total of 4 tracks?
2 tracks good enough?

Pan one hard left, one hard right, and the other two panned slightly left and right?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately I didn't invest in an audio interface where I can use 2 mics at once for the amp, and also can't afford a nice condensor mic right now either haha.

I know this depends on my amp too, but surely there would be tips/rules for any amp used.

Specifically targeting any sorts of metal sounds/tones

maybe show us some audio samples of what you have so far? and what type of metal? vintage sabbath or some newer stuff. 4 separate guitar tracks probably will sound muddy if you are playing the exact same thing. Have you tried eq or effects?

 

[P0NYBOY]

Plug your guitar straight into the scarlett solo and see how it sounds clean and add processing once it's on the computer.

The scarlett has two inputs.........mic and instrument.

Try the line outputs to your sound card line inputs.

Buy an ABY splitter and use the 2nd input for your guitar.

Sometimes it pays to plug a pedal that's buffered before the splitter or before the scarlett.

Once you find a way to get your sound onto the computer sounding proper, then you can work on doubling.

 

[Thunderchild]

Another trick for getting a fuller sound is to play the same riffs on different parts of the guitar on different layered tracks (higher on neck on lower strings, lower on neck on higher strings). I don't mean harmonized, I mean the exact same notes on different strings. Bands like Ghost use this technique, where both Nameless Ghouls are playing the exact same riff on different places on the guitar.

 

[Seano]

One hard left, one hard right and one down the center always worked for bands I recorded with, depending on the song, obviously.