C1 & meek on acoustic guitar?

[lilcapn]

anyone record acoustic guitar with a C1? i'm trying it through a meek vc1q (which is new to me) and it's sounding oK but it's a bit -- i don't know -- harsh or awkward sounding....

anyone have experience with this combo?
thanks!

 

[Buck62]

That combo should sound nice.

Maybe you had poor postitioning with the mic, or your acoustic guitar just happens to sound like poop?

Bad settings on the Meek?

A second mic (small condenser) would help alot, too.

 

[lilcapn]

poop etc

thanks for the reply -- the guitar sounds good, it's a late-60's gibson, and i had the C1 right at where the neck meets the body kind of, where my 4033 usually sounds nice...

maybe there's a better placement somewhere?

i also tried combining it with a ribbon (beyer m160) pointing down over my right shoulder, but it wasnt getting a great sound either...i don't have much luck combining two mics, but i always read about folks doing it, so maybe i'll try a different combo.

how would you use the small condenser (i have a pair of pro37r's, and also those behringer omnis) in combo with the C1?

thanks!

 

[chessrock]

Re: poop etc

i had the C1 right at where the neck meets the body kind of, where my 4033 usually sounds nice...

If that's what usually sounds nice, then I'd stick with that.

Maybe stick the C1 over your right (or strumming) shoulder, pointed down (turn on the bass rolloff) and mix the two to taste.

 

[Richard Monroe]

I don't own C1, but I've tried C3 extensively through a Joemeek twinQcs. I use it for vocals as a a staple, but I've found C3 more accurate than I want for guit. I've had my best luck with Oktava MC012 on the 12th fret, and either Oktava MK319 or Rode NTK over the shoulder. Maybe if I was a better guitarist, C3 would work better, but it seems to reproduce all of my finger noise, etc., with great efficiency.-Richie

 

[tdukex]

I agree that combo sould sound nice. Keep the compressor, eq, and enhancer out of the signal chain, put some headphones on and play around with mic placement. The VC1Q likes a lot of gain. I usually crank mine up until the signal begins to distort, then back off the input gain a little, then adjust the output gain so I'm hitting red, then adjust the levels in my recording software before laying tracks. Sometimes a little compression can help before adjusting the output gain.

After you get a good consistent sound and have found the mic's sweet spot for that guitar and have optimized the VC1Q's basic gain settings for the sound you like, you can play around with the eq and enhancer to see if you can improve on an already good sound.

 

[TexRoadkill]

So far I haven't been been blown away by my C1 on acoustic. I haven't used it extensively yet so the jury is still out. I am able to get nice results pretty easily with the MXL 93. YMMV.

 

[lilcapn]

hmmm the 93

haven't used one of those -- haven't tried any of the marshall mics but read a lot about them on here...what pre are you putting the 93 through?

i was actually thinking of getting an mxl603 as a good sd to try on the acoustic; i like my 4033 on there but am looking for some different flavors ...

 

[TexRoadkill]

Re: hmmm the 93

haven't used one of those -- haven't tried any of the marshall mics but read a lot about them on here...what pre are you putting the 93 through?

Right now I'm just using the crappy pres on the Roland VM3100. I'm getting a real board soon so I've just playing with mic placement. Here is some acoustic stuff I did of a singer/songwriter with the V93 and V67 if you want to check it out. http://www.nowhereradio.com/texroadkill/singles "When I'm Home" is probably the best example.

 

[chessrock]

Come to think of it, the V93 is pretty much in it's element when micing accoustic guitar. It's a slightly bright mic with a very good bass rolloff switch, quick transient response, etc. Pretty ideal for the accoustic.

I get excellent results with the mc012 at the 12th and the v93 over the shoulder (with bass rolloff engaged). Great combo. I'd still take the mc012 if I had to use just one. I always use the mindprint pres on accoustic 6-string. It has an unusually high impedence -- and lots of ohms means a slightly exaggerated/extended high frequency response. Works very well for that purpose.

Wouldn't advise any of these if you're after a dark/dull sound, though.