Recording acoustic guitar? - try new strings!

  • Thread starter Thread starter glynb
  • Start date Start date
Fusion2 said:


i think someone may have fibbed in the artical you read, maybe? donno...

peace...

I don't know whether he likes older strings or not, but I use to read that he did use to boil his strings.
 
I've been happy with Ernie Ball "Earthwood", 80/20 bronze alloy, extra lights.

rpe
 
Certainly makes a difference

Like I said for recording purposes I've been amazed at the difference for acoustic guitar. I think the old strings must have been on for years before I acquired it!

Thanks for the input guys.
 
I change my strings after about 6-10 hours of playing. That is ussually more than once a week! If I'm recording, I always change them (yeah it's a pain in the ass, but why waste time recording a half decent sounding guitar?).

The trick: learn to break strings in properly!!! If this is done correctly, it will ACCTUALLY stay in better tune when they are new! Also, if they are too bright for you, then play them for half an hour to an hour and then make a recording ;)

Elixers: I find that these sound really good for a nice bright rythm sound. If you are doing finger picking, I would go with a non-coated brand.
 
DaisyCutter said:
I don't know whether he likes older strings or not, but I use to read that he did use to boil his strings.

i read that here to, not about eddie though, just a tip for bass strings i believe...

at 4 bucks a pop i'll just buy, there's nothing like a fresh set of 'correct' strings, stretched a few times...

they have that twang twinkle snap to them, heh, for about a week of pratice though, if that...
 
$4 ?

There we go again '4 bucks a pop' - in the UK we pay £5 a set of strings, which is about $7-8.

Proves my theory that whatever you pay in the US in $ we pay here in the UK in £ despite the fact that the exchange rate is something like 1.4 to 1 (well last time I looked anyway).

Another UK rip off.
 
I use D'addario strings for electric guitar on my acoustic. I think it sounds great, and they last very much longer than phosphor bronze strings. I detune a whole lot and I've discovered that 0.12 gauge lasts the longest. I had strings on for 6 months recently without breaking them. I only changed them because they sounded like crap. :D
 
On electric guitar I like GHS Boomers (10's). I pay $5.00 per set.
For acoustic guitar it ddepends on which guitar. My Martins I prefer GHS Contact Cores. They're VERY bright strings and are a good match for the darker character of the Martins. The Taylor I like the Elixors. Right now I have a set of of the D'Adarios (coated like Elixors) and they went dead pretty fast. I have another set of them laying around that I'll try to see if it was a fluke but at $12.00 a throw there should be no flukes. The D'Adarios reminded me a lot of Martin Marques in that they sounded pretty good for a few hours and then they get thumpy.
 
Re: $4 ?

glynb said:
There we go again '4 bucks a pop' - in the UK we pay £5 a set of strings, which is about $7-8.

Proves my theory that whatever you pay in the US in $ we pay here in the UK in £ despite the fact that the exchange rate is something like 1.4 to 1 (well last time I looked anyway).

Another UK rip off.

that will stop shortly i expect, since there most likely to made in china or asia somewhere... humm, g damn the middleman, (steppenwolf) :)
 
Re: Re: $4 ?

Fusion2 said:
that will stop shortly i expect, since there most likely to made in china or asia somewhere... humm, g damn the middleman, (steppenwolf) :)

Hah, I doubt that very much! Take my Multitracker the Fostex vf160 - now is that made in the States? I would bet it's made in the far east or somewhere, yet we have to pay around £900 for a vf160 whereas they are that price in $ in the States!
 
acoustic

Acoustic guitar is my primary instrument and I am very pleased with the sounds I'm getting.

My 2 pennies worth:

1 get a Martin guitar
2 a couple good condenser mics
3 a truckload of Martin strings (80/20 Bronze is what I use) and I change them about once a week, but like I said, this is my main instrument and I play it 10-20 hours a week.

When recording, I set all my EQs pretty flat. With my D28 I'll knock the Low down about -3 because it Booms, then I take my MXL v93m and point it at the sound hole or towards the bass end about 8 inches away. Then I set my AT 3035 on a stand and set it back about 3-4 feet straight ahead in the room, this gives it depth. I try to get a very clean recording, then I'll go back and add effects and set my EQ.

Finger squeaks are a fact of life. I don't try to hide them, though I've been playing long enough to know how to avoid some of it.
 
i like new strings

i've got a martin d-15 (all mahogany) and i use the martin SP phosphor bronze strings (lights) on it. they sound better on that guitar than the martin sp 80/20's do, and they last a little longer, too. the 80/20's were a little too "brassy" sounding. the phosphors are more warm/smooth to go with the mellower sounding all-mahogany guitar. the PB's have also helped minimize finger noise.

i record it with 2 mxl603's. i put one about 8-12 inches in front of the guitar, aimed around the 12th or 14th fret, depending on whichever sounds best. i've found that a tiny bit of movement on this mic can intensify or minimize finger noise, so fiddle some and see what works best.

the other 603 goes over my shoulder (next to my head), pointing straight down at the floor (aiming over the lower bout of the guitar). this mic is about even with my ear and more or less captures what i'm hearing while i play. it also gets a solid amount of boom/bass without it being overly so. sometimes i aim the mic a little back towards the guitar, and sometimes i aim it almost perpendicular with the floor.

sometimes for kicks and grins i'll throw my B1 out about 4ft from the guitar, also aimed more towards the neck of the guitar than the soundhole. the B1 will pick up an inordinate amount of undesired boom if you're not careful about it.

but the absolute best thing you can do when recording acoustic guitar is to put new strings on the day before and let them settle in a little. play on em for an hour or so and break em in. that way you don't get that harsh new string sound, but you do get plenty of that "the strings are alive with the sound of music" tone. and isn't that what we're all after? ;-)


wade
 
Re: Re: Re: $4 ?

glynb said:
Hah, I doubt that very much! Take my Multitracker the Fostex vf160 - now is that made in the States? I would bet it's made in the far east or somewhere, yet we have to pay around £900 for a vf160 whereas they are that price in $ in the States!

you have a point, wishfull thinking on my part, bigbiz, pricefixing, jump in my pocket, damn it sucks today...

i guess they see the govs doing it so why not them, it's all BS and corrupt as hell, oh, there goes my rant meter off the scale again...

peace all... (you/us slaves)
 
Guess I'll have to put up with dullness

I only play my acoustic occasionaly - maybe record a track with it once every two weeks. So changing the strings everytime I want to do a recording sesssion isn't viable for me as an amateur home recordist (in the UK strings are $7-8 per pop). Remeber I'm paying for strings on my main instrument the Fender Telecaster too.

Just have to carry on resorting to boosting the hi's in the mix, but its no where near the same as having new strings on !

I suppose if i was organised I could have several songs in progress at one timne, change the strings, and then record all the acoustic guitar parts in one session. But I don't work that way.
 
Back
Top