tips on recording acoustic guitar through pickup

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yarek

New member
This is my first post here so Hello Everyone!

Lately I'm trying to record some sketches on acoustic guitar but I'm kinda forced now to use pickup system instead of good mic (kid screaming around :)

I wonder if you have any EQ/compression tips that will help me to get rid of that tone hardness and that unpleasant 'pluck'?

Thanks!
 
a good DI does really help.

i have an lr baggs para di for live shows and it does really well.


but if you just want to do what you can...just sweep through with a narrow q boost ...and cut what sounds horrible. you know...just like eq'ing anything else.
 
thanks guys! DI seems like good idea. But this raises another question: is the Instrumental input (Hi-Z a guess) of my M-audio ozone appropriate for acoustic pickup systems in terms of impedance ect. (the noise level seems to be high for 24-bit recording)?
 
Use the best preamp you have, or a good DI if possible. If you have an acoustic guitar amp, it might have an output that will likely sound better than plugged straight in. I normally don't like much compression on acoustic guitar but if it's DI then it can help to have the best compressor plug you can find and try it out. For EQ, make a big boost with a somewhat narrow Q and scroll it along until you hit the "quacky" frequency. Make it sound as bad as you can once you get there by adjusting the Q and then bring it from a boost to a dip. Even one or two db can really make a that track better. I usually find two or three frequencies I don't like that way. This is usually called filtering, and for me, this method works wonders.

Always toggle the bypass on each eq band to make sure you aren't taking away anything nice. I then open a second eq that is better for additive EQ. My favorite is Angeltone by Tritone, I add a nice high shelf and a few little boosts here or there in the midrange. I find the EQ's that are good for filtering are often not that great for adding eq and vice versa. And of course the right reverb can make a DI recording sound much better. Check out SIR - it's free and you can get killer reverbs for it. Good luck!
 
yarek said:
tips on recording acoustic guitar through pickup
Click to expand...


Don't.

Use a mic instead.

Pickups sound like ass ... as I see you've discovered. :D Your question is a lot like asking: "How do I get that 'oatmeal-y' taste out of my oatmeal?" You don't. Oatmeal tastes like oatmeal. And direct accoustic sounds like ... direct accoustic.
 
Daisy said:
Don't.

Use a mic instead.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same situation as you (the OP) -- I have to wait until the baby's asleep, the older kids are doing something quiet, and the wife is out shopping or something -- this means I get about a half hour week to record acoustic. But there's no getting around using mic(s) -- a lot of times I uses a stereo pair of mics *and* a pickup, and then put some effects on the pickup track and turn it way down - that can be cool.
 
^I'm like that too sometimes. I live with my parents though but Im moving out this summer. Hopefully the people at the apartment complex arent just as loud. But I agree that it sounds better through a mic.. but if you really have to just use a pre-amp as it was said already.
 
Antichef,

That's a good method. I have an even better one, though:

First, you record one track with the pickup and the other with a mic.

Then you just completely mute the pickup track. Even better.

.
 
i just recorded a friend of mines e.p. i micked up his guitar but i also saw he had a nice (wooden) pick up on his guitar, so i thought i may as well record though both and mute the pick up later :) and it acually sounded good. i ended up hard panning the signals and it sounded like two different guitar parts with the mic picking up the low strings better and the pick up prefering the high. try it, it worked really well for plucky folky stuff. i am gonna try the same effect with two mics next time.

anyway if they are just sketches, does it matter what it sounds like?
 
Daisy said:
Don't.

Use a mic instead.

Pickups sound like ass ... as I see you've discovered. :D Your question is a lot like asking: "How do I get that 'oatmeal-y' taste out of my oatmeal?" You don't. Oatmeal tastes like oatmeal. And direct accoustic sounds like ... direct accoustic.
Click to expand...

Yep. :D
 
I got lucky on one cut on my CD "Reunion". I had one of those songs that I was just having trouble playing it without singing, and I had to get some guide tracks out to the overdub staff in a hurry. I figured,"what the hell? I'll track a scratch track direct and mic it up pretty later."
Littledog, the mixing engineer (remember him, guys?) said, 'Why bother to do it again, there's nothing wrong with it. BTW, how did you do that?" It was tracked using a Taylor 710CE with a Fishman prefix plus stereo blender into a an old Joemeek twinQ. The internal mic and piezo pickup were sent to the 2 sides of the twinQ separately with about every bass cut available in use (the Taylor can be pretty boomy in the studio, even though everybody says Taylors are bright,) I notched out about 400 hz, and wound up using about 65% internal mic and 35% piezo, both panned to center. Littledog did any additional EQ that was applied. Here's a clip- check track #5, "Goody's Song". For reference, you can also check track #2, "Requiem", which is the same guitar mic'd up with a C414B-ULS on the 12th fret, into an Avalon AD2022. What the hell? The Joemeek turned out to be a pretty good DI box. For this application, the Joemeek turned out to be better than the Avalon. The Avalon was too honest (a *GREAT* bass DI). The Joemeek kind of airbrushed out most of the pezo "quack". Good luck.-Richie

http://bardwire.com/reunion.htm
 
Richard, this sounds really convincing.

I think I can get closer to miced sound while playing soft. The hardest stuff to nail is when I snap strings kinda like chickenpicking. The narrow filtering works wonders!
 
yarek said:
...any EQ/compression tips that will help me to get rid of that tone hardness and that unpleasant 'pluck'?
Click to expand...
My experience is that you can't get rid of those things with EQ/compression. You have to avoid the problems when tracking. It's all in the way the pickup (I'm assuming it's a piezo) is handled by the next stage in the signal chain. Use the right signal buffer and you won't have transducer quack and hard-edged zing. It still won't sound nearly as natural as a well mic'd guitar will, but it can be OK in its own piezo-ish way.
 
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Daisy said:
Don't.

Use a mic instead.

Pickups sound like ass ... as I see you've discovered. :D Your question is a lot like asking: "How do I get that 'oatmeal-y' taste out of my oatmeal?" You don't. Oatmeal tastes like oatmeal. And direct accoustic sounds like ... direct accoustic.
Click to expand...

WI'd choose a pickup/EQ combination over a mic/screaming kid any day, especially if it's just 'sketching,' which was the point of the post in the first place. Oatmeal? Naah.
 
Boss used to (maybe still does) make some acoustic guitar effects units- and they made some pretty tall claims about them. If they do half what Boss says they do, they should pretty up the signal coming from either a mag or piezo pickup.
 
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