Recently, I was helping out a client via one of my Virtual Recording Workshops. In his single song session, there were almost 100 guitar tracks, with multiple amps and mics for every part and overdub. He was trying to learn more about his gear, what would work, and how to best apply every technique and approach. I made suggestions about finding specific sounds for different guitar parts in order to complement each other, as well as combining blends of mics in the analog realm while tracking (a favorite trick of mine). We had a good talk about his working methods, and I think, in the end, my feedback was able to help him out. As we kept discussing the recording process, he referred back to the multitude of guitar tracks and asked, "But wouldn't you do this sort of tracking if you had unlimited time?" My response was, "No. Never."
Days later, I was still mulling over his question, and, specifically, my answer. Sure, I have "experimented" at with "over-mic'ing" and using multiple guitar amps, but always with a certain goal in mind. I've also produced sessions with 150 tracks; sometimes you just have to! Over time I've learned what works best in most scenarios, and have built up some techniques that I use most of the time. When I've dealt with mixing sessions that had a crazy number of tracks for amps, takes, mics, or even different guitars (through these same combos of amps and mics) to choose from, I end up quickly muting as many as I can. I need to find out what will work together, and sure, maybe I'll swap out one of my choices after a bit of mixing for a tonality that fits better. But this process keeps phase issues to a minimum, gets me into the mixing process quickly, and keeps me moving forward on the mix.