How do I best record an electric/acoustic guitar?

toast

New member
Hi,
I've recorded some acoustic guitar, but never an acoustic/electric (ovation). What's the best way to go: straight from the guitar to a preamp with a line in or mic it? I can use either a Fender Twin or a Marshall 9200 dual monobloc. I'm looking for to get that Al DiMeola type of sound, but when I record it through an amp, it almost sounds like an electric guitar on Neck position pickup. Help!
Thanks
Torsten
 
Hey toast..

I just tried this last week. Took my ovation acoustic/electric direct into the board. After playing with the eq a little, it sounded pretty good. It was a little thin though, probably due to the nature of the ovation....plastic back and all. I did this to contrast a Martin acoustic recorded on another track that was mic'd. It mixed pretty well.

Basement Man
 
here's what worked for me.

If you have the ability to record multiple tracks at a time, I would do a combination. Try a condenser (MK-012 works best for me) mic at the 12th fret, about 6-12 inches away, and another one pointing at the soundhole from about 2-3 feet away. Then also use the direct signal from the pickup. Try panning the electric signal to one side, and the mix of the two mic signals from the other. Remember to watch your phasing. If you have a normal soundcard with only a line-in input, omit the soundhole mic and hardpan the mic/electric signals. Also, new strings make a world of difference.
 
I'm almost with keerus, but I do it a hair different. I stick the line in directly up the middle and as it tends to sound a bit "plastic-y" I run it way down in the mix for a hair of the high end sound that it provides, and then send either an XY stereo mic placement hard to each side or else mic the 12th fret and the soundhole (or holes depending on your ovation model) close and pan them hard to each side.

The key is to experiment with many ideas and compare as to what works the best for your particular instrument.
 
micing

I agree with bassmaster, you got to mic the guitar, don't bother with the built in pickup. Rode NT1 is also a great mic, without a hefty pricetag.
 
If you have the tracks:

Use two mics on the guitar as Bassmaster said, run the pickup into an amp... mic the amp with 2 mics, and also run a direct from a send on the amp. It's worth a shot and gives you more flexibility and control.
 
Thanks guys for all your help. I used the advice and ended up using the 2 Oktava's as Keerus said, then used an AT-15 Lavalier mic to mic the soundhole; also used the direct out straight into one of my preamps. Got a pretty descent sound with that combo. Thanks again for all the help!
 
The best way to record an Ovation is to throw it in the trash and buy a real guitar.
Wood Rules!!!!

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
my best results to date have been x-y micing + direct board electronic input for my epi E/A. the epi is a little thin at the bottom end (thin body, feedback-lessening oval soundhole), and the line out really helps to balance that out.
 
Well, since I have the option now of recording up to four tracks at once on my 24/96, I tried micing my acoustic. I previously had just used the preamp built into the guitar and plugged it in (Taylor314ce with Fishman Prefix Plus) and fixed it with EQ. This time, I used three mics on the guitar and one channel to plug in. Now that I have a quality soundcard, the line-in track sound like crap compared to the mic tracks!

I love the Fishman for live gigs, but I don't think I'll record with it anymore.
 
IMO, ovations are great for plugging in and playing live, but when it comes to studio recording, they're best left at home. more often than not, you won't get a great sound out of an ovation in the studio. beg, borrow or buy an "all solid wood" guitar for studio recording. you'll get much better results.

that said, my favorite mic positioning for recording acoustics is this:

1) one SD condensor (like a mxl 603s) about 6in in front of the guitar, aimed at the neck around the 10-12th fret. position to taste.

2) one SD condensor hanging over the guitarist's strumming shoulder, parallel with the body of the guitar, pointing almost at the floor (slightly back towards the lower bout of the guitar). this mic mostly gets what the player is hearing. experiment with positioning to find the best spot.

3) one LD condensor in the 4-8ft range. experiment with positioning to taste.

4) if the guitar has a built-in pickup, it's worth it to take it DI into the board or maybe even split out to a DI *and* amp. why not get as many tonal varieties as you can?


i've found the combination of 1 and 2 above to make for a HUGE sounding acoustic recording. YMMV. by adding in 3, you get a good amount of room sound. adding 4 gives more of an "electric" sound, which may or may not be useful for the track.

obviously, this is a micing scheme for a track with the acoustic guitar as the main base. if you're wanting to add an acoustic track to an "electric" song, then this may be a bit of overkill. you might be better off with one SD or LD for that. as always, YMMV.


cheers,
wade
 
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