Topic: Acoustic Guitar Recording Mics?

[vikki]

Hi i'm new around here a looking for some advice.
 I was wondering which direction to go with my mics for recording, i have a small body Lakewood steel strung guitar that is quite bright, i purchased an AKG C451b and in conjunction with my JLM preamps i'm finding the mic to be very bright although i can record quite a nice sound on the lower bout of the guitar, on the neck side of the guitar the sound is way to bright. Would the Beyer MC930 mics be a better choice or would you go for something like a Beyer M180 ribbon or something like a Blue Woodpecker or is it best to really push the boat out and buy Schoeps. This is for solo fingerstyle recording.
Here's a quick recording of the style and sound of the guitar recorded with a single AKG C451B.
http://www.4shared.com/file/78097079/ce8ab1a0/lakewood_dining_room_riff.html
Vikki(uk)

[muj]

try the jz mics bt-201...they are fast enough to pick up the wood sound and each individual strings..contact tnjazz

[stirinthesauce]

The beyers are excellent on acoustic guitars.  Here is a sample that we did on an acoustic gig a few years back.  The guitar had a beyer mc930 and a ck703 (the 703 is a earlier version, the other 930 had some static due to moisture) placed on the body and on the 12th fret.  Pre/ad was an apogee minime.  (the vocal mic used was a beyer 740).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjda6a6vjUA

[vikki]

Many thanks, looks as if the Beyer MC930's are the way to go. Is the C451B noted for being a bright mic?
Vikki(uk)

[guysonic]

Likely beyond your budget, but easily the most natural sounding mic array for any solo or mulitple acoustic instrument session.

Hear the real sound of instruments by downloading raw session recordings of solo guitar (and other instruments) on page: www.sonicstudios.com/mp3_2slp.htm

[Gutbucket]

Likely beyond your budget, but easily the most natural sounding mic array for any solo or multiple acoustic instrument session.

Hear the real sound of instruments by downloading raw session recordings of solo guitar (and other instruments) on page: www.sonicstudios.com/mp3_2slp.htm

Leonard, I'm not a detractor and always appreciate your contributions to the forum, but please do newcomers the courtesy of letting them know you are the manufacturer when you post a suggestion to listen to samples made with your gear.

Consider a note in your signature mentioning that you are SonicStudios - DSM mics with a useful link to your site.  That would benefit everyone by its openness and with an easy link to your website on each of your posts!  You've nothing to loose and honesty, respect and website traffic to gain.  Thanks.

[digifish_music]

Hi i'm new around here a looking for some advice.
 I was wondering which direction to go with my mics for recording, i have a small body Lakewood steel strung guitar that is quite bright, i purchased an AKG C451b and in conjunction with my JLM preamps i'm finding the mic to be very bright although i can record quite a nice sound on the lower bout of the guitar, on the neck side of the guitar the sound is way to bright. Would the Beyer MC930 mics be a better choice or would you go for something like a Beyer M180 ribbon or something like a Blue Woodpecker or is it best to really push the boat out and buy Schoeps. This is for solo fingerstyle recording.
Here's a quick recording of the style and sound of the guitar recorded with a single AKG C451B.
http://www.4shared.com/file/78097079/ce8ab1a0/lakewood_dining_room_riff.html
Vikki(uk)

I suspect you should try to tame the brightness with mic placement rather than mic selection only. FWIW I use a Rode NT4 on acoustic guitar. Great mic for that. You then have the ability to run the stereo mix. However an NT4 isn't going to 'tame' the highs.

digifish

[Gutbucket]

You may know this already, but.. expanding on what digifish mentioned, besides using the choice of mic to achieve the desired sound color, don't forget to play around with not only the mic placement on the guitar, but also the direction the mic is pointing.  Turning the microphone 'off-axis' can often change the sound significantly.  The effect is usually more significant with omnis and larger diameter mics but easy enough to try.

[vikki]

Great info.....
 I'll spend a bit more time with the AKG in the next few days and try some off axis and experiment more with the mic placement.
Thanks for your help.
Vikki(uk)

[muj]

bright mics usually works great with guitar tracking

[rowjimmy]

I'm chiming in to simply agree with the suggestions that you fiddle around with placement.

You should be able to get a nice guitar sound with that 451b.

That said; I've been using an inexpensive Cascade Fathead ribbon mic on my acoustic guitar and really enjoying the results.

[vikki]

Thanks....experimenting over the week.
seasons Greetings
Vikki(uk)

[DSatz]

vikki, you asked:

> Is the C451B noted for being a bright mic?

Definitely. The original C 451 wasn't neutral-sounding, either, but it didn't have nearly as much treble emphasis as the C 451 B has.

If your audio editing software has an "equalizer" feature, you might want to try reducing the energy in the area of 2 - 4 - 6 kHz a few dB to see whether that brings you closer to reality. You may well find that you can make significant improvements with even a modest amount of EQ, and that you don't need to change microphones.

By the way, you may not get much benefit from the advice you were given to aim the microphone away from the sound source. What you will mainly get that way is a reduction in proximity effect (the bass/mid-bass boost which directional microphones give at close range), and of course you'll pick up more room sound.

--best regards

[vikki]

Thanks
 I've tried moving the mic around using a pair of head phones but its still pretty bright. The JLM preamp gives nothing away the sound that goes in is pretty well what comes out, i have a Calrec 4 band equaliser i will add to the chain and do some more trials. The clip i posted did have some high end tamed by the recording software, but i thuink its looking like different mics for this particular guitar, its a pretty high end instrument but being small body is quite bright. I'm looking at the Beyer MC930, are these sweeter than the AKG?
Vikki(uk)

[guysonic]

Beyer mic has (only) higher frequency emphasis so should not sound bright, rolls off lower bass octaves losing some warmth, and has fairly critical alignment typical of cardioid types as graphs below indicate.