Your favorite mics or combination for acoustic gtrs

[hdiddy]

Looking to find the best combination of recording my Goodall acoustic

Do you like 2 sdc's, 1sdc and 1 LDC , one only of a LDC or sdc, or using either. Tube mic or ribbon mic.

Want a pure acoustic tone, nothing colored

Also what are you microphone suggestions with a $ 500-600 budget

Thamks

 

[jo2012]

Honestly.... The SM57 combined with a Sterling ST69 really sounds great in the studio.

 

[skylabfilmpop]

If you havent had your hands on a good mic, do it. sell that extra Historic gibson you have lying around and pic up something good.

Personally my fave, below classic very high dollar mics are Soundelux, which was founded in the late 90s IIRC by David Bock currently of Bock audio fame. David was one of the go to guys in the LA Film scoring stage community for restoring old Neumans and Telefunkens. Soundelux is out of business but similar models are sold by the new company Bock audio, and old Soundelux are servicable by them.

Two of his mics, the U99 (Neuman U67 derivative) and E250, also sold as Soundelux 251c and Bock Audio 151, (Telefunken E251 derivative, but single pattern) are great on acoustics in general if you're looking for character, theyre also great all around vocal mics. These are in the $1800 range used, and well worth it.

You could combine one of these with an AKG c251E or c251eb , also other small diaphragms like Neumann km84/184 work great for this.


On the lower end Im a big fan of Audio Technica. The AT4047 is a great mic, available as both single and multi pattern, and sounds great on AC guitar and a ton of other sources, and run about $350 used. I've preferred this mic to just about everything similar including AKG 414, Neumann TLM103, Rode NTK, and K2. Their small diaphragm line sounds good, but pretty clean uncolored. I like the ATM450 and AT4041. and in their tube line the AT4060 is excellent too.

On the super low end Ive heard great things from the Audiotechnica 20 series line, especially the AT2050 multi-pattern mic. Great sounding considering


A friend of mine recorded the score to a movie called "Valentines Day" a few years ago, the score featureda ton of great ragtime guitar performed by George Doering, and they used a Collings rosewood Dreadnaught and a Neumann TLM193 wich is sort of a clearer U87. sounded great.

Jim Scott, producer engineer of countless amazing records tends to use the Neumann U87/AKG 451 combo frequently but I bet uses the 87 because its redily available at studios where he works.

 

[hdiddy]

skylabfilmpop thanks for the info

 

[Fran Guidry]

Looking to find the best combination of recording my Goodall acoustic

Do you like 2 sdc's, 1sdc and 1 LDC , one only of a LDC or sdc, or using either. Tube mic or ribbon mic.

Want a pure acoustic tone, nothing colored

Also what are you microphone suggestions with a $ 500-600 budget

Thamks

I record myself doing acoustic fingerstyle, and I like to use a stereo pair and mic the space rather than mic the guitar. That is, I set up a stereo array (ORTF, MS, or omni AB as a rule) about 24" from the guitar, instead of a pair of unmatched mics each 6" from a different area.

In order to get an idea of the differences due to a range of mics I did this comparison: http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2009/06/26/mic-comparison-four-more-clips/

If your preamp has a stout phantom supply, the CAD M179 does a nice job within your budget, and the switchable patterns makes it a very flexible choice. If you're using a lower cost interface or portable recorder with an under-spec phantom supply, you may find that mic causes problems.

Fran

 

[hdiddy]

Fran
Thanks for the link, what is the key to the microphones?
What kind of stereo pair of microphones are you using?
Thanks
Howard

 

[Fran Guidry]

Fran
Thanks for the link, what is the key to the microphones?
What kind of stereo pair of microphones are you using?
Thanks
Howard

My latest bit of recording was a "video booth" at a guitar party, with a pair of AT3035s in a rough ORTF about 24" from the player. Here's Eric Skye on his signature model Santa Cruz 00-12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSrbUmZgPms&list=UUlD3RAU3f8lxD8qJsxTTntA&index=12&feature=plcp

Hit the 720 option to hear the best audio.

I've done the ORTF array with KSM141s in cardioid also.

When I do MS I have a Schoeps MK8 and MK41 that I generally use, although I've used switchable LD mics on occasion.

I've done XY with a Rode NT4 stereo mic and with a pair of Schoeps MK41s.

For AB I put omnis about 18-24" apart, about 18" from the instrument. I generally the KSM141 pair in omni for this.

I don't know if the sample clips sounded like night and day to you. They seemed remarkably similar to me, which is generally what I hear when level matching, same positioning, and same source are used for mics of the same pattern.

Fran