Studio Projects B1 or C1 for acoustic guitars?

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jeffree

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Hi, all. No need to try to talk me out of SP mics at this point--I've done some heavy research lately and have decided to buy some SPs for my home studio--but I do have a question for any experienced SP users:

For mainly acoustic guitars, nylon and steel, whould I be better
going with the C1 or the cheaper B1? I've read lots of good reviews of each, and some seem to prefer the B1 for guitar, despite its lower cost. I'd appreciate hearing from any of you
with both models. (By the way, I'll be using them with a Yamaha aw16g as a base, eventually with an external pre-amp.)

Thanks for any input,

J.
 
i guess the C4 is THE acoustic guitar mic. (out of all the SP ones).

i don't have it though. but i keep reading that those are the ones that work best with acoustic guitars.

as far as i know paired SDC in general are the #1 choice when it comes to acoustic guitar recording.
 
I've used a C1 and own a B1.

My advice: buy the B1 AND a Marshall Electronics 603S. Together they would be less than a C1, and give you superior acoustic guitar recordings, IMHO.

If you can swing TWO 603s's, that would be awesome. My acoustic guitar needs are met by 1 or 2 603Ss and the B1.

Fab
 
what fab4 said

<<My acoustic guitar needs are met by 1 or 2 603Ss and the B1>>

amen.

i use 2x 603s and a B1 for recording acoustics. I put one of the 603's in front of the guitar, aimed around the 12th or 14th fret. The other 603 goes over the person's shoulder (over the lower bout of the guitar, more or less on a line with the bridge pins) pointing down at the floor. the B1 serves room mic duties from about 4-6ft away.

the results are FAR better than anything i've achieved with the B1 (or the 603s) by itself. a single 603 and a B1 would come close, though.....but if you're getting one, they're cheap enough to get two. ;-)


wade
 
Re: what fab4 said

mrface2112 said:
I put one of the 603's in front of the guitar, aimed around the 12th or 14th fret. The other 603 goes over the person's shoulder (over the lower bout of the guitar, more or less on a line with the bridge pins) pointing down at the floor. the B1 serves room mic duties from about 4-6ft away. . .
Click to expand...

Hmm... Lessee, that's where I put the 603s; here's the other one. And here's the SP B1 in the box. New D'Addarios on the Taylor, check. Door to the parakeet room tightly closed, check.

Nice recipe; I think I'll try it.
:p :cool:
 
I think it is worth mentioning the B3. I haven't used the B1, but having the figure-8 and omni capability sure is nice, then you can even do a M/S technique using a 603 as the M and the B3 as the figure 8 for the S.

I have also had success with a stereo pair of 603s in XY config at the 12th fret and the B3 hanging over the shoulder at ear level in omni mode.
 
I haven't used a B1 but the C1 is a little too colored for most acoustic stuff. I like it sometimes for a particular sound but usually the guitar is very 'woody' sounding through the C1. I wouldn't want it as my main acoustic mic.
 
<<Nice recipe; I think I'll try it>>

give it a whirl. it makes my d15 sound veritably huge--i can't wait to try it on my buddy's HD28V....what a cannon! i've got tracks that i've recorded with just a B1, just the 603s in XY, just the 603s in that spaced pair config and then tracks with the B1 thrown in the mix, and you guessed it, now i need to go back and retrack everything that wasn't the combination of the three.

the combination of these three mics on an acoustic guitar is a definite winner for the home recordist/project studio. you could do a lot worse for the ~$250, ya know?


wade
 
Thanks, all. Sounds like a couple of B1s will start me off well... at least for under $200.

Thanks for chipping in.

J.
 
jeffree said:
Hi, all. No need to try to talk me out of SP mics at this point--I've done some heavy research lately and have decided to buy some SPs for my home studio--but I do have a question for any experienced SP users:

For mainly acoustic guitars, nylon and steel, whould I be better
going with the C1 or the cheaper B1?
Click to expand...
Simple answer...

If you want to capture the REAL sound of your acoustic, then you HAVE to have the C4s. There are other mics that’ll get you close for cheaper, but since you want Studio Projects, that’s your only choice. They’re probably worth the investment, though. Haven’t tried these yet, but I keep hearing that they’re great sounding, very accurate mics. No bad or mediocre reviews yet, anyway.

If you don’t mind to, or just want to ‘color’ the sound of your guitar a little bit, then either the B1 or B3 will do the trick. Whether or not this ‘color’ is a good thing, you’ll have to decide for yourself. It’s kind of subtle with these mics, but it’s there, never-the-less. I prefer the B3, because in examples I’ve heard, it sounds a little less harsh on the steel string’s high-end. Plus, I have the option to go omni if I want.

Any LDC mic will put it’s ‘color’ into the sound and some more than others. To me, the C1, though good on vocals, puts too much of it’s own ‘color’ into the acoustic guitar, which makes it less desirable.

My $0.02
 
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Yo Jeff! I use B-1, C-3, and C-4's. I disagree with the guy who said SD's are some kind of automatic choice for acoustic. On steel strings played in certain ways, an LD alone on the 12th fret can be lovely, and there really are 2 camps. There are plenty of very good tracking engineers recording acoustic with 1 or more LD's.
The B-1 works rather well for that, at it's price point. I've had my best luck with 1 AKG C414B-ULS. I have to agree with Dot- My C-3 does blow on acoustic. With nylon strings, I've had better luck with a pair of SD's X-Y. The C-4's are very good in that role, and are quite good on steel strings as well. Unlike the C-4's, though, you can sing into a B-1.-Richie
 
Re: Re: Studio Projects B1 or C1 for acoustic guitars?

Flatpicker said:
Simple answer...

If you want to capture the REAL sound of your acoustic, then you HAVE to have the C4s. There are other mics that’ll get you close for cheaper, but since you want Studio Projects, that’s your only choice. They’re probably worth the investment, though. Haven’t tried these yet, but I keep hearing that they’re great sounding, very accurate mics. No bad or mediocre reviews yet, anyway.

If you don’t mind to, or just want to ‘color’ the sound of your guitar a little bit, then either the B1 or B3 will do the trick. Whether or not this ‘color’ is a good thing, you’ll have to decide for yourself. It’s kind of subtle with these mics, but it’s there, never-the-less. I prefer the B3, because in examples I’ve heard, it sounds a little less harsh on the steel string’s high-end. Plus, I have the option to go omni if I want.

Any LDC mic will put it’s ‘color’ into the sound and some more than others. To me, the C1, though good on vocals, puts too much of it’s own ‘color’ into the acoustic guitar, which makes it less desirable.

My $0.02
Click to expand...
Wow, that was well said... it's nice to read a good message like the reply you posted above. Thanks
 
Richard Monroe said:
I disagree with the guy who said SD's are some kind of automatic choice for acoustic.
Click to expand...
Was it Harvey who said something similar to that in the big sticky thread at the top of this mic forum?
 
Flatpicker, I don't know how many of the mics you mentioned you've used, but I think some of your descriptions and solutions are inaccurate. The C4 SDC's are not "accurate" and they're actually quite colored. More colored than the B series. They are, after all, "C Series" mics. All the C's are fairly colored.

The C4's sound quite good, but are less "real" sounding than the B1 or B3 - which are fairly neutral. Out of all these SP mics, if you're going for something that's as close as possible to the actual sound of whatever instrument you're playing – the B1 and B3 are your best bet, IMO.

BTW, the B1 and B3 are absolute monster mics on toms and also make great OH mics.

The C4's are more forgiving and I think one of the big pluses for the way they're tweaked is that if you're recording in a room that is acoustically less than stellar, the C4's can help smooth out the edges. And in that way, the C4 could also be termed a warm and colored-sounding mic – which also works well to tame some of the harsh transients coming off of cymbals.

Just like some people like the AKG 451 on acoustic, but feel it's too bright for drum OH's – I feel that C4 is excellent for drum OH's and may or may not - according to your taste – work as well on acoustic. Though you can certainly use it on acoustic, and the color and character of the C4 might actually help "glue" the acoustic track nicely in the mix.

Another plus of the C4's is if you have a fairly clean mic pre, like the DMP3, Grace or Sytek - the C4's offer an inexpensive solution for adding some color into the chain.

Dan Richards
Digital Pro Sound
The Listening Sessions
 
Dot said:
Flatpicker, I don't know how many of the mics you mentioned you've used, but I think some of your descriptions and solutions are inaccurate. The C4 SDC's are not "accurate" and they're actually quite colored. More colored than the B series. They are, after all, "C Series" mics. All the C's are fairly colored.

The C4's sound quite good, but are less "real" sounding than the B1 or B3 - which are fairly neutral. Out of all these SP mics, if you're going for something that's as close as possible to the actual sound of whatever instrument you're playing – the B1 and B3 are your best bet, IMO.

BTW, the B1 and B3 are absolute monster mics on toms and also make great OH mics.

The C4's are more forgiving and I think one of the big pluses for the way they're tweaked is that if you're recording in a room that is acoustically less than stellar, the C4's can help smooth out the edges. And in that way, the C4 could also be termed a warm and colored-sounding mic – which also works well to tame some of the harsh transients coming off of cymbals.

Just like some people like the AKG 451 on acoustic, but feel it's too bright for drum OH's – I feel that C4 is excellent for drum OH's and may or may not - according to your taste – work as well on acoustic. Though you can certainly use it on acoustic, and the color and character of the C4 might actually help "glue" the acoustic track nicely in the mix.

Another plus of the C4's is if you have a fairly clean mic pre, like the DMP3, Grace or Sytek - the C4's offer an inexpensive solution for adding some color into the chain.

Dan Richards
Digital Pro Sound
The Listening Sessions
Click to expand...
I've never used the Studio Projects C4's before... but, from reading about them I was under the impression that the C4 was an accurate uncolored flat type mic... thanks for letting everyone know that is not true.
 
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