Micing Acoustic Guitar with dynamic mic

[Stu_Hig]

If I bought a dynamic mic would I generally get good results micing an acoustic guitar. It would be for acoustic solos mostly. I have been looking at the Shure PG57 instrument mic.

I know its a very vague question but if anyone could provide any input that would be great!

Thanks in advance.

[giraffe]

if you can scrape it up (89-99$) go with a sm57
you won't regret it

dynamics are fine on an acu, probably small diaphram condensers are used the most, but i've heard some good sounds out of dynamics (such as the sm57)

watch out for the PG series, it's thier cheap dung.

[Mark7]

Originally Posted by Stu_Hig

If I bought a dynamic mic would I generally get good results micing an acoustic guitar. It would be for acoustic solos mostly. I have been looking at the Shure PG57 instrument mic.

I know its a very vague question but if anyone could provide any input that would be great!

Thanks in advance.

Where in the world are you?

If you're in Europe the Beyerdynamic 201 is a pretty good dynamic for miking acoustic guitar. If you're in North America you can't afford it.

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by Mark7

Where in the world are you?

If you're in Europe the Beyerdynamic 201 is a pretty good dynamic for miking acoustic guitar. If you're in North America you can't afford it.

If you are in Europe, you might try the M101 too, it's the omni version. I haven't tried it since i'm in the US But I do like omnis on acoustic guitar because I can close mic and get a natural tone which the SM57 doesn't do.

In the US look for the EV 635a, readily available used for cheap. Or the harder to find Shure SM63.

[Mark7]

I have an M101 and, yep, it's a good mic. It's also a discontinued model. Which means the only way you can get one is second hand.

Unfortunately they don't crop up too often. But when they do you should be able to get them for under a ton.

[Stu_Hig]

I'm in the UK. I was trying to avoid condensers as my audio interface dosent have a phantom power supply and this would be another wad of cash to buy one. I would like somthing as 'plug and play' as possible.

I'll have a look at the SM57.

Thanks

[Mark7]

M201 standing at £68 with just over an hour to go.

Believe me, it'd be a MUCH better choice for what you want to do than a 57

[Mark7]

Oh, and if the thought of dealing with eBay doesn't appeal to you, then you can always buy one from Thomann in Germany for only £5 (plus P&P) more than an SM57 from Sound Control.

[Stu_Hig]

Thanks for the input. I was a little late for the eBay auction but I'll have a look in to that site.

Thanks

[stanjanssen]

Yes, Thomann is a great store....I buy just about anything there!

[Mark7]

I bought my M201 from Thomann's for about £105 (including couriered delivery).

At todays exchange rates that'd be about an even hundred

[giraffe]

i didn't suggest the sm57 because i thought it was the best mic in the world, just because i've never met anyone who regretted paying 100$ for one

[Mark7]

BTW: What pre(s) have you got?

[Stu_Hig]

It will be going into an M-audio fast track USB. From what I've heard m-audio preamps are pretty decent.

[Mark7]

They are, but at only 45 dBs maximum gain the fast track seems a tad underpowered (for comparison the pres in my 388 and M-Audio Audio Buddy have a max gain of around 60 dBs).

Still it's not the amount of gain that counts, but how much clean gain it gives you.

[Stu_Hig]

Do you think a good mixer might be the way to go then?

[noisedude]

Perhaps, but you won't hear the difference unless you have a good mic! So only get a mixer or a standalone pre if it's as part of a buying plan. If it were me, I'd skip the SM57 altogether, pick up a JoeMeek threeQ from www.dv247.com and, if you can swing it, definitely the M201 from Thomann. Or for a really cheap SDC to get you going, the ADK SC1 / SE Electronics SE1 / JoeMeek JM27 are all safe bets for under fifty quid.

[Mark7]

Can you afford £175 for a DMP3? It has up to 70 dBs of gain

Otherwise I've heard good things about the Yamaha MG series of mixers. a 10/2 would set you back £70 and has four mic inputs.

[Mark7]

The SDC's Nik recommends would all be within reason if you have a mixer or standalone pre, since they would provide the phantom power the mic needs.

[mshilarious]

You know, I'm coming to believe that the M201 might be the greatest mic ever. Just did a show where I replaced an SM81 on violin and a Beta 57 on guitar (for a guitarist who HAS to be close miced) both with M201s. Wow.

The M201, it's not just for snare drum anymore

[Mark7]

Welcome to the club Mssy

I regularly record my acoustic (guitar) using only an M201 and one of the mixer channels on my 388.

The 388's pres have enough clean gain to enable me to mic the guitar at quite a good distance (around about 6 to 12 inches).

[Mark7]

Note: That's for strummed acoustic. For fingerpicking (which I don't do that often as I'm rubbish at it) I break out the M201's lil omni brother, the M101

[Stu_Hig]

Would you have any clips of you recording with that mic?

[Mark7]

That would involve me possessing a decent soundcard. I.E. one with a line input.

So, sorry, no

[Stu_Hig]

No probs.

I've been having a look round all the suggested gear and will consider it all once I get a bit of money! I may invest in a pair of monitors first. From what I've heard monitering through headphones dosen't let you know how well the instruments are sitting in the mix or somthing like that.