Miking acoustic and practice amp

[Baz97]

Hi,

I was about to buy the first mic for my new home studio - i was gonna go with the Shure 57. THing is though, im playing a lot of acoustic lately, and was wondering if I sould get a condencer of something, to cover both bases - amp and acoustic. I've read on an earlier thread that stereo micing works very well for recording acoustics. My music consists of layered guitar tracks all played by myself and therefore recorded separately. My music has no drums or bass - so I guess a mic with a wide frequency range is in order. What would you suggest I do for under $500, or is it time to save?

[BrettB]

You'd best post this in the mic forum, they are the experts in all the different mices.

I'm not an expert on this, but I like the sound of the Stagg copies of Neumann and even the Behringer B-1 (Before evrybody starts to hit on me, I'm not a fan of the rest of their material either, but this mic is quite OK). also The AKG C-1000 is a decent mic for it's price. i think they cost about $300?.

[MartyMcFly]

Come on...get your forums strait...Just kidding

[Baz97]

Yeah, I forgot this entire website was devoted to recording, and that the mic forum here is also recording specific.

[saxman72]

If you're doing multiple tracks of guitar and no bass or drums, I'd look for a good full range mic. You'll want to have enough bottom end (although it's easy to get boomy). Mid-diaphragmed condensors like the Rode NT-3 are generally regarded as ideal for acoustic guitars. I wouldn't suggest using a dynamic mic like a SM-57 for that purpose.

Actually if your mic budget is $500 (assuming you already have a decent pre-amp or two), you can actually get BOTH the SM-57 and NT-3. That'll give you a couple of options for everything you record!

[Richard Monroe]

For under $500, I would consider an Oktava MC012. Try Taylor Johnson at the Sound Room on line. I would get 1 cardioid and 1 omni capsule. That leaves enough to buy that SM57, and have a bunch of momey left over for shock mounts, etc. Before you consider a condenser, though, check your board/ recorder/ preamp, whatever. Does it produce 48v of phantom power to power the condenser mic? For $500, you could get the Oktava, the SM57, an ART MP preamp, and a universal shockmount. Good Luck- Richie