[recky]

Hi,

for years I've been trying to nail the acoustic guitar sound that I hear on a lot of Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake productions of the mid-90s (and later). I'm a great fan of these guys' work, and invariably, everytime I study the back catalogue of an artist I like a lot, at least one of their works was produced by Mitchell Froom, often engineered by Tchad Blake. frequently, John Paterno was involved, too.

Typical examples of the sound I'm after can be found on Elvis Costello's "Brutal Youth" album and the Finn Brothers' two records, as well as Neil Finn's solo work. The acoustic guitar sound sort of focuses on the metallic and wooden qualities of the guitars used (independent of guitar model/make), as opposed to the hi-fi, air plus bottom end sound. The sheen is in the high-mids rather than the very top end, slightly metallic and low-fi, but not obviously so. Strumming cuts through a minimalist but very fat mix like a hot knife through butter.

I've tried getting there using EQ, but it doesn't work; it makes the guitars sound brittle. I've used all sorts of mics, preamps and guitars and still haven't got it down, although I feel it's in no small part to do with the recording chain, perhaps plus a subtle amount of parallel processing during mixing.

If John Paterno reads this, he will most certainly be the one who could answer this question - it's been bugging me for years! I'd really appreciate it.

As well as an engineer/producer, first and foremost I'm a singer-songwriter and have been trying to achieve this seemingly simple yet unattainable (to me, at least) sound for a long time, because it's exactly what's needed for my own music. Perhaps, John or others could shed some light on this? I'd bet my bottom euro that it's dead simple once you know how to do it...

Thanks very much in advance,

Recky