A First Attempt At Playing Unplugged......Some Tips Please

[JoyOfSax]

Recording acoustic guitar and getting that cool sound you get in the quiet room at the music store is difficult at best!

 

Two weeks ago, I bought my first Acoustic Guitar in 30 years. (Played acoustics before but never owned one of my own) This guitar is an Electric/Acoustic-Sonata which is a Brook Mays Company house brand but it's actually pretty decent. I made this recording unplugged however- using a couple of mic's and a 505 for some ambient reverb. Getting a good acoustic sound is a whole lot more difficult than working with an electric, a decent amp and some nice pickups.

[Blackface]

What kind of mics did you use and where did you put them?

[JoyOfSax]

I used 2 SM 58s. (That's all I had around the house) I placed one very close to the soundboard-near the bridge and the other on a boom stand about 24 inches away.

[riffdaddy]

Getting ahold of a better set of mics will do wonders for you. Two condenser mics (one on the soundhole and one on the neck) is a generic approach that yields consistently good results.

[54merk]

Definitely one mike pointed toward the 14th fret which will pick up the string tones, and use the other one for the woodier tones. I prefer pointing it at the bottom lower bout, but you'll have to play around. Directly in front of the soundhole is too boomy. Make a bunch of test recordings until you find what you like. With good recording mikes and correct placement you should need little or no eq. I prefer pointing it at the bottom lower bout, although others place it out in front, or even boom it from overhead. Then balance the levels with your mixer.

[FingerBone Bill]

Have you considered using a pickup instead of mics?

I'm not a fan of UST type pickups but quite a few of us here record using AST pickups.

I use an I-Beam - it suits me, others prefer B-Bands, Orsino recorded some nice sounds using a Schatten Dualie. I've heard some really good stuff recorded on Pure pickups.

Couple any of the above with an L.R. Baggs Para DI and you are in business.

[valleyguy]

I have found the best single mic placement is to the left of my head (with the mic stand behind me) pointing down to the 12th fret.

This position simulates what I hear when I play. Try it. The SM 58s should give a pretty good reproduction.

[JoyOfSax]

Thanks for all the listens and the helpful comments. I am surely taking notes. As I go back and listen at this recording, it's not that bad. I think I might be more discriminate of my playing and my sound than anyone but I have always been drawn to the acoustic sound. I'll just keep on plugging and x-perimentin' and I'll get it I guess.

[daddyO]

A lot of producers use the two condenser mikes pointing just ahead of the soundhole 90 degrees from each other (one from the left, the other from the right). I think a condenser mike is better for the subtlies of an acoustic guitar but they are more $$$ and require phantom power and some require a pre-amp.