thinkingthought

So I had sort of a breakthrough type thing last night when I was recording a JET song to test my ability at recording. I had a 57 a couple inches away form the speaker while he was recording his guitar part: Orville SG through a Musicman 50w 1x12". It sounded great in the room, and sounded like crap when coming out of my headphones and speakers. I was wondering what the deal was, since most articles I've read about miking amps said to stick the mic a couple inches away from the cone and it should be fine. Well, it just sounded fart and full of mid range and distortion. I had him play the part again, and recorded the sound while I moved the microphone around in various positions. I played back what we had recorded, and 99% of it was crap. For a split second though, I had the mic positioned so that it sounded great: crisp and clear, with plenty of brightness and the same overdrive I was hearing in the room. Is this how it is most of the time when miking stuff? Do mics need to be positioned so carefully in order to get amazing sounds? It seemed as though the slightest angle changed everything. Also, is this the same situation with drums? I've been trying to get a nice snare sound with the 57, but it just ends up being dull and decaying awfully fast. Overheads as well? Any help is appreciated