"Different" Acoustic Guitar Sound

C

Craig

New member
I have read numerous magazine articles and numerous posts on this message board about recording an acoustic guitar and have a pretty solid understanding of the process. One topic that I've never come across is the acoustic guitar sound that I hear on most rock and folk rock music (i.e. Edwin McCain/Tonic). My best description of that sound would be a relatively thin sound. You definitely don't hear a full/rich acoustic sound. You hear more of a percussive sound. I hear the sound of the pick strumming the string more than I hear the true sound of the guitar. Hope you're understanding/hearing the sound that I'm describing...

My question is how to get that "different" sound. To me, it sounds like there is some major eq work being done. More specifically, dropping a lot of eq out of the mix and just focusing on a certain eq range. I'm just not hearing the full acoustic sound on those records, and I like that. When I record (Taylor 510, Oktava 012 w/Mackie VLX pre's) I always get a full sound. That's nice, but not what I'm looking for. I've tried just about every mic placement and compression setting under the sun and just can't seem to get it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance...
 
About the only time I go for a big, real acoustic guitar sound is when it's the only instrument. Otherwise I almost always end up EQ'ing the crap out of it. Nothing below 1 or 2k sometimes. I like the jangle and the picking and strumming noise, but nothing else.

That's my guess on what you're after.

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
Try going direct from your pickup. That may give you the sound you want. If you have channels to spare you can mic the guitar also and then blend the tracks as needed.
 
I plug my acoustic direct in my interface and set the volume on my guitar's pre-amp to get a minimum of -12db on the track I'm recording to, so I can get good dynamics. Now here's what you want to know, turn the bass on the pre-amp all the way down and then treble all the way up, unless it's too bright. I have a fisherman pre-amp and it sounds just like Edwin McCain's guitar with the bass completely down and the treble all the way up. In post-production, I just use a little compression and some reverb, and maybe some eq to blend it into the mix on a sub-track receiving from the left and right guitar tracks. I hope this helps you, and best of luck.
 
Hi and welcome. Not sure if you realised you’d added to a 20 year old post. The search function often digs up things like this so did t want you to wait for an answer or comment that’ll never come!
 
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