Looking for a One Trick Pony...

H

Hoosierdaddy

New member
Yep. That's right. I need opinions. I'm looking for a mic that does one thing and does it exceptionally well...records acoustic instruments. Specifically acoustic guitar. I've got great sounding vocal mics. I've got great sounding mics for recording amplified instruments. I just want a mic I can put up in front of an acoustic guitar and get a great sounding recording. I'm looking to purchase my "go to" mic for acoustic instruments. So what will it be? An AKG C414 or C214. One of the Shure KSM Series? One of the CAD side address LDC's? Talk to me people. You're all knowledgable. I eagerly await your input.
 
kojdogg said:
I find that my BLUE Kiwi sounds awesome on acoustic guitar. It definitely is very important to have a good to great guitar to begin with though.
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Ok. Then let's just assume for the sake of this post that we have a great guitarist playing and great instrument and I just want to capture it.

Any other recommendations?
 
Neumann KM84i is my current preference. They are a bit scarce however. Second choice is a Gefell MT711s.

What kind of acoustic guitar are we talking about? How bright is it?
 
pohaku said:
What kind of acoustic guitar are we talking about? How bright is it?
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It's going to be (primarily) two different instruments. A Taylor 614CE (Grand Auditorium) and an Alvarez AD62SC (Dreadnought). Both are "house" guitars. But I'm sure other players will bring in their own instruments. One close friend that I work with a lot on various projects has an Alvarez 12 string, also a Dreadnought body.

P.S. I don't have 3-6K to drop on this either. So M. Gefell might be out of the picture. Well, maybe an M300 or something. But definitely not one of their large diaphragm designs.
 
What is it that you are not happy with when using your current mics? What acoustic recordings would be a good example of the sound you want?
 
Hoosierdaddy said:
It's going to be (primarily) two different instruments. A Taylor 614CE (Grand Auditorium) and an Alvarez AD62SC (Dreadnought). Both are "house" guitars. But I'm sure other players will bring in their own instruments. One close friend that I work with a lot on various projects has an Alvarez 12 string, also a Dreadnought body.

P.S. I don't have 3-6K to drop on this either. So M. Gefell might be out of the picture. Well, maybe an M300 or something. But definitely not one of their large diaphragm designs.
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Well if you shop used, you might be surprised what you can find. I have the MT711s and a M71 (older transformer model) and paid @$600 for each of them used which is certainly in range of a M300 (and less than a new M300). If I was buying new mics for acoustic guitar right now, I'd look at a pair of Beyer MC930s. They are too new to have many used ones available, but you should be able to find a matched pair for the low $700s. Call Full Compass and ask for their best price. I have the 2 prior models (CV800 with a CK1 capsule and a CV710 with a CK701 capsule) and they are excellent mics. The MC930 has received really great reviews on a number of boards (search the GS board) and I generally really like Beyer mics (I have a lot of them). I'm currently considering selling my pair of Josephson C42s and picking up a pair of the Beyers to replace them. The Josephson mics are very good, but the Beyers are a bit flatter which is my preference.
 
I love 414's, but only if you can find one with the old C12 capsule. I bet those are pretty hard to come by now, though (I think they are the 414 TL or something like that). I would suggest that you think about having a ldc and a couple sdc's for acoustic (nothing like putting an sdc at the fretboard, gives that nice "stringy" sound). Depending on how good your room is, you could do omni sdc's, though a cardioid will still pick up a good amount if you place it very far away. I also have gotten good results with the akg C3000, though I am not sure it is absolutely phenomenal on acoustics (been a long time since I used it).
 
Old skool...Shure SM81 pair.

Unfortunately they're really a five or six trick pony, but one of the tricks they do really really well is get that upfrontinyourface acoustic guitar sound. They like really high-end micpres and shine even better on them.
 
Hoosierdaddy said:
I'm looking to purchase my "go to" mic for acoustic instruments. So what will it be? An AKG C414 or C214. One of the Shure KSM Series? One of the CAD side address LDC's? Talk to me people. You're all knowledgable. I eagerly await your input.
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You're looking for a "mic" not "mics"? I'm curious, are you not going to record the acoustic guitar in stereo?
 
I think it largely depends on the role that the accoustic track is going to play in the context of the mix. I would probably use a different mic depending on whether it was going to be a solo accoustic ... or whether it's going to be part of a busy mix. And even then, I would consider whether the accoustic would be the primary rhythm instrument, or if it would be in a supportive role (behind the electric and/or a bunch of other stuff). My choice might vary in each scenario.


With that said, if I had to pick one mic that would work most often, and in a number of different contexts ... I might consider the Audio Technica 4033. Even if price weren't an issue. If I had just that, along with a small-diaphragm omnidirectional reference mic (and good ones can be had dirt cheap, there), then I would feel pretty comfortable in just about any situation.
 
I adore my BLUE baby bottle for acoustic instruments. And if you want stereo... M/S with a Baby Bottle and AT4050 is a great combo or put the Baby Bottle on the 12th fret and the AT4050 as an over the shoulder mic and pan em out.

Not the best example... but here is a Baby Bottle on both acoustic guitar and fiddle... both are recorded in mono though.


 
Hey there Coach Knight! Welcome to the board. Baby bottle, AT4033, and the SM81. All good choices. I have used all three for acoustics and like 'em all.
 
Daisy said:
I actually like how it does on the fiddle tracks. For an LDC, it's pretty flat / dark, don't you think?
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Yeah... which I like personally... but as in all of this, different strokes. I can't think of one mic that I have and like that is bright. For instance, I had a TLM103 for a while and hated it. it found its way to eBay quickly. So in all... if you want a bright/sparkley mic, forget the Baby Bottle.
 
soundchaser59 said:
Always use two mics on acoustic, and never use two of the same mic. Use two different mics.
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The use of the words "always" and "never" in this context is utter bullshit.
In mono, if using 1 mic gets the desired sound, why bother to add another?
If recording in stereo, a matched pair (2 of the same brand/model) makes life a whole lot simpler than working with dissimilar units.

Re: acoustic guitar mic recommendations: Any cardioid in the Sennheiser MKH series; i.e., mkh 405, 406, and 40.
 
Depends on budget, as well as taste. My choices-

Cheap-AKG C2000B, Oktava MC012, AT4033

Mid priced- Shure KSM44, Shure SM81, AT4044

More money- AKG C414- and I disagree that you need a C12 capsule- My B-ULS does rather well, thank you. Josephson C42, Neumann KSM184- The Neumann is another mic the purists bash, because they would rather have a KM84. I have a pair of 184's and they have served me *very* well on a variety of acoustic instruments, especially guitar, and a bunch of stereo recording projects.

To die for- Schoeps CM6- If the sticker shock doesn't kill you, it's hard to beat.

And I will say this- No good acoustic guitar mic is a one-trick pony, because the qualities that make a good acoustic guitar mic also make it generally good for mandolin, banjo, violin, piano, stereo recording, drum overheads, some vocalists, lots of stuff.

Best of luck-Richie
 
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