Signal chain for the best acoustic guitar sound you ever got?

[AlanTide]

This week I miked a Martin D28 with a Shure KSM32. I used a Neve 33114 pre that was racked by Brent Averill and then into Nuendo via a MOTU 2408. Best acoustic sound I have ever gotten. What about you?

[Matt Grondin]

Recently I did a Klaus Heyne U87 on the soundhole about 2-3 feet back into a Pendulum Quartet using it's EQ and Comp. I blended that with a Coles 4038 on the 12th fret also about 2-3 feet back into a Chandler TG Channel mkII into a Purple MC77 then into a Little Labs IBP and it sounded great, even on the so-so Taylor guitar with a bad setup. The condenser/ribbon combo was super nice.

[Lord Fear]

vintage 1940's Martin - U67 - Neve 1066 - 1176LN (4:1, 10 O'Clock 2 O'Clock, 1, 7) maybe a touch of 480L...

[kats]

Slower tempo: D28---> c42's XY aprox 18" out aimed at the neck joint--->TGMKII----TG1 soft compression that subtly swelled just right to tempo.

[elambo]

My best fingerpickin' recording to date was just last week:

Collings OM deep body --> matched pair of schoeps cmc6/mk4 in X/Y --> John Hardy Twin-Servo --> no compression.

I can't imagine getting a tone that's much better. Better convertors, a better live room, maybe some upgraded cabling, etc., would help a fraction of a percentage, but I don't feel the need to upgrade.

For strumming, it's a little different. My best recording would be:

Same guitar, or perhaps a Collings dread miked a little further back --> Hardy --> U47 w/vf-14 --> mild compression a la 1176.

I'm expecting a KM54 next week and wouldn't be surprised if it helps take the above chain up yet another step.

[Rick Sutton]

Pair U87/Innertube. Focusrite ISA215. A touch of 10k from Avalon 2055. Season with a little 960L. Done.

[sdelsolray]

There is no "best" signal chain for acoustic guitar. Fortunately, there are plenty of great, excellent and wonderful ones, as the previous posters have listed. Solo fingerstyle acoustic and classical guitar is about all I do. Over the years I've gathered gear that I like for a variety of different results. None are best. They're all good.

For studio recording:

Guitars: Tippin OMT (EIR/Alpine); Webber Roundbody (koa/cedar); Webber Roundbody (EIR/cedar); Webber OM (maple/cedar); Collings OM-1A (Mahogany/Adirondack); Biasca Classical (Madagascar RW/Engelmann)

Mics: 2x Schoeps CMC6/MK4; 2x Microtech Gefell M294; Microtech Gefell UMT800; CAD VX2; AEA R84

Pres: Pendulum Audio MDP-1a; John Hardy M-2

For live/gigging:

Guitar: Tippin OMT w/ Baggs M-1 magnetic, PUTW #54 dual SBT, Joe Mills internal mic or Gefell external mic

Pre/eq: Pendulum Audio SPS-1

Effects: TC Electronic M2000

Power amp: Hafler P3000

Speakers: 2x Daedalus S-81

Monitor: Ultrasound 50E

[AlanTide]

just wanted to see some other slutz successes.

[AlexLakis]

About a year ago...12-string Taylor with an SM81 on the neck and a TLM103 over the right shoulder. True Precision 8 into UA 1176s into Pro Tools. Mixed it in the room Thriller was mixed in. Great performance.

[wayne mox]

Stereo KM86's closed spaced about 8 inches apart facing guitar at bridge and where the neck meets the body. About 16 -18 inches away from guitar. Santa Cruz dreadnought.

[squeegybug]

Depends if it's nylon strings, or fingerstyle or flatpicked steel string. IMO fingerstyle of any kind is much easier to capture, I've used lots of combinations that can work with that.

This setup works great for both: Gordon preamp with two Sony C48s, to Lavry Blue. One mic directly in front of the soundhole about eye level, capsule pointed down at the floor. The other level with and facing the neck at the 7th-9th fret. Both about 6-18" away depending on the the instrument and room. Cardioid pattern, no HPF. I've had good success with Avenson in the same setup, but a little smoother sound, not as real as the Sonys. Gordon makes everything big and clear, Lavry keeps it that way.

Steve

[Bob Olhsson]

KM-84

modified Soundcraft console

old Martin

Tony Rice

[mplancke]

Originally Posted by AlanTide

This week I miked a Martin D28 with a Shure KSM32. I used a Neve 33114 pre that was racked by Brent Averill and then into Nuendo via a MOTU 2408. Best acoustic sound I have ever gotten. What about you?

Gibson Custom Shop Jumbo Acoustic -> Neumann KM54 Nickle cap, cardiod -> Great River NV-2

Was damn nice.

Mark

[squeegybug]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Tony Rice

Hey what a coincidence, I've recorded Tony too... and Doc, and Norman, and O'Connor and Crary....

from the stands....



Steve

[Studiocat]

This is a great thread!!

[delcosmos]

I have had good luck with these combinations:

(Taylor (John Kottke) or D28 or J200)->UM900->TG CHANEL->old Black Face 1176->Hedd192

(Taylor (John Kottke) or D28 or J200)->UM900->BRENT AVERILL->old Black Face 1176->Hedd192

(Taylor (John Kottke) or D28 or J200) ->UM900->AVEDIS 512->old Black Face 1176->Hedd192

Some times if I want to add some mid tone I change 1176 for a vintage LA3a and my trusty UM900 for a Pearlman TM1 or an 80's U89i, I do prefer large diaphragm mics over small diaphragm.

Best regards.

Armando Avila

[Jules]

I read a tip from a Nashvill engineer Julian King in a magazine...

He recomended a Neuman valve pencil mic / Focusrite 215 mic pre / SSL outboard compressor on auto rlease

I tried it - and it sounded great!

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by Jules

I read a tip from a Nashvill engineer Julian King in a magazine...

He recomended a Neuman valve pencil mic / Focusrite 215 mic pre / SSL outboard compressor on auto rlease

I tried it - and it sounded great!

A couple of notes. When I'm after an acoustic with slightly less "weight" than the innertube/87's give me I go to Neumann KM56's (tube, pencil) and they are glorious. Even though I own sluttier pres the Focusrite 215 just seems to work really well on acoustic guitars. Last note, I prefer an Aphex compellor for most acoustics (when I do want a compressor) but find that an Alan Smart works real well in a rock context.
So, to sum it up: Yeah, what that guy said!

[astronmr20]

90 percent of a good acoustic guitar sound comes from placement. Period.


And placement on an acoustic can be tricky. "Sweet" may come from a stereo image, too.

So Let's get some placement suggestions for stereo ac guitar and make this thread even better!

Dynamic mic through (insert nice preamp/ compressor combo here), 9 inches from soundhole, off axis towards the back of the guitar, pan left with a condensor pointed the other direction, towards the fretboard. pan right

Acoustic can be tricky.. a few degrees on/off axis can make a HUGE difference in such a setup.

[commaKaze]

I got suprising stellar results from a pretty minimal approach/minimal chain: XY Studio Projects C4s set flat about 8 or so inches from a 1978 Martin D28, through the Apogee mini me set to Soft Limit/Compressor curve 1...the mini me's pres are really clean and transparent, quite appropriate for the job.

It came out really killer sounding, by far the best acoustic sound I've gotten to date! Of course that's a killer guitar too, but had the potential to be extremely boomy with that 30 year old rosewood if I didn't play around with that effer to find the sweetspot...

The player was singing live as well, so I had an MXL V69 setup for that, about 3 feet above the C4s and 2 or so inches closer, upside down and angled slightly back 15?. Solo vocal track will be laid down later...so that will act kind of as a scratch, but the bleed will be nice for depth...

Wait a sec, am I out of the low end theory realm? Should I go back to where I belong?

Seriously though, had to share because we were all really impressed with the quality of the tracks...A/B'ed them to tracks laid down with "8 figure" equipment, and they more than held up...really sounded better. Just my 2 pesos...subjective schmubjective...I think the guitar was the real clincher.

[dach]

for my Goodall Grand Concert Cutaway Koa sides/back & Cedar top

U67 (KH modded) (in cardiod) > API (directly off 3rd fret angled)

MK012 (modded) > Sytek -about two feet in front of 12th and ~6" below angled up and at the edge of gtr past the bridge

Langevin CR3A over my right shoulder > API

What the 67 does at ~1" off the area between the 3rd/4th where those harmonics originate is simply amazing but difficult to reproduce!

Normally I just use the 2 other mics/pre's or something similar depending on "how beefy" the gtr & sound are and what the projection of sound is like (loudness/etc.) are into an 1178 > DAW.

The other way is:
For melody lines ala the old Acoustic Alchemy sound a single TLM103 (or other) > API > (sometimes LA4 or compellor) (very thick pick) about a foot in front of the 7th fret... makes the Goodall sound like the processed Lowden. Usually place MC012's about 10-12 feet away facing into different corners for a touch of "ambiance"... I've also delayed them to the tempo and get similar to the SDE 2500/3000 delays which I like.

I do it somewhat similarly for the other gtrs as well but it's a little more of a pain when the big fat Martin's show up at the door

Chuck

[Blenn]

Acoustic guitars, like human voices, all have different timbres even two models the same can sound different with age, strings type and guage etc.

But here is mine:

Yamaha LL11E hand built acoustic with 12 Gauge Elixir's

M/S stereo technique with Rode NT5 on mid mic and AKG C414 XLS on side mic.

Amek purepath pre's with no EQ or comp into Lynx 2 AD/DA converters at 24/44

Here is the example:

http://www.stemak.co.uk/musik/Blue%20Jeans.mp3

Paul Blenn

[structuredloud]

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

Mixed it in the room Thriller was mixed in. Great performance.

I know the guy who bought that console. (or so he says)

[massimo]

My chain:
Me, generally on a Lowden O25 (Jumbo - cedar top) or Goodall Concert Jumbo (Italian spruce top + rosewood) or, best of all (believe it or not), my 25 years old Guild D50 with older strings
Brauner VM1 cardioid, eye-level, 10 centimetres from my nose or from my right ear, pointing down
Schoeps cmc5 with mk21h capsule (whatever the name, the wide cardioid capsule with high some boost) at 12th fret
Millennia Media Hv3b
Pendulum OCL2, needles hardly moving, manual mode with longest attack and shortest release
Apogee Rosetta 200

When recording my De Bonis classical, the VM is maybe 20 centimeters more distant.

I am extremely happy with this chain.
Being this the forum that it is, however, I would be happy to try the Gordon for the Millennia and a Gefell 296 (or 295? Anyway, the cardioid with no treble boost) for the Schoeps. But I guess the improvement would be infinitesimal.

Best regards
Massimo

[vernier]

Always the same here, D20 thru BA6 ...knocks me out every time.

[PhilE]

414 or c28 depending on style > 1081 > 2254 on limit.

[mtstudi@pacbell]

That guitar (Martin D-28) probably would have sounded great with a 57. The most important part of getting a good sound is having a great source. You would have to be an idiot to ruin a great guitar with a great player. (figure of speech)


www.bluethumbproductions.com

[syra]

MKH800 -> 512C in X/Y about a foot away ... love it

[HudHudson]

Some of the best AG tones I ever got were with an LCD like KM84 or AKG 460B near the 12th fret into a 1073 plus a Soundelux U95S (similar to a U47) out front thru a V76. Every AG has a different voice and a different "throat" so mic placement is always crucial. I'm blessed with many nice instruments ('73 Brazilian LoPrinzi, '48 J-45, '54 LG-1, 1994 Collings D2H) so finding one that works for the song usually isn't hard. Started trying ribbons (R-84, R121) on AG recently, the jury is still out.

[Jason Poulin]

2 AEA R84's in XY
GR MP2-NV
Distressors
Apogee AD16X


But I'll tell ya, it has a lot to do with the player/room/performance/instrument/strings when it comes to this
Jason