Your Favorite Pre for Recording Acoustic Guitar

[Big Zimm]

I really like using my Black Lion Audio Auteur on acoustic guitars. It adds a little warmth and is incredibly clear. I also pick up less pick noise with the Auteur compared to my ISA One and Octopre. For mics I use a Rode NTK on the bridge and NT5 on the neck.

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[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by hmic10

Howdy
I want to get a pre-amp that just sparkles for an acoustic. I have a shadow hills gamma, great river , and a 5 fish x-12. All great but adda little color. I have a great sounding Goodal that needs the right pre. Any suggestions? I a using the Jolly Oktava mods 319 and mc012.
Thanks
Howard

I dig Goodall, I played one at a trade show with a pink veined fossilized bone nut and bridge, I think it was a Royal Hawaiian or somesuch, not in their catalog. Great sound.

I've got an all-maple Santa Cruz Model F with cutaway, I capture with a vintage C-28 and Neumann KM-84i. Often I use the Great River MP2 NV, sometimes I pick the Midas XL-42.

[Ben Logan]

Daking Mic Pre One. Acoustic guitar is the reason I rebought this Pre after unloading it. Focused and airy sound, without leaning toward new age.

[TurboJets]

With the Oktava mics, especially the 012 I highly recommend the Electro Harmonix 12AY7 tube mic pre.

It just pairs so sweet with the 012 and leaves an impressively small footprint on the soundscape.

Pairing an 012 (omni) with the EHX box is also fantastic for vocals. Very flattering.

[John T]

Grace m101 or m501. Great clarity; especially if using a "darker" mic where you don't want to add anymore warmth. I use it all the time on acoustic guitar.

[hmic10]

Any thoughts on the MIllenia? Or the A systems pre?

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by hmic10

Any thoughts on the MIllenia? Or the A systems pre?

Millenia pres are nice. I don't own one, I've used them. Nothing wrong with them, but I admit that I never considered one for acoustic guitar. (maybe just because I don't own one...) What is A systems?

[hmic10]

a-systems is the company that makes the pacifica pre-amp

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by hmic10

a-systems is the company that makes the pacifica pre-amp

That would be A-Designs.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by hmic10

a-systems is the company that makes the pacifica pre-amp

Oh, A Designs. Pete is a great guy, I like his gear, but I've never used the Pacifica, so I cannot comment on that piece specifically.

[gatormusic]

Vintech is very good. I've made a lot of acoustic records using them among others. You'd benefit more from some different mics though.
Gary

[hmic10]

What would be good acoustic microphones? Less than 500v
$500-1000?

[John N]

Originally Posted by hmic10

Howdy
I want to get a pre-amp that just sparkles for an acoustic. I have a shadow hills gamma, great river , and a 5 fish x-12. All great but adda little color. I have a great sounding Goodal that needs the right pre. Any suggestions? I a using the Jolly Oktava mods 319 and mc012.
Thanks
Howard

I'm going to venture to say that most of the color is coming from your OktavaMod mics. They have a bias towards being a little mid-forward. You have very good preamps AND the Joly modded mics are great but it is commonly agreed that the modded 319 is a bit dark. I have 2 Joly modded MK012s and they are my most usual go-to mics for acoustic guitar. They are not considered particularly 'sparkling' either though. If you want more sparkle I would try pairing your MK012 with another brighter SDC. This will cost you less and yield more options than buying another pre, IMHO.

Source, mics and mic placement will yield more results than preamp.

jn

[dickiefunk]

I love the Focusrite ISA One on acoustic guitar. It is my favorite preamp I've tried on this source. It sounds full and detailed without sounded either clinical or muddy.

[ma_ga]

my favorite combination for acoustic guitar is a DAV BG1u and a pair of
beyerdynamic MC930

[KRStudio]

The A-Designs Pacifica has a beautiful top end for what you want. Try it with the pad out and pad in. Very different body between the two settings.

[sessionatstudiom]

I would look at the Daking like already said before. Great sounding equipment Geoff makes.

Also to future proof you purchases I would look into getting a 5oo series frame. Then you could get the daking pre or a neve pre or API. All 3 are great for what you looking to do.

Mike

[sdelsolray]

Much depends on (i) the style/type of acoustic guitar music being recorded, (ii) the intended placement in a mix and (iii) the mics being used.

I record solo fingerstyle acoustic and classical guitar. After many years of testing, searching and buying/selling various gear, some of my favorite mic/preamp combinations for this are:

1) Pair of Gefell M295 (or M296) with a dbx 786 pre;

2) Pair of Gefell UMT800 with a Pendulum Auduo MDP-1a pre; and

3) Pair of Schoeps CMC641 with an ADK AP2 pre (Jensen tranny and JH 990C op amp plugins). Yes, this is a great preamp, basically a high quality API 312 build (ala John Ericson) with swappable input transformers and swappable discrete op amps.

Of course, these are my favorites because this is what I now own and use. There are many, many other combinations that work very well indeed for solo fingerstyle acoustic and classical guitar.

[vintagelove]

v72 neve trp

[Motoxxx]

Depends on the guitar and of course many other characteristics of the source and the mic but my SSL SuperAnalogue Channel has a really cool slight crunch that I love, but my Focusrite ISA430 Mk2 is also quite good but a bit more finiky to use.

[garyboy2024]

What style of music are you recording?

Regardless, I've found that most high quality preamps will do the job pretty well. The mic choice, guitar, and player are much more important, imo. But this is really such a subjective matter that boils down to personal taste. I personally prefer neve type pres on most everything, but I record mostly rock and folk stuff.

[whatlaysbeneath]

I personally use the Art Tube MP Project series preamp. Love the sound it gives, really makes stuff crystal clear and with a nice attack that i enjoy. Anybody else have any experience with this pre?

[Mark Gifford]

I use a Great River MP2-MH. It has both transformer and transformerless outs, which can be used for different sounds.

[Rockinrob]

A-Designs Pacifica has a nice sparkle on the top end great for acoustic guitar. IMHO.

[garyboy2024]

Ya the Pacifica is nice for a real smooth sound if that's what your after.

[Rockinrob]

I know you're not looking for a 500 series pre, but I heard the Portico 517 on acoustic guitar and it sounded fantastic as well. I think it is the 500 series model of the 5012 with a few more bells and whistles added in so I am guessing that the 5012 would sound equally as good, if not better than the 517.

[garyboy2024]

From your original post it seems your looking for something cleaner than your current options (which are already great). There are lots of possibilities, but a Forssell comes to mind if your after real clarity rather than color.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by sessionatstudiom

I would look at the Daking like already said before.

Daking is an easy choice. Just a little smearing in the high end makes acoustic guitars and cymbals sweet.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by Mark Gifford

I use a Great River MP2-MH. It has both transformer and transformerless outs, which can be used for different sounds.

This is a nice choice.