Acoustic Guitar

[Lord Fear]

I just recorded a folk acoustic rock band and had great guitar sounds using a Neumann 149 and a Royer 121 (the back side) into a pair of Danking pre's than used a Mannley Varible MU with one side limiting (the 149) and the other compressing the royer. I'de never used this combo before but I got a great tone, so my question for the forum is does anybody else have any acoustic tips to share or comments about this chain..

[Drumsound]

I really like SDC in XY near the neck joint. My secret weapon is a really wonderful Honer all solid acoustic. It's my wife's, yet she doesn't see it much while I'm working on a record with a lot of acoustic guitar.

[Agli]

The best thing I have done to improve the sound of ac-git was to spend some money on a proper guitar. Most guys only have some crap acoustic covered in stickers that just can't sound good no matter how hard you try (poor balance, buzzing frets, no sustain....ugh).

[StuartMac]

I like a pair of mics in XY, far enough out so that one points at the neck / body joint and the other points at where the arm rests on the guitar body.

I like KM184s on my small-bodied, very sweet sounding Martin, or GT44s on brighter guitars. The pre is always a Buzz MA2.2.

For a big strummed sound, I like the Soundelux U195 a lot, or an ADK CE.

[neve1073]

I was pleasantly surprised last week by a royer 121 close mic between the soundhole and bridge at a slightly oblique angle. It was a dreadnought guitar (collings)-->royer(front side)-->neve1073 (no eq). Dripping tone.

[Charlie-O]

Not much experience in this realm, but last weekend I had good resulsts using a Avalon 737 with u87, with the guitar also going direct into a 6176. No compression. After tracking the y were panned at 11:00 and 3:00

[henryrobinett]

I just had a friend and client barter his beautiful Taylor 414-CE we had just done some tracking with in exchange for me to finish mixing his sons record. I would rather have had the money as I already have a nice Taylor but there was no other way around it . . . It was his offer. Beautiful sounding guitar nonetheless.

I used a Peluso 22 251 by the sound hole and a AEA r84 above the nut going into Millennia HV-3Ds. 3:1 rule. Sounded great. Very slight compression going in.

[Medicine Dog]

We're fortunate to have a 1948 J-45 Gibson which is VERY sweet. I've had good luck with a pair of KM-184 in X-Y running through a Langevin DVC. Depending upon the song and what the other instrumentation is, running a M/S set-up with a U-87 and a KM-184 works nicely, too.

[rwhitney]

I often use a cardiod M149 somewhere between the 12th fret and headstock about 1 foot away aimed at the neck joint.

[sdelsolray]

Using a great instrument certainly helps. However, capturing a high end acoustic guitar requires some experimentaiton with placement and gear.

[Ollie]

My Fav Ac gtr mics are Schoeps m221b's. KM254'S KM264'S, KM 84's are all real nice also. I am sure there are pleanty of quality made mics that sound real good.

The Royer has never been my first choice for Ac Gtr. Never rocked my boat.

I bet the Daking pre with the Royer may sound better. The Dakings are extremely open on the top end.

For Ac Gtr pres, I love the Helios, along with API's

[David R.]

I've had great results using a pair of Sony C38 mics, one pointed close to the bridge and the other around the 7th fret. Check for phase.

Pan hard, mix well. Die young.

[rwhitney]

I too am a fan of the C38 on guitar and other things. Anyone know where I can get a good deal on one in good condition.

[Lord Fear]

the dankings did rock. To me they sounded like neve 1081 but much cleaner. it was a great sound for what I was doing, however if I was doing a straight ahead rock record I don't know if I would have used them. Oh and also I took a DI from the Taylor's Expression system and ran that through a Tab-Funkenwerk V71 DI, the player loved the sound of the DI but I think the mic tracks are much better. Any thoughts of how to make the DI sound better????

[ziegenh5]

Not much to add other than I love Daking's(and it's Daking btw not Danking) on acoustic guitar and everything else for that matter. Mics I use are either km84's, U67, or U47fet. All sound different, but they all sound great.
Sean

[MBishopSFX]

Neumann SM-2 when you can find one

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by ziegenh5

Not much to add other than I love Daking's(and it's Daking btw not Danking) on acoustic guitar and everything else for that matter. Mics I use are either km84's, U67, or U47fet. All sound different, but they all sound great.
Sean

Dakings have a nice open sound. Not my favorite on Kick nor on Snare. We shot out quite a few pres at my friends studio: a neve 1290 pre treated Snare especially, and Kick much nicer than the Daking(pre only - not engaging the eq). On voice the Daking is beautiful.

That being said, I think the Daking would be an excellent board to mix on. My friend's studio has a Daking board and it is a beauty) The signal path is top notch. The high end goes on forever. The eq's are very responsive. No muck to get in the way.

[LittleDogAudio]

Lately I've been using a stereo pair of Earthworks SR-30's through 2 Millennia STT-1's. I'll start with an X-Y then try them as a spaced pair.

I'm tracking an Irish folk band this week and this setup seems to work equally well on the mando.

My .02
Chris

[sonic dogg]

Chris...I've heard a LOT about that Earthworks mic...My local pro dealer/friend/mastering facility has a couple...sounds like something I need to hear with my Taylor on the next record...What do you think of them through a Focurite Red or True Systems P2 Analog?.......

[wallace]

I don't have that much in the way of mics, so I mostly use the Josephson C42 or a large diaphram condensor mic into the GTQ2. Lots of times, I'll give it a little boost at 3.2khz, but yesterday I did a cut at 400 and that cleaned things up nicely.


Also, I had a local guitar shop make a bone saddle and nut for my Martin and it REALLY improved the sound... for a fraction of what the other toys cost.

[jackinthebox]

Originally Posted by Medicine Dog

We're fortunate to have a 1948 J-45 Gibson which is VERY sweet. I've had good luck with a pair of KM-184 in X-Y running through a Langevin DVC. Depending upon the song and what the other instrumentation is, running a M/S set-up with a U-87 and a KM-184 works nicely, too.

How much difference do think it makes if your M&S is two different mics. I always try and do it with two of the same multipatterns. Do you have ahve to eq to match them up? Or choose a middle and a side for their different characters?

[jackinthebox]

Originally Posted by wallace

I don't have that much in the way of mics, so I mostly use the Josephson C42 or a large diaphram condensor mic into the GTQ2. Lots of times, I'll give it a little boost at 3.2khz, but yesterday I did a cut at 400 and that cleaned things up nicely.


Also, I had a local guitar shop make a bone saddle and nut for my Martin and it REALLY improved the sound... for a fraction of what the other toys cost.

That's the trick. Get the instrument 100% before you put anything in front of it. You'd be amazed at the difference if you wipe a damp cloth ( not too damp) round the inside of the body of an old acoustic.Get rid of a layer of dust. More top end! I put a bone nut on my tele and it made a world of difference.

[rwhitney]

Originally Posted by Lord Fear

I just recorded a folk acoustic rock band and had great guitar sounds using a Neumann 149 and a Royer 121 (the back side) into a pair of Danking pre's..

So far I haven't liked the M149/Daking combination for anything. Both are great, just not together, ime. Anyone else feel one way or the other about this?

[pkautzsch]

Originally Posted by Lord Fear

the dankings did rock. To me they sounded like neve 1081 but much cleaner. it was a great sound for what I was doing, however if I was doing a straight ahead rock record I don't know if I would have used them. Oh and also I took a DI from the Taylor's Expression system and ran that through a Tab-Funkenwerk V71 DI, the player loved the sound of the DI but I think the mic tracks are much better. Any thoughts of how to make the DI sound better????

Add room.

Oktava MK-219: BIIIIGGG warm sound.
Schoeps MK4: clean and natural.
KM-184: bright if mics are not too close. narrow if mics are too close.

[Diablo]

Originally Posted by Lord Fear

I just recorded a folk acoustic rock band and had great guitar sounds using a Neumann 149 and a Royer 121 (the back side) into a pair of Danking pre's than used a Mannley Varible MU with one side limiting (the 149) and the other compressing the royer. I'de never used this combo before but I got a great tone, so my question for the forum is does anybody else have any acoustic tips to share or comments about this chain..

You didn't mention the guitar, but I have had great results using my Taylor 910 and the M149. Probably my favorite acoustic sound ever.