Recording acoustic guitar? - try new strings!

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glynb

Balladeer
Finaly got round to changing the strings on an acoustic I aquired from a frined (swapped an old Fostex 4 track cassette recorder for it!).

Anyway i had been disapointed with the results recording the acoustic into my Fostex vf160 using a sure sm58 mic.

In desperation i changed the strings on it at the weekend and wow! what a difference it made. So much brighter without having to boost the trebble frequencies on the eq to get it to sound better.

Hmmmm, wonder how long the effect will last - not long i suspect if electric guitar strings are anything to judge by!
 
Use the new Elixir strings

They sound great and less finger noise. They also seem to last a bit longer than standard strings. Unfortunately, they are also not the cheapest strings out.
 
I don't know, I tried the Elixir strings and I was pretty disappointed. They sounded kinda tubby to me. They never had that nice crisp tone that new strings have. While they did sound mediocre considerably longer than normal strings, for recording purposes, I'd rather just change my strings 2 or 3 times as often. I've been using these John Pearse strings lately, which I kinda like.
 
A lot of string choice depends on the guitar and sound you're looking for though. So YMMV.
 
i'm told that the newer (nanoweb, right) coating on elixirs is much better sounding. i thought the old ones sounded like crap.

brand new strings can be hard to control in a mix, and go out of tune easily unless broken in properly.

some people like dead strings for recording. some hate them. i'm somewhere in between. give me decent sounding, CLEAN, boken in strings, and i'll probably be happy, though i'll likely end up mucking with brand new or rather dead strings just for sonic variation.
 
D'Adario makes some elixer-like strings too for a little bit cheaper. I always change strings on guitars before I think about recording them. It really makes a difference on electrics too.

Eddie Van Halen insists on having really old strings in the studio though....to each his own
 
Different for electric

I used to change my electric's strings regularly, whether they 'needed' it or not (like as often as I have a bath). But now i don't bother, as the sound is produced more by the effects pedal I use and amp settings than string tone. So now I just change them when they start to get grubby on the fret side!

But for an acoustic, where you are recording the instrument directly with little or no processing then new strings are the way to go for me. trouble is, i have a load of songs recorded and mixed with old strings on the guitar and i haven't got the heart to open up a whole can of worms re-record the acoustic and then re-mix all over again!

For those interested the strings I put on were 'Martins' I beleive.

Oh why didn't i discover this 6 months ago!
 
If you break your strings in properly, they will hold tune quite well... harmonic content will also be more accurate with new strings and a properly set up guitar.

Not to mention that its better for your instrument to not have rusted out strings scrapped all over the fretboard as you are playing.

I use Martin Marquis (though I *do* like the D'addario coated strings) on my acoustics.

DR High Beams or Pure Blues on my electrics.

New strings also ensure the "repeatability" of the tone... if you use old strings, its nearly impossible to match the "stage of wear" that the strings were at if you need to come back and touch up a track etc.

FYIW.

Velvet Elvis
 
new strings sound great indeed.

but i have another problem that some of you might be able to solve.

up untill a few days ago i recorded my acoustic guitar with my sm58 (yes, i know...i'll get a condensor pair) pointing directly at the soundhole and i've never had problems with the sound my finger make when sliding on the wound strings.

well, i was using some other recording techniques i've read on here and i always have that horrible sound my fingers make in the recording.

are coated strings the only solution?

it's especially annoying on fingerpicking songs because the squeaky sound dominates the whole recording.
 
using coated strings, aiming the mic towards the bridge from the front of the soundhole rather than vice-versa may also help.

Its a natural sound of the guitar (fingers sliding on frets)... so there really won't be much to do to get rid of it.

Velvet Elvis
 
Velvet Elvis said:
Its a natural sound of the guitar (fingers sliding on frets)... so there really won't be much to do to get rid of it.

Velvet Elvis
Click to expand...

i agree. but i think it's too much if it's louder than the vibrating strings.
 
You can learn to change the amount of pressure applied to the strings as you're moving around the fretboard. Let up on the pressure as you move unless you're trying to make sound. (Takes practice.) You can mute certain strings with your picking hand. There are several things you can do with technique along with experimenting with different types of strings. I personally don't like coated strings; they sound kind of plunky to me. You'll probably never get rid of all string squeak but then, you don't really want to. It's a part of the natural sound of playing guitar.
 
Yeah, I rather like the sound of fingers sliding on the strings. It makes it sound more real. A lot of it on the new Gillian Welch album, which is pretty awesome.
 
I always change my strings and rehearse the material a week before recording. During that rehearsal time I concentrate on where the fret noise is apparent and do as much as I can to eliminate it through technique, typically by not sliding my fingers when changing fret position.

When it's time to record I lick my fingers where the sliding will occur. Might sound gross but it does the trick. I have noticed that if I strum hard and consistent then the squeal isn't as apparent, I can record without compression, and the tone of the instrument is brought out more.

Cy
 
The Dean Markley Alchemy's for steel string acoustic are real nice. They have a nice raspy sound to them. They've held up their freshness for quite a while now. You still get the finger squeaks though. They don't seem to be dunked in some polymer/plastic like the other coated strings. They're a little pricey though...I think I paid $16 for a set.

The Black Diamond black-coated acoustic steel strings were a little dull for my taste.

The D'addario EXP's are pretty decent.

For nylon string guitar, I like the La Bella Golden Superior 900's. The bass strings are polished so string squeak is reduced. I like them better than the D'Addario Pro Arte's.

I like the Black Diamond black-coated strings for electric guitar. They are rather "dull" sounding compared to uncoated strings. But I prefer that sound to the really bright sound of a new set of uncoated strings.

I also like the Black Diamond black-coated bass strings.

The DR Strings black-coated strings sound good too. They sound brighter than the Black Diamond's.
 
gilwe said:
Use a condenser, a dynamic will not to the job so well.
Click to expand...

Sennheiser 421 or 441 would be my best bet with dynamic microphones, but any condenser would probably sound better. There's quite a wide variety of cheap condensors around, and they are not at all bad; Rode, Studio Projects, Behringer, TSM... especially Rodes and Studio Projects are very good value for money.

I myself use Dean Markley's phosphor bronze sets when recording acoustics, and change them quite often, almost daily - when not recording i rarely change acoustic's strings at all, so the average expense is not too bad. :-)

The main point is to wash your hands very well, with lots of soap, and dry them well too. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and let it hang loose so your belt dont knack the back of the guitar. Always aim the microphones somewhere else than soundhole - sligthly to the fretboard or to the body of the guitar, depending what you want. There's quite a lot of nuances to be got out of an acoustic by moving the mic half an inch.

Good luck,

Slabrock
 
Freeform said:

Eddie Van Halen insists on having really old strings in the studio though....to each his own
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humm, wonder why? i doubt his B is old, mine goes sour within 6hr of rough playing it seems like, the next day for sure :)

i do stretch strings a tad much though, hendrix/vanhalen wannabe...

i use heavy string like the recording articals say to use, for that fat sound, yup, its a bitch on the fingers at times, but the sound is sweeter/fatter/fuller etc...

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

peace...
 
Fusion2 said:
humm, wonder why? i doubt his B is old, mine goes sour within 6hr of rough playing it seems like, the next day for sure :)

i do stretch strings a tad much though, hendrix/vanhalen wannabe...

i use heavy string like the recording articals say to use, for that fat sound, yup, its a bitch on the fingers at times, but the sound is sweeter/fatter/fuller etc...

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

peace...
Click to expand...

oh shit, acoustic..........zzzZZZ...zz asleep at the wheel again :) ageesh...
 
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