Acoustic Duo - Record Stereo or Mono?

[RawDepth]

I've always had this rule-of-thumb about recording acoustic guitar. If the acoustic will be playing solo, record it in stereo. If the acoustic is added to other instruments as rhythm or background, record it in mono and pan it to a single point.

Soon, I will record a an acoustic duo with vocals. I am wondering which method will serve best for the guitars.

If done in stereo, I can still manipulate the panning of each guitar to give separation. What do you think?

 

[mjbphotos]

Stereo = 2 mics. Mono = 1 mic. Best option is to record an acoustic guitar with 2 mics, pointing at slightly different areas of the guitar (12th fret and bout, just as an example), then mix appropriately, YMMV depending on the mics and guitar. If you are tracking each guitar separately, record each the best way possible, then combine and place 'in' the place in the mix during mixdown.

 

[RawDepth]

Thanks, mjbphotos.

Just to clarify...

I would never record two guitars simultaneously with only one mic in the room. I was asking whether to record each guitar separately (Isolated) with one mic or two. Or, to record them both in one room simultaneously using two mics.

 

[Mr. June]

I would go with isolation, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the performance (some bands / groups play better when in the same room). As far as 1 vs. 2 mics, I'd use 2 (1 body/hole + 1 fretboard) and treat the 2 signals as 1, panning wise. This will give you the most options at mixdown, tone-wise. Good luck!

 

[Potsy24]

I would go with isolation, as long as it doesn't negatively impact the performance (some bands / groups play better when in the same room). As far as 1 vs. 2 mics, I'd use 2 (1 body/hole + 1 fretboard) and treat the 2 signals as 1, panning wise. This will give you the most options at mixdown, tone-wise. Good luck!

This is exactly what I would do. Instead of having one guitar in stereo, you can have a stereo mix with one guitar panned to each side. Also, this way you can use two different mics on a single guitar - a mic designed to pick up the low end frequencies of the body and a different mic designed to pick up the higher frequency string/pick noises at the fretboard. Then you can blend the two to taste, and you'll be less likely to need heavy eq.