new acoustic guitar or two SM81s?

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visa

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i'm not satisfied with the sound of my recorded acoustic guitar.

it's a small body takamine thinline edition guitar with cutaway. slightly thinner than a standard cutaway.

now my question is...what will have more effect on my sound?

a brand new top quality martin guitar or a nice pair of SM81s?

i only have the money for one of the two suggestions for like 1 year.

i should mention that my current mic is a B1.
 
the guitar ..if the sound ain't there no mic is gonna help ya..Good luck



Don
 
No question about it, a different guitar. The mic influences sound but its effects are subtle. I have 6 diiferent acoustics (Martins, Taylors, Averez, Takamine) and they all sound RADICLY different. What kind of sound are you looking for?
 
New guitar, no doubt. I'll 3rd Henry and Track Rat's advise. I have a Martin (D-35) and an SM81, and they are a nice combination. Guitar first, SM81 later. And who knows? The B1 may sound pretty good on a better guitar. All the 81's will do for you now is give you an accurate recording of the Takamine.
 
No doubt- the axe. Start at the beginning of the signal chain.-Richie
 
If you work hard enough and wait long enough you can get the sm- 81 for cheap on ebay. You just have to look for the right auction at the right time. I got the sm81 for 150.00 and another for 180.00
 
How I select a guitar has absolutely nothing to do with the name. I listen to it and I am also interested in how it feels in my hands. I've got some interesting axes. I've got an old Electra Les Paul copy (fabulous in the hands). I've got a G&L George Fullerton (the 1956 Strat vibe w/o all the worries). I've got a Hirade No. 8 Classic guitar (nice tone, nice player). And, relevant to acoustic, I've got a Tacoma PK30E4. I played over 100 acoustic guitars before buying it. Generally, I did find these to be consistent within the model. Mine had been in a fire which gave it a little extra curing you can't get otherwise. My advice is to set your budget and go out and play a large number of acoustics. The first question for a recording acoustic is sound. Is it crisp? Is it balanced from top to bottom? Any boominess (you don't want any)? Listen.

The one thing I'd suggest doing with the guitar you have is getting new strings. I like the Martin 80/20 bronze extra light for recording. I'd suggest working with the Studio Projects B1 positioned somewhere around where the body meets the neck or maybe even a little more up the neck. You'll just need to listen to determine the optimal placement. The B1 should do a good job for you. My fave mics for acoustic guitar are a pair of Shure KSM141s. They put a nice in-your-face acoustic guitar image in the monitors.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
Your room has a tremendous effect on the tone of any acoustic instrument.

Do you like the way the guitar sounds when you play it outdoors, where there are no reflections???

If you do, then it's not the guitar.

I would first try micing the guitar with the capsule up at ear-height, pointing to the floor on a boom arm. Position yourself so the cap is aimed at the area a couple inches behind the bridge. Use headphones to really dial in the "sweet-spot" and see how you like those takes. This technique will give you what you are used to hearing when you play.

Try that and see how you like it. The next step would be looking into room treatments and figuring out the various nodes in your room and putting in treatments to get an even reverb decay across the audio spectrum, ideally under a 1/2 second.

http://johnlsayers.com/index.html

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html
 
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