i cant find a single mic i own that sounds good on acoustic.

i have a nady tcm1050 tube mic
shure sm7b
audix dp7 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...p=y&m=Y&c3api=1876,103820129762,&Q=&A=details

shure 55s

and my pre and compressor is a universal audio 6176

what would u use if you were me?

i make loud rock music. guitar is a gibson b25 from the 60s

 

https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Kn...hone-Placement-Techniques-for-Acoustic-Guitar

http://www.royerlabs.com/rectips_acousticguitar.html

You should be able to come up with something good with the mics you have, just keep trying different positions and combinations

maybe a pencil near the bridge soundhole and a tube or whatever else at the neck and strings?

Oh and a nice lil low-mid scoop and a high shelf boost can help brighten things up

 

I've recorded with two condensers pointed at the soundhole, about 1' to 2' away, with one placed toward the rear of the guitar, and one placed toward the neck. I've gotten really good results that way. I've also used a mid/side arrangement. You just have to use a figure 8 pattern on the side mic for that, and encode it either in the DAW or with your pre-amp if it does that. (ART MPA II). You can vary the width with both of those techniques. I always try to use a mic that has good brightness and low end for the one pointed at the soundhole. Sometimes, if I don't need much width or I'm going to double the part, I'll just use a single mic pointed at the soundhole, but 1' to 2' away. Try to be in a dry room unless you have a treated one that sounds really nice.

 

A very good and expensive condenser mic;

 

The Nadi should be more than capable to do it for you.
A starter placement would be pointing the mic near or between the 12th and the 14th fret, about 1 or 2 feet away.
Bear in mind that the closer you get the warmer the recorded sound will be but also you'll pick up more fingers noises. Move the mic away and you'll get a crispier recording (less proximity effect) and less fret-noise, but more room reflections, which might or might not be desirable, depending on how good sounding is your recording room.
For a more pristine recording avoid saturating the preamp, you can always do that in the DAW, if needed.

But please remember that a well recorded acoustic guitar depends, in order of importance, to the following:

1-guitarist
2-guitar
3-recording space
4-mic placement
5-mic used
6-preamp

 

I have an acoustic that was 69 dollars brand new. A cheap guitar. I mic it with a condenser, as peghead said, pointing at the 12th fret, but I also point another condenser (or any mic will do) pointed at the sound hole, about a foot away. The cheap acoustic sounds like a nice Martin in recordings.

 

mic's placed along fretboard pick up the higher frequencies and the sound of the pick hitting the string (plectrum, lovely word). Mics placed closer to the bridge get you more low mid's. Stay away from the sound hole. Lot's of tutorials out there. Consider where you want it to "sit in the mix" compared to the things that will be around it for the style of sound you are striving for. You have adequate hardware. Just tinker and experiment. Do several takes with different set ups and go back and listen to them and compare. Have fun, you'll find your own way eventually, because it's all subjective. distance, how far you open up the mic or push the pre-amp all change things. Human voice, grand piano, and acoustic guitars are some of the most challenging instruments to record with fidelity.

 

Last edited: May 9, 2016

Oktava mk012 - best acc. guitar mic

 

There are, as peghead said, variables that all add up to the sound that you will capture with your recording chain. But for argument sake, using the Nady (which is not really the greatest mic in the world, but your 6176 has it going on, the saving grace of this situation) hanging down over your right shoulder at the crown of your head and pointing straight down will hopefully capture what your ear hears. Also, what about your interface preamps? Use the SM7 in front at the 12 fret as a second mic and blend to taste. Or how about a nice Mid/Side stereo recording that sounds also good in mono with the Nady in figure 8 as the side and the SM7 as the center mid. If your room sounds good try the omni pattern and get close without worrying about the boomy proximity effect. If your room sounds like a stinky foot just use the SM7 and move it around till it sounds good. Also, since you have the 6176 roll off the bottom end at the 70hz mark until you loose the low end jumble and then come back a little to rid yourself the rumble that is lurking deep in those darkened spaces killing your headroom. Your compressor is a beauty. Use it sparingly when you track just knocking off the little spikes a slowish attack and release maybe. The high eq can also be dialed in around 7K or maybe 10k with a little cut to taste to maybe help the screechy Nady high end sound a little reigned in. Just experiment, listen, and when you begin to smile commit it to memory for the next time. There are many things, so many things you can do to record your guitfiddle in a pleasant way. Try everything and then some. Double the guitar part and pan them using different eq settings, add chorus, reverb, delay...the list goes on. Have fun.

 

sE Voodoo1

 

you have that backwards, large diaphragm microphones sound better pointing towards the sound hole.
pencil mic's would work better to pick up the strings.

 

this is a really interesting idea. ihaven't used mid/side at all. im gonan try this

 

these are great links. thanks!

 

you make a good point. i could play the part better. i like loud agressive sounds amd I am learning that just beating the shit out of the strings is way harder to make work then playing softly. frets dont buzz when you play softly.

 

man your attitude is so inspirational. thanks for goosiing up my mood. the nady is tough because my computer is in the room with me and its' super loud especially when plugged into the 6176.

I'm startign to realize that i might just be pumping everything in the 6176 too hard. that maybe i don't need all that saturation because the old gibson i have has plenty of natural harmonics.

 

The noise coming off of your computer is being compounded by the compressor for sure. I put mine in a stand alone Ikea closet that has clothing hanging in it. There is a narrow rug on the narrow depth of the closet that knocks down some additoonal sound, and as well have a few pillows stacked in the inside that do a pretty good job of hushing it up in there. I leave the door open when not recording with a microphone. To make it almost silent and if I really feel I need some critical quietude for sensitive recording of low volume sources, I have a kind of a gobo I made from a heavy duty plastic shipping pallet double layered front and back with a very heavy blanket that I can put in front of the door. It is nearly silent after that but changes the reflections and the sound of the room a little bit, but no big deal.

I record using the Warm WA76 so it needs be quiet. But if I use a dynamic microphone like my Elecro-Voice RE 2O it is less likely I will pick up lots of room sound. And by the way, if you use the figure 8 of your Nady the null on the side will be pretty much silent. Try putting yourself and the guitar somewhere strategically so that you can point the null in the direction of the computer and lots of computer noise is out of the picture. And last but not least, high pass on the way to loose information on the low end that you will most probably filter out later when you get to mixing. You don't need to augment it with the compressor, no way.

 

I mentioned tutorials. Here is one. Yes, they are trying to sell you a brand of mic, but you can still get some ideas here. http://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/how-to-record-acoustic-guitar-with-only-one-mic-part-2

 

An inch here or an inch there makes a big difference in what is picked up by the microphone(s). The player is moving and the capture can change from moment to moment. We do what we can do.

 

@jiggletiggles Never aim at the exact hole.It'll get too 120Hz-ish.Just a little to the left or to the right.Although digitaldragon's mic position was good, i wouldn't turn them right at the hole both.Btw the mid-side and the large diaphragm and pencil setups are nice.

 

Really, you could try any mic with great results. Cheapest large diaphragm condensers work great. You can only have betters results if you know what you're doing. If it's some heavy strummed parts, I'd check out the SM7B. Also I'd rather not record stereo - you risk phase issues and it actually doesn't sound all that wide. Just record the parts two times and hard pan them and it will be way fuller. Oh, and make sure you back the mic off a bit, right upon the 12th fret pointed at sound hole from 3 inches may sound great on headphones while tracking, but will be a pain to blend in a rock mix. You want your acoustic thin, as a wide sparkle on top of the distorted guitars. Good luck and have fun!