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acoustic guitar micing


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agedhorse wrote:

A good factory onboard pickup.

That might be the best for live but there are still performers (Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, Tony Rice etc.) that prefer to have their instruments kept untouched with electronics. I would never put electronics in my 1970 D41 Martin but I never play live with it either. :)

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I made a acoustic body mount from a luthiers clamp designed to hold the top and back in place during glueing. The clamp is a simple piece of threaded stock with a cork faced round block on each end.

 

I attached a flex shaft from a Audix drum mount to one end of the threads. I then attached a Senn 604 to that. While not very pretty, it attached very securely to the lower bout and the 694 actually sounded quite good. The flex shaft allowed a good deal of adjustment in placement.

 

Was a good fix for a temporary mount situation.

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Depending on the job you are trying to do, amplifying an acoustic guitar can be difficult.  That's why electric guitars were invented. wink.gif

If you use a mic on a stand you'll probably get a lot of volume anf tone fluctuation if the performar moves much.  And if you need to get much level you'll have to do battle with feedback.  Picking a mic will depend on whether tone is more important than loudness but I think small capsule condensers is a good way to start.

If you use a bridge saddle pickup you'll be able to get more level before feedback, but it will sound less like what the instrument sounds to the guy playing it.  Most of the body tone goes away and you end up with the sound of the strings and the bridge.  Next step is to put a sound-buster plug in the sound hole ... more loudness but less tone.

 

Good luck!

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Our acoustic performances use the DPA 4099 mini condenser with the guitar mount:

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/en/products.aspx?c=Item&category=118&item=24343

It has the same free movement and consistent sound advantages of a pickup, with the audio quality of a good mic. I've never liked the sound of pickups, and this is the answer for the kind of gigs we play. Works great with wireless systems too. We use the other mounts for 4099's on violin, mandolin, and upright bass. 

I would still use a pickup if the stage volume was very loud (the 4099 has good GBF but it's still a mic), or if the performer was moving around so much that they couldn't avoid getting too close to a monitor. Our "Celtic" performances are usually seated, so it's not an issue.

 

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I'm saying to start with something that has a higher probability of sounding better no matter the level of the user. I generally prefer to start with a pickup and then move to the mic, rarely do I start with a mic where both are options.

 

While a mic might work, and maybe sound better, IMO the odds are the other way around based on what I have seen at a generally higher production level than what is usually seen here

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thank u for all the input it realy help's. I run sound for my church and we some times have guitar player's that use a guitar with out a pick up so i have to mic it,  and i just was not happy with the sound i was getting so i thought i would ask you guys. before i was useing a cheep vocal mic that i had laying around pounted at the sound hole, i'm not a guitar player

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