Acoustic guitar mic

[Hope209]

What kind of mic and position do you guys think was used to record this acoustic(it sounds like a Taylor to me)? I've been having trouble getting my acoustics to sound so "polished" like this
******//gearslutz.com/board/attachmen...1&d=1142979250

[hrn]

A ribbon mic? Don't think it sound so special..

[Rednose]

I think it sounds good. Overall, its a bit boxy. I've had good luck with a taylor accoustic and a Seagul accoustic with both and AKG c 414 and a Rode NT1a.
Try over the shoulder, thats a good possition.
I personally like to aim more towards the bridge then the neck like most recomend. you can also try two mics, one where the fret board meets the body and one by the bridge.
I'm not sure if its a taylor. Its kinda hard to tell in the recordings we did which was a Taylor and which one was the Seagull.
Anyway, I'll post some stuff in a bit that I did with a taylor.
Good luck!
Matt

Originally Posted by Hope209

What kind of mic and position do you guys think was used to record this acoustic(it sounds like a Taylor to me)? I've been having trouble getting my acoustics to sound so "polished" like this
******//gearslutz.com/board/attachmen...1&d=1142979250

[Hope209]

No, i don't think it's a ribbon. I've tried using my Royer R121 but it didn't really work well on picked/fast strummed acoustics. Right now I'm using an AT 4033 at the 12th fret and I'm getting sick of the tone and want to try different mic positions. Any more feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[chief]

It ain't cheap but if you want a beautiful guitar sound get a km54 or km254 preferably a c version. Tube is biased that's all but better noise level. A km56 is also great if you want more than cardioid. I've seen them sometimes on Vintage King's list. I record acoustic with a km54 into a 1073 and it sounds pretty good. :-)

[Hope209]

My budget is around a grand

[GYang]

I had similar headache with my Martin, played in room it sounds perfect, warm, rich. Miked with ribbons it becomes dull, with LDCs always something missed. Finally, DPA 4041 resolved all problems.
But same mic doesn't sound good on my 12-strings Rain Song (here Royer 122 did a trick).
So there are no real advice for acoustic guitar than to continue experiments and you can find that some unfavored mics unexpectedly well translate acoustic guitar sound to the track and finally the mix.

[George Necola]

akg C414 work quite well for me.. the key is the instrument/player here..

[WEAPON_X]

lately i like a single brauner phantom c on steel string accustics a little bit further away from the guitar. i do not mess around with multiple mics on acc. gits anymore since finding out that this works well for me, and currently i am quite happy with that.

[crogersmod]

I've been using a single km84 lately, sometimes an 83 for more room sound. Have also had great success with U67 and AT 4047s. The km84 and the 4047 are in your price range. Both are great all purpose mics.

[brownmouse]

My current favorite acoustic mics are
T.H.E. KP-6M
CAD M-9
Josephson C-42's
Josephson e22s

Joshua

[Hope209]

I have a Royer R121 that I like to use for classical guitars. Most of the acoustic stuff I record is pop with steel strings, strummed with picks. I've tried:Studio Projects C1, AT 4033, AT 4050, Rode NT2, Shure SM81, a Soundeluxe E49, and an Oktava MK012 and none of 'em have really done it for me.

The 414 and KM184 are sort of "studio staples" so I've been considering picking one of them up. I record acoustic guitar in a dead room, so I close mic the guitar and don't bother getting that much of the room tone.

[jackinthebox]

Two akg c452 eb's works for me. One on the bridge and one pointing at the neck/body join from further towards the headstock. Neither really pointing at the soundhole. If you can be bothered, a U47 further off in front as well (more for solo or very acoustic led stuff)

[flail19]

I have good luck recording a Taylor with an XY Microphone setup using a stereo matched pair about a foot off off the 12th fret with the channels panned hard left and right. I also use a mic like an AT4050 off the left shoulder. The imaging is great and I rarely have to eq or compress in the mix.

[valverec]

I like my TLM-103 mixed in with an sm-57. Seems to work quite well. The tlm-103 has a nice boost on the high end that seems to work well with acoustic guitars in a mix. It's not necissarily the best setup for a solo acoustic piece though.

[Hope209]

Do you guys think a KM184 or a C414 could provide a more suitable sound than the mics I tried? Or should I mess more with mic placement? When I listen to commercial stuff it sounds like the acoustic guitar sound is coming right from it's sound hole-it sounds so natural and up front like your ear is right against the guitar.

[sekim]

The 184 has a more balanced sound compared to the 012 which has scooped mids with some sizzle on top. So IMO it's a much nicer sound, but it won't fix bad mic placement. Nice thing about 184's and 414's is that you can eBay them for close to what you pay new for them if they don't work out (doubtful). Of course there's plenty of others that this holds true for as well.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Hope209

Do you guys think a KM184 or a C414 could provide a more suitable sound than the mics I tried? Or should I mess more with mic placement? When I listen to commercial stuff it sounds like the acoustic guitar sound is coming right from it's sound hole-it sounds so natural and up front like your ear is right against the guitar.

A cool acoustic sound has a lot to do with the guitar itself (assuming you are a good player). So how many guitars did you try? And where are you tracking?

I have a couple of guitars, for example an expensive handbuild Albert&Müller... this guitar sounds fantastic in an auditorium or concerthall but if you have to record it with common mics and micing technics your are fukked! It's always a pretty tricky tracking to catch this guit right!
I alsoown a cheapo Cort guitar for 300 bucks, believe it or not... this one is so easy to record, whether you use a SM57 or an U47 or the often hated pair of km184, it's always just like to paint a picture with different colors but it always works. The sweetspot for recording of this guitar is just right.

So in order of importance for your desired sound I'd say: first the guitarsound, then the room, and after a long time of nothing... the micing technic and the mics.

good luck...

[hrn]

Here's a sample made with a Hagström J45 guitar and two ADK A51's placed at the same location aimed at the 12:th band on the neck and the other a bit back of the sound hole. Both about 50-60 cm away. The preamp used was a Spectrasonics.

Hagström J45

Hans

[asylum]

2 451 on a stereo bar 2 feet from the guitar (ortf) style works great, pan 9 and 3 o clock, dip the fret mic down 3 db, sound very natural

[StuartMac]

I've just discovered how good the Beyer M160 is on acoustic guitar. I've been overdubbing acoustic guitars all week, and for once I had the time to actually do a decent shootout at the start. The M160 was the clear favourite out of UM900, AT5051, Josephson E22 amd the AEA R92. It basically sounded the most like the actual guitar itself, which fortunately sounds great in the first place.

[carival]

so many choices! Almost always player/instrument/room/style/function in the song dependent. Also, what is "suitable" and "natural" ? Lots of "commercial" stuff I hear barely sounds like a wooden instrument. Kinda like a Taylor with new strings. (sorry, not my idea of acoustic guitar). If a km84 doesn't sound good to me, the problem lies somewhere else. It's a good mic to have around. That at least works as a point of reference for me. For $1000, a pair of the josephsons would give you the stereo option.

chris rival
middleville studio

[phelbin]

I tend to use a pair of KM84's most of the time, but sometimes an AT4050 for smething different. But the position matters even more. I make position changes depending on the purpose of the acoustic track. I usually keep one mic in the traditional spot around the 12th fret pointed towards the sound hole. Then if it's a chunky percussive feel in an up-tempo song, I'll usually put it just in front of and above the player's head. With a fingerpicking style I'll put the other mic around the bridge pointing up. And for strumming on quieter songs, I'll stick the second mic about a foot or two to the player's right.

Hard panning those two mics in the different positions will give you a real wide open sound.

[kissingonstilts]

My experience has been that a single KM84 or Schoeps (CMC6/MK4) placed after copious experimentation yields musical results - the 84 is a bit more agressive, the Schoeps slightly rounder; both provide clarity, articulation, and beauty. This has been my experience with steel-stringed flat-tops and archtops as well. Indeed, the instrument has much to do with it - the more complex the guitar, the less easy it is to record.

[Telecastr]

Originally Posted by WEAPON_X

lately i like a single brauner phantom c on steel string accustics a little bit further away from the guitar. i do not mess around with multiple mics on acc. gits anymore since finding out that this works well for me, and currently i am quite happy with that.

I 2nd this statement. I've not found anything to beat the Brauner since I've started using it on ac gtr. I occasionally use M-S, depending on the track, and you better believe the Brauner is my cardioid mic.