How To: Recording an Electric Guitar or Bass with an Amplifier

So you have a guitar and an amp and you want to record it.
You have two main options:

1. Use a mic to capture the sound through the speaker
2. Use the line out connection of the amp, if available

There is a third option these days, but I'll leave that for later.

Using a microphone

What do I need:

• Microphone: preferably one suited to recording guitar. One of the standards for this purpose is the Shure SM-57, a cardioid dynamic microphone tuned for the clean reproduction of amplified and acoustic instruments. You can also use a condenser mic if that is all you have.
• Audio Interface with a mic pre-amp.

Connection set-up:

• Connect the guitar to the amp as normal, and set up your sound.
• Connect the mic to the interface.
• Set-up the level for the mic, remembering to never let it go into the red.
• Mic placement is a very personal and tricky matter, I suggest starting with placing it in directly in front of the speaker.

Pros & Cons:

• Pros
• You can capture the full sound you hear coming out of the amp.
• No need to use any other equipment or effects to get a credible guitar tone.
• Cons
• Mic placement can be a long process, and not very easy to replicate if you have to disconnect, or move, the equipment.
• It's complicated to isolate the sound of the amplifier if it's all located in the same room. In a studio environment the guitar amps are set up in one room, with the monitoring being done on a separate room.
• Not suitable for late night recording, at least if you have neighbours or family.

Using the line-out

What do I need:

• Audio Interface

Connection set-up:

• Connect the guitar to the amp as normal, and set up your sound.
• Connect the amp's line-out to the interface.
• Set-up the level for the input, remembering to never let it go into the red.

Pros & Cons:

• Pros
• Simple set-up, no need to fiddle about with mic placement, and you need less equipment.
• Cons
• The resulting tone can be less than ideal, as most amplifiers don't have a speaker simulation on the line-out.
• Still not suitable for places or hours that require low levels of noise.

The third option

With todays technology there is a third path available for recording guitar with an amplifier...

Using an amplifier that uses emulation technology with a integrated audio interface.

This means that you only need your guitar, amp and a computer to record. Two cables, a instrument cable and a USB cable. And you can use the amp as a monitor.

I truly recommend having a look at Yamaha THR line of guitar amps for an affordable, versatile, portable and capable of great tones. It even comes with a copy of Cubase for free.
This is my current setup and it just does the job!!!!

Usefull Links:

Shure SM-57

Yamaha THR collection