I couldnt really tell from your post wether you will be using this in a live or studio situation. The problem with pickups is that they sound like just that...a pickup! For live sound situations where gain before feedback is a big issue a pickup is a great way to go. However in a studio situation a mic (or stereo pair) is the way to go if you want to capture what the guitar acxtually sounds like. I work for an all acoustic band and *alot* of acoustic musicians in general and I can tell you that what I hear the most from all the musicians I work with (both the regulars and all the guests) when they get on stage is something like "Please try to make it sound real in the monitors and not like a pickup". Out front a pickup is used to add volume with lower chance of feedback, but should still be reinforced with a microhone blended in to give a full "wooden" sound. For the most part Pickups sound very bright and not very full. You hear alot of the string noise (pick hitting strings, fingers on frets) and not much of the full resonation of the instrument. This can be alleviated somewhat by playing into a high quality preamp (like a Pendulum or an Avalon) but you are talking big $$$ for a good quality pre. In a studio you would be hard pressed to beat a stereo pair of mic's, one aimed at the area where the neck joins the guitar and one aimed at the soundhole region. Avoid aiming either mic directly at the guitar, but slightly off axis. If you only have one mic use the soundhole region only. 1 mic aimed straight into the soundhole will sound boomy, while one aimed slightly off axis will sound full while losing much of teh boom. You could also experiment with a high pass filter, but the less you have to alter the signal the better. You can play with all types of frequency filters, rolloff, etc, in post-preduction on the computer. As was stated the venerable SM57 has been long used in both live and studio applications, and for only around $79 per mic is a great way to go for the budget muscian. But if you have some cash to invest a decent pair of condensors you wont be sorry. The band I tour with has done several albums (both live and studio) and all of the studio ones were done using KM84's or 184's on the guitar, no pickups. We also used my AKG461's in side by side comparison with 184's (later in a home studio) and they sounded great as well. You could also use the omni versions of these with awesome results, however the mic overall will be less versatile for all around use as omnis. The live albums were done using a blend of both pickup and microphone (an internal microphone mounted inside the guitar). So if you are going to be frequently playing out in rooms where you have to be turned up really loud, a pickup is great. For a studio, in my opinion, its the mics all the way.
Topic: Accoustic guitar mic (Read 2442 times)