Choosing the right mic can transform your home guitar recordings – here’s how to do it on a budget
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While there are myriad effective and great sounding ways to record your guitar direct in 2025, there’s something about the classic recipe of sticking a microphone in front of your amp or instrument that can’t be beaten.
But what mic to use? For the uninitiated, the sheer variety of different types of microphones available – and the huge spread of prices they can cost – can put you off before you’ve even had the chance to experience the wonder of a properly mic’d acoustic or guitar amp.
But it doesn’t have to be this way – most mics can be grouped into three broad categories that offer utility for certain types of instruments and recording situations. In this guide, I’ll be running you through the three most common categories, and explaining how they can be used to make your at-home recording experience even better.
The other issue often putting people off is cost, but here the good folks at t.bone are here to help. The t.bone offers a wide selection of common mic types, often ones that channel the spirit of a classic mic at a fraction of the cost you might have seen elsewhere – each mic you’ll see us talk about below costs less than €200. Let’s dive in.
Dynamic Microphones
Also known as ‘moving coil’ microphones, dynamic mics are in many ways the easiest and most straightforward type of mic to understand, as they operate effectively like a loudspeaker in reverse. When sound waves hit the microphone, the membrane of the moves to the rhythm of the sound waves, and the magnetic coil on its back moves along with it, converting that movement into an electric signal.
In practice, this makes for a very simple and robust mic, which is part of their appeal – they also don’t require phantom power from your audio interface. Dynamic mics tend to have a more focused tone than other mic types, which means they’re less likely to pick up on external sound and background noise. If you’re recording at home in an environment without much acoustic treatment, having a dynamic mic might be the best option.
Two really great dynamic mic options in the t.bone range are the MB75 and MB75 Beta. The MB75 is inspired by a classic dynamic mic and offers fantastic feedback resistance and directional quality, making it perfect for mic’ing up guitar amps both live and in the studio, or for close-recording of acoustics in non-treated environments.
The Beta version keeps much of the 75’s character and usability, but offers a greater dynamic range (more high and low frequencies) while being even more directional – perfect for mic’ing up a noisy guitar amp.
Whatever dynamic mic you choose, they’re great all-rounders for whatever you want to put them in front of.
Ribbon Mics
Ribbon mics are technically a variation of the dynamic microphone, but such is their distinct sonic character, most musicians will treat them as an entirely distinct type in their own right. Like a dynamic mic, ribbon mics use electromagnetic induction to capture sound, but rather than moving a magnet, it uses a thin piece of aluminium foil that moves inside the magnetic gap.
In practice this means that ribbon mics are able to reproduce the sound more accurately and sensitively than a regular dynamic mic, though they tend to lack a bit of top end. This makes them best suited for mic’ing up guitar amps and cabs. One thing to be aware of, however, is that ribbon mics are very fragile, and have a natural ‘figure 8’ (ie they record sound both in front and behind, not the sides) recording pattern – so probably not the best option for quiet recording in untreated environments.
As you’d expect, the t.bone offers a wide selection of quality ribbon mics, but the standout is the RB 500 – a lovely microphone with a warm, natural sound that’s perfect for sticking in front of your amp and capturing its authentic tone.
Condenser Mics
The final type of microphone you might wish to consider for your home recording set up is a condenser. Condenser mics can capture a sound source in the most rich and accurate detail possible and work in a different way to dynamic mics – the mic capsule contains an extremely thin membrane (known as the diaphragm) that sits parallel to a charged metal plate. As sound hits this membrane, it vibrates and creates a current in the metal plate.
Condensers offer a detail and dynamic range not found in dynamic mics, and as such they’re perfect for capturing the nuances of acoustic guitars – though they’ll often also pick up a lot of other extraneous background noise, so might not be perfect for recording for non-treated environments.
There are two types of condenser mics – large diaphragm and small diaphragm. Large diaphragm condensers tend to generate less self-noise, and will impart their own sonic character to the recording, which is usually warm and lush. A great example of this type of mic is the t.bone SC 1100.
Small-diaphragm condensers offer a greater frequency range than their larger counterparts – meaning that you’ll have a more neutral and accurate depiction of the sound in the room. If you’re wanting to capture the full nuance of an acoustic guitar, it’s common to use a pair of small-diaphragm mics in ‘X/Y/ configuration positioned 6-12 inches from the 12th fret with the mics angled 45 degrees from the fretboard.
Thankfully, the t.bone SC 140 is an affordable small-diaphragm condenser that means it doesn’t cost much to grab yourself a pair. And don’t forget with condenser mics, you’ll need to run them into an audio interface or mixer with phantom power!
Choosing the right mic for your needs can be the difference between a good recording and a great one – thankfully, t.bone makes things so affordable that you can experiment with a minimal outlay, and find the perfect mic for you.
To find the right mic for you, shop now at tbone.audio
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