Right now, I have only the trusty sm57 to record with. I know, it's not the choice mic for acoustic guitar, but it's all i got. My question is, why am I getting so much low end "muddiness" and not enough crispness from this mic? When I look at this on an analyzer, there seems to be a prominent peak at the 0 - 50 hz freq range. Have a listen to this sample:
This is recorded straight without any effects or EQ. I am placing the mic about 3-4 inches away from the soundhole on the guitar. Keep in mind I am fairly new to this, but I do understand the problem may just be that I am trying to record an acoustic git with a sm57 and not a good pair of condensors.
That's your problem, right there. You've got three factors adding the mud and boom to your recording.
1) The sound hole of the guitar puts out the most low frequencies of any other place on the guitar. Try micing around the 12th fret with the mic angled a bit towards the sound hole.
2) Since the mic is so close, it is picking up only the low freqs. projected by the sound hole. Backing the mic away will allow it to pick of some of the other frequencies better.
3) When you get that close to a cardioid pattern mic (which the 57 is) it boosts the low frequencies. That's called "proximity effect." Its great for vocals, but not so great for guitars. Try backing the mic out to 18 or 24 inches and see what you get. You might be able to get away with 10-12 inches.
With proper mic placement you should be able to get a fine sound out of that 57.
I was doing some testing with a 57 on my acoustic and I never liked the sound of it. It might work for some songs but in general it lacked any space and didnt sound very natural.
I've gotten much better results using a tube LD condensor for body and some ECM800s to get the high end and a distinct bass.
The SM57 is not a good choice for an acoustic guitar. However, if you're looking for a nice bright tone, try the SM57 pointed directly at the 12th fret, at about 3 inches off the fretboard. Yes that's close, but there's not a lot of low end up there. If you move the 57 too far back (just a few inches actually), you lose a ton of detail and usable signal very quickly.
If the acoustic guitar is something that you're going to record a lot, then you'll want to find an alternative microphone(s).
Now that I think of it Tex, I've never used the 57 on the acoustic except in a stereo x/y pair. Stereo makes any mic sound more realistic. Oh well, I guess I'm not really speaking from experience so I'll reserve my comments on how good a sound 1 57 will get from an acoustic.
Synergy, at least play with where you put the mic before shelling out for a LD condensor. Most condensors would sound just as bad if you put them right where you were putting the 57.
