Acoustic guitar.

Monkey, how are you setting up the recording, mics, setup (x-y, spaced pair, single mic)? I've played with recording acoustic a bunch of different ways, I wasn't as happy with using most 2 mic setups in stereo, especially if I was just doing vocal and guitar. Move the mic up the fretboard and it will reduce lower frequency bloom that can sound muddy.

Try moving around the room, it made a difference if I was in the center, in the corner, next to the side wall. Experimentation is free. Thick blankets can help sometimes, especially with higher frequency flutter.
 
Standard home bedroom 3m x3.2m roughly. Standard ceiling. Some room treatment. I've tried many mic positions and mics. I have had luck in the past and captured some ok acoustic recordings. But of late I seem terribly out of form. I may be tracking with too much gain. There's a lot I need to investigate.

Thanks
 
I've just spent a couple of songs recording and trying to mix acoustic guitar. I have some of the nicest acoustics going around...Martin D28, Martin om28...

The recording's are horrible. Weird, awful resonances anywhere from 100hz up to 2 or 3 khz. 500hz particularly terrible.

Conclusion...terrible room I'm playing in.

Anyway, that's my story.
Are you picking or strumming? If strumming, is it hard strumming?
 
Strumming chords...trying to strum them evenly and smoothly...crisply...not laying in hard. Another piece to the puzzle is that I find my om28 very, very loud with overtones all over the place. It's not articulate. It's very resonant. And very new I might add. I think there's a lot of elements conspiring. I have to keep experimenting.

Thanks
 
Strumming chords...trying to strum them evenly and smoothly...crisply...not laying in hard. Another piece to the puzzle is that I find my om28 very, very loud with overtones all over the place. It's not articulate. It's very resonant. And very new I might add. I think there's a lot of elements conspiring. I have to keep experimenting.

Thanks
A heavier pick can reduce overtones and give a more solid tone. Getting things even takes practice. I wait at least a day or two after putting on new strings, too. An OM is going to be more present than something with a larger top/surface area, so you'll need to work on mic placement. A spaced pair can give you a little more flexibility in mixing down something that has some more bass without having to aim at the sound hole, where you risk having to deal with the dreaded "woofiness."
 
As mentioned above, try mid-side if you can. I did this for the first time a few months ago and it turned out very good. Of course you you need a decent space, the mid-side decoder/preamp (I used an ART Pro MPA ll dual channel preamp), and a couple of mics that have figure of eight and cardioid (two CAD Equitek 200's in my case). The track was recorded into two separate mono tracks, and I panned them.
For single mic recordings, I learned the hard way with my Guild six string that if I didn't practice some really controlled strumming, close to where the neck meets the body, I would get some nasty and harsh tones. My room is fine, and so is the mic, but the guitar really projects and has tons of midrange. I use a thin pick and go easy. For melody lines, I use a heavier pick. I always have older strings on.
 
As mentioned above, try mid-side if you can. I did this for the first time a few months ago and it turned out very good. Of course you you need a decent space, the mid-side decoder/preamp (I used an ART Pro MPA ll dual channel preamp), and a couple of mics that have figure of eight and cardioid (two CAD Equitek 200's in my case). The track was recorded into two separate mono tracks, and I panned them.
For single mic recordings, I learned the hard way with my Guild six string that if I didn't practice some really controlled strumming, close to where the neck meets the body, I would get some nasty and harsh tones. My room is fine, and so is the mic, but the guitar really projects and has tons of midrange. I use a thin pick and go easy. For melody lines, I use a heavier pick. I always have older strings on.
They way you describe is one way to do it, but you only need *one* figure-8 mic, i.e., they don't have to be the same kind of mic, and you don't need a decoder if you are recording into a DAW. The "mid" mic is a single cardioid and is placed coincident with the figure-8, which is at 90 degrees. Both record onto separate, mono channels in the DAW, and then you take the figure-8 mic's track and duplicate it, then flip that track's polarity. The result is *just* the side parts (in the mix) that mic's capture, as all of the common (mid) material is canceled. The middle of the stereo image is provided by the single cardioid mic.
 
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