Favorite mic pre for steel string acoustic???

[araw]

I'm recording a Martin D28 with lots of loud, hard strumming. I'm going to use the Millenia HV3C with large diaphram mics for the room sound. For close mics, I'll use large diaphrams as well. Any suggestions on what mic pres to use close up???

Thanks!

Araw

[Acoustic Cloud]

Hardy M-1!!

[Jeraz]

I am interested in opinions like this. I am trying different pre's on my D-35 right now. I just posted a thread with an ADL-600 clip.

ADL-600: Acoustic Guitar...Clip Included [1:15]

[Ernest Buckley]

The Avalon 737 gets my vote for steel string acoustic. Depends on the sound you want. The 737 will deliver the strings warmly. If you want something really present, go somewhere else like the Vintech route.

[elambo]

Yup, the Hardy is delicious. I'm also a big fan of the 1272.

[Pasta4lnch]

I love my TG2 for acoustics. REALLY well for rock/pop-ish strumming!!

[Yuri Kogan]

Just finished a big shootout on a particular acoustic (6 different mikes, 6 digfferent pres). The 2 most suitable ( and most versatile across the mic range) were Cranesong Flamingo and Vintech x73. These seem to be great with any mic

[Dot]

Araw, are you going to be placing the acoustic gtr within a pop or rock track, or is this more of a solo acoustic or singer/songwriter thing?

[araw]

Thanks for your replies! Dan - my recording is more a singer songwriter thing; no band, just guitar and voice. 1 or 2 close mics, and 2 room mics. In terms of style, the acoustic playing is quite aggressive and percussive (lots of odd rhythms)

Has anybody tried the DAV BG-2 on acoustic guitar?

[Hershal Pearlma]

The Portico 5012 is without a doubt, the best sounding Neve based design ever made for acoustic guitar and acoustic instruments in general.

For Microphones i think the AEA R84 is the classic choice.

For more modern the AKG C12 Tube mic or the Shoeps mics are nice and airy and articulate.

Distressor would be the premium choice for compression set to 10:1 opto mode with a faster attack if you want some nice compression energy. The DIST 2 button adds nice midrange tube like harmonic distortion that brings out the acoustic's overtones if you are using a non tube mic.

Try it this way and you'll find you have a very versatile set of tools for many applications.

[TonyBelmont]

Ummm. Neve 1073 or similar Neve preamp!

[NathanEldred]

There isn't a best, there is no simple answer...each acoustic guitar sounds different, and each mix needs a different frequency curve and different distortion character for the acoustic sound. Even within the same album from song to song sometimes. Practicality would dictate a relatively neutral sound, maybe on the cleaner side of things...but there are no rules whatsoever. I've used vintage older mics (my UM-75 or U47 for instance) through highly colored preamps (i.e. Mercury M72/M76 which is based on the Telefunken stuff), and alternatively wide bandwidth flat frequency response pieces (i.e. Schoeps through a Buzz or Millennia preamp). They all worked and sounded great...BUT, this is more of a production question than a technical one really.

[Dot]

Originally Posted by araw

Thanks for your replies! Dan - my recording is more a singer songwriter thing; no band, just guitar and voice. 1 or 2 close mics, and 2 room mics. In terms of style, the acoustic playing is quite aggressive and percussive (lots of odd rhythms)

For straight-ahead acoustic guitar, the clean-flavored Hardy M-1 has been a long-time fav. But it sounds like you might be wanting something with some more attitude.

I'd say if you want that "aggressive and percussive" quality to be emphasized by the preamp, I'd recommend API. Also the Phoenix Audio UK DRS-2 could more than handle the gtr and vocal duties - and give you a lot of tonal variations, depending on how you drive the input/output ratio. The A-Designs Pacifica would also be excellent. Sonically, it sort of splits the difference between API and Neve. Great River NV is nice and heavy on the transformers and offers a lot of tonal variety.

All those pres are fairly colored, and any one of them would more than do the job.

My 2¢.

araw, do you have any clips of your music?

[Brad McGowan]

Both the Pacifica and Great River sound wonderful on strummed acoustic guitar. For a more present sound I would lean toward the Pacifica.

Brad

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by TonyBelmont

Ummm. Neve 1073 or similar Neve preamp!

I'll second that. Ever since getting a Chandler LTD-1, it's been my main acoustic guitar pre. The EQ seems perfect for acoustic guitar.

I also love my UA 6176 for acoustics, especially for more compressed sounds. There's a nice 'cut' to the sound that works great in denser mixes.

[superburtm]

I like my 1272's on AGT's thumbsup but my new favorite is the GERM!

[Beech]

For 'attitude' I go for Daking. For pristine I'd go for Avalon AD2022.

[T.RayBullard]

http://gearslutz.com/board/showpost....57&postcount=9
http://gearslutz.com/board/showpost....6&postcount=15



there are a couple little samples. I love pendulum MDP-1 on acoustic.

[Jazzy Alz]

Neve 1073/1084 without a doubt

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by araw

For close mics, I'll use large diaphrams as well. Any suggestions on what mic pres to use close up???

Hi Araw, for that very hard'n heavy strumming thing I like pres with a more smooth topend and a rather clean than colored sound. I use a micshaper therefor, a Neumann PV76 I once tried is also a weapon for this stuff.

Good luck

Andreas

[Jeraz]

Heaven forbid: I just read a review that suggests that the Focusrite ISA-428 works pretty good on acoustic...in fact, it passes the "12-string test" by resolving the complex harmonics coming out of one of those babies. Anyone here heard this first-hand? I know that Focusrite stuff is not consistently good across the line, but this piece is getting some good attention.

I am off to try a new recording arrangement with the ADL-600...I might get it to work yet.

Best,

Mark

[squeegybug]

Not trying to be sarcastic.... your Millennia can likely work very well on acoustic guitar. It did for me.

As did Focusrite 428, Grace, Speck, Symetrix, Pendulum, Presonus, DAV, Vintech, Akai, Gordon, Allen & Heath, Midas, A-Designs, etc. etc.

I believe any of these, or many others, can work fine with acoustic strings. Some have more body, some more detail, some a "larger than life" sound, all depending *very* strongly on the instrument, mic selection(s), position, and room.

But overall some can be easier to set up than others, and can offer consistently nice realism. I'd pick Gordon, Speck, Vintech in that order.

What mics?

Steve

[doktormurphy]

i'd worry bout the proper mike.
i found the Neumann M582 to do a fantastic job on any steelstring gtr - usually with tubetech mic-pre, but also on a lame joemeek. i do stereo miking quite often with 2 M582's...

[AB3]

I really liked the Buzz, Millenia, original great river pre, GML and Hardy on the 3daudio pre cd.

Depends on the sound you want. I have heard great things about the Pacifica on acoustic guitar.

The Forssell Fetcode is awesome (as I am sure is his CS-1). If you can afford it, that would be a clean but sweet sound (but not too sweet).

[Jeraz]

I settled on 2 channels of the John Hardy M-1 and am loving it. thumbsup

[Autocrat]

I've been using a Portico and KM184s or Pearlman, but I think I'm looking for something a little more transparent. Guitars: Taylor 710, Goya 00 body, Alvarez Silver Anniversary 5020?

BTW, are most people here using one mic, then re-track, or do you always go w/ two mics but keep it mono, or two mics stereo?

Current project is ac. guitar in rock songs w/ other instruments.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Autocrat

BTW, are most people here using one mic, then re-track, or do you always go w/ two mics but keep it mono, or two mics stereo?

Current project is ac. guitar in rock songs w/ other instruments.

I think it depends very much on how strong the instrumentation is and how important the acoustic guitar is in context to the other instruments. eg in a dense Rock mix where only the strumming highs are needed to feature the rhythm of an e-guitar, a mono miking is probable right. A single classical solo guitar, where you also want to capture the nice ambience and roomsound, a stereo or multimiking technic can be fine.

Here are some common miking technics, look at them more as a starting point.
And here is a bit about the philosophy of tracking an acoustic guitar.

Andreas

[dreamsongs]

I do agree that this is more of a production than a technical question.

Be that as it may, if you're doing guitar and vocals only, you might want to try a pre that does have some color and character to it.

Somebody mentioned the 737 and the Millenia, but for this application I don't really agree. Not that it would be awful but a little sterile maybe...I've done 737 with acoustic but harldy ever with guitar and vocals only projects.

To me, clean pres with acoustic work better in a busy mix. For what you're describing, I would go with a nice warm sound. Definitely a 1073, API, GR MP-2NV etc...

Then again, in the end, it's always up to what your ears wanna hear...

[Jeraz]

Originally Posted by dreamsongs

I do agree that this is more of a production than a technical question.

Be that as it may, if you're doing guitar and vocals only, you might want to try a pre that does have some color and character to it.

Somebody mentioned the 737 and the Millenia, but for this application I don't really agree. Not that it would be awful but a little sterile maybe...I've done 737 with acoustic but harldy ever with guitar and vocals only projects.

To me, clean pres with acoustic work better in a busy mix. For what you're describing, I would go with a nice warm sound. Definitely a 1073, API, GR MP-2NV etc...

Then again, in the end, it's always up to what your ears wanna hear...

I agree with this, but I will caution...if you have something like a D-35 (like I have) with an AMAZING bass output, you might want gently colored or clean but big...and not too warm...or you could find yourself with -12dB bass shelving COMBINED with a HP at 80dB. LOL.

[henryrobinett]

Millennia for me. As a matter of fact, anyone who did not say Millennia is completely wrong.