electric/acoustic guitar- DI or mic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sweetnighter
  • Start date Start date
In general micing will sound better, if you have a mic that works well for acoustic guitar.

Since you have the option, why not do both, and keep your options open at mix time?
 
i'm definitely of the mindset that mic'd sounds far better. pickups, from what i've heard, aren't always great for reproducing the true sound of the guitar, plus with a mic you can get far more ambiance and such. but definitely try both and see for yourself
 
Definitely mic it, if at all possible. I've tracked a pickup DI in addition to mics, but I never end up using it. It just sounds too zingy to my ears. I want to hear the wood and the strings and the pick/fingers. That's what acoustic music is all about.
 
If I had two SDC omnis and a really good room, acousticly. But I don't think the Fishman soundhole pickup featured in "nice b n young" (click link below) ain't bad. I don't like the boinginess of piezos.
 
I use the L.R. Baggs Dual Sound Pickup on my Martin D-18 and love it. It has a peizio and a mike which you can blend. I use a DSR graphic as a pre-amp. I've even recorded it direct with excellent results. Not cheap though and a tough install. I reccomend you get a guitar shop to do it.
 
I've never come close to getting as good of a sound with a pickup as I can get with a properly mic'ed acoustic. There are definitely times that I use the pickup for recording though, sometimes by itself and sometimes in addition to the mic. If you are recording a loud band you just about have to use the pickup, or even when overdubbing it can help the acoustic be heard in the mix a little if you just slide some the the DI'ed track in. A lot of it will be determined by what kind of pickup/settings you use and what you are DI'ing into...a regular DI box will usually not cut it for acoustic. I actually have gotten my best acoustic DI sound by going into a Joe Meek VC6q...sounded very natural...I've never come close with a DI since then.
 
Hey Jeremy, long time no see.
As far as acoustic recording goes, I've never heard a pickup sound as good as a mic. The sound of an acoustic guitar is so much more than just the area where a pickup lives.
 
Track,

I've been lurking but not posting much lately. How's that Tascam treatin you?
 
No problems at all my friend. It's doing just what I wanted it to do.
 
For recording steel string, I always mic. Nylon acoustics are another story.
 
tdukex said:
Nylon acoustics are another story.
Click to expand...
Gotta have a mic there too. I did a tune where the lead is a nylon string Takimine. A KM-184 about 2" off the lower bout was just the ticket.
 
In my experience with nylons, I've gotten better results with small diaphragm mics that have a little bump in the highs...like the km184 that Track mentioned.
 
Not one, but two small-diaphragm condenser microphones.

Placement will vary, but when you get it right, it's excellent. Cheap way to go is two good Oktava MK-012s.
 
Track Rat said:
Gotta have a mic there too. I did a tune where the lead is a nylon string Takimine. A KM-184 about 2" off the lower bout was just the ticket.
Click to expand...

I should have qualified my statement. My acoustic/electric AEX 500N and other guits of this type (thin-body f-holed) sound great plugged in for that jazzy nylon thing. In my limited experience they don't move enough air to sound good miced (except for some finger dynamics maybe). 2" from the bout, wow, that's one I havent tried. I agree that a classical guit needs to be miced.
 
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