Mic choices & positioning on Mando and Dobro

[Muddy T-Bone]

Knowing that the correct mic is the one that sounds best....

I will be recording mandolin and a steel guitar soon next weekend. Looking to try and save some experimentation time. What are recomendations for mic placement on each instrument, and some recomendations for mic choices. I have the following mics to choose from.

SM57 and 58
AT Pro37-SDC
AT4040-LDC
MXL 910-MDC
AKG C414-LDC

Intuitively it seems the PRO37 on the Mando at the 10th, 8-12" away. The steel I would think would be mic'd the way I mic an acoustic, 1 on the 12th fret 8-12" away pointed toward the hole, a second pointed at the bridge.

 

[Seidy]

I'm not sure about mandolin, but I think I would mic the dobro same way as you would. 414 and 4040 maybe?

 

[Muddy T-Bone]

I'm not sure about mandolin, but I think I would mic the dobro same way as you would. 414 and 4040 maybe?

I was thinking the same thing. Its a tri-cone resonator, so maybe the 414 picking up the cones, and the 4040 on the neck? Then I start to talk myself into the 37 on the cones.

I'm tryiing to get some opinions from folks that may be familar with those mics and instruments to save some time on my end.

I've had situations occur where I spend so much time monkeying with different mics and placement, that my creative/perfromance spark has just vanished by the time I'm ready to record. Trying to avoid that.