If you are looking for great electric guitar sounds then many engineers mic of choice is the Shure SM57. However, there is a school of thought that suggests, adding a second mic to get a fuller, richer guitar tone, many of those same engineers often reach for the Royer Labs R-121 ribbon mic. Getting these two mics in phase can be a challenge.

The Royer Labs AxeMount claims to solve this problem. A very clever multi-microphone clip that holds both the SM57 and the R-121 in such a way that you always get a perfectly aligned recording. Let’s see how it works.

The Royer Labs AxeMount

The Royer Labs AxeMount is the answer to a lot of recording engineers guitar recording prayers. Costing around £30 UK pounds this single clip holds the two microphones that for many engineers are their go-to for guitar recording the Shure SM57 and the Royer Labs R-121 ribbon mic. In the images below you can see just how simple yet effective the design is. The 2 mics are held firmly together in this rubberised plastic clip that simply screws onto your mic stand.

Setting The Mics Up For Recording

In the images below you can see how we have set the 2 mics above the Celestion Vintage 30 speaker in a Grossmann SG-Box speaker cabinet. The AxeMount has been designed in such a way to take advantage of the design and build of the barrel of the SM57. When the joint in the SM57 body is lined up with the back of the clip for the SM57 the two mics will be perfectly phase aligned. It’s then just a case of putting the mics in the right place on the speaker which of course is much easier now the two mics are tied together with only a single strand.

We opted to position the mics with the SM57 in the middle of the paper section of the speaker with the R-121 slightly nearer the dust cap. This for us at least allows the SM57 to pick up some of the bite of the tone, not just the thin sound that is heard nearer the dust cap. The R-121 then gives us that smooth rich tone and when you blend the 2 mics together you get a nice biting tone with plenty of richness and body.

What Else Makes Up The Tone

For this recording, we used a Gibson Les Paul Studio into a REVV G3 distortion pedal feeding a REVV D20 all tube/valve head, set to 4 watts. You can see the setting we used for each below.

Take A Listen

Below you will find 3 audio files to take a listen to. The first is a recording of just the SM57. You can hear there is plenty of bite to the tone but it’s quite thin sounding.

The second track is just the Royer R-121. This sound rich and bold but there is not much top end definition to the sound.

In the third track you can hear an even blend of the 2 mics giving us a rich, fat distorted guitar tone with plenty of top end definition. The level of the track is also increased which is a sign that the 2 mics are perfectly in phase.

Time To Go Shopping?

For around £30 the AxeMount has to fall into the category of a “no brainer”, if for no other reason it allows you to mount 2 mics from one stand. Add to that the ease of set up and the reassurance that you will always get a perfectly in phase recording then the Royer Labs AxeMount it’s a winner. It has to be said that the only mics this clip works with are the Royer R-121 and 57 style (SM or Beta) mics but as stated earlier, these are some of the most popular mics to use when recording electric guitars and if you do record electric guitars often, you might want to think about adding these mics to your locker and while you are shopping, make sure you add the AxeMount, you will be very glad you did.

You can find out more about the Royer Lays AxeMount and their range of ribbon mics including the R-121 at the Royer Labs website.