PZM Experiments

[physics]

Been a while since I posted. School 'n stuff has kept me busy. Since last time, in no particular order, I've

• Built a PZM wedge out of plywood according to the Crown Boundary Mic Application Guide.
  
• Figured out how to flatten the PZM high-frequency rise with EQ.
  
• Obtained a Fryette PS-100 reamper to blast the Marshall into and then reamp to an apartment-friendly volume or take a DI signal out of.
  
• Got a Peavey XXX 4x12 to chuck the speakers from and use the cab.
  
• Recorded a bunch of clips of the same riff using a looper pedal with different permutations of Force 12's, XXX's, microphones, and the 2x12 combo and 4x12 closed back cab.
  
• Parked the Force 12's in the 4x12 with the two bottom holes empty (detuned).
  
• Added foam "mitchell donut" beam blockers to the 4x12.
  
• Worked out how to get a "close mic" recording of the detuned 4x12.
  
• Screwed around with EQ and master volume levels to get a pretty good (IMO) Marshall tone through said cab.
  
• Captured a sound very close to that using the PZM wedge with the flattened response.
  
• Sorta fixed the string bleed issue by virtue of not doing anything and hoping it goes away by itself.
  

Various bits of all that will probably pop up in other threads at various points, in particular the cab and mic comparisons, but for now here's a clip of that tone I mentioned:
https://soundcloud.com/grrrrr-662986275/...A1UbPJWMsE

My own takeaways:

• String noise is imperceptible unless I'm actively looking for it on a good monitoring setup, and then it's barely perceptible.
  
• The level of string bleed I did get was with me sitting right next to the cab and mics, less than a meter way, with the volume at a modest apartment-friendly level.
  
• The recording sounds very close to what I hear in the room. I mean very close. Even more so if I stick my nose to the grill cloth in the way that the PZM wedge shoved against the baffle is emulating.
  
• The track doesn't sound distant like a room mic recording.
  
• The stereo image quite closely emulates that of sticking my head where the mics are. Mono is oddly too wide in comparison.
  
• Subjectively, I think it holds it's own when I compare it to recordings other people have gotten, including those of guitar youtubers with Marshall tones I like.
  
• The tones I'm comparing to are almost all recorded with a 57, or 57 + something else. I'm not using a 57, but am still able to get tones with similar qualities by tweaking the amp accordingly.
  
• With appropriate amp tweaks I can get my setup to sound very close to a Vintage 30 4x12 + SM57 setup (comparing to youtube videos). Enough that I don't really feel compelled to get a V30 to get that particular sound. Plus I kinda like my Force 12 + Amp EQ version of it better anyway.
  

Conclusion: I either have, or am very close to achieving, my ideal of being able to set an amp to sound good in the room and then print that sound to tape no-muss no-fuss no SM57-high-mid-yuck. I also seem to have accidentally gotten very close to my ideal of being able to control the majority of the sound/tone at the amp instead of relying on a mic and highly colored speakers like Celestions.

Alright, what do you guys think? Any critiques, whether they're technical, preference, or otherwise? Sorry for all the bullet points. I promise I'm neither an AI bot nor using an AI bot to write this.