What acoustic guitar record best ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chuckschwandt
  • Start date Start date

What acoustic guitars record best for you?

  • Olson

    Votes: 8 4.0%

  • Lowden

    Votes: 7 3.5%

  • Gibson

    Votes: 17 8.5%

  • Alvarez

    Votes: 7 3.5%

  • Takamini

    Votes: 16 8.0%

  • Martin

    Votes: 77 38.3%

  • Ovation

    Votes: 17 8.5%

  • Fender

    Votes: 5 2.5%

  • Guild

    Votes: 13 6.5%

  • Yamaha

    Votes: 34 16.9%
  • Total voters
    201
more specifically...

... i, too, think it would be more informative to see what acoustic guitar sizes (dreadnought, om, oo, ooo, jumbo, etc), and woods (spruce, mahogany, maple) folks are getting certain results with when recording. brand name is kinda secondary to me, personally.
i tend to like smaller bodied guitars for recording... more even tones from top to bottom to my ear (i don't like the "woof" of dreadnoughts. my personal favorites are a collings om sized guitar (spruce top, brazilian rosewood), and a much less expensive, all mahogany martin 00-15 that practically records itself. of the bigger guitars i do dig the round shouldered gibsons, but i don't own one... yet:)
as stated by others, i agree that the player is a HUGE part of it. i know some guys who can make total crap ring like a bell.
peace - jv
 
just out of curiosity...

... this is a thread about recording a guitar, as opposed to using an acoustic guitar live, right? i ask because i noticed some posts a ways back taliking about piezo pickups and on board pre's. do some folks really like the sound of an acoustic guitar recorded direct with a piezo? i am truly curious, and don't mean at all to come off like some purist... but i don't even like the quacky, stringy sound of those things in a live setting (although we all have to make some sacrifices when playing through a pa).
like i said, just curious, not trying slag on anyone's sound.
peace - jv
 
I have a couple of Taylors --- 614 with fishman aand a KOA model with the new es pickup system

but do not think you could beat my KOA model with the new es pickup system

I can mic one channel then record the new pickup system direct to another channel --

Just a fantastic sound when I work the miced channel through my new little RNC compressor --
 
I have a Taylor 815CE which I am extremely happy with. The expressions pickup system is very nice. When recording I use it on one channel and 3 mics. It allows for a lot of flexabliity.
 
yeah,

i can see how recording direct and micing the guitar as well, could give you some flexibilty and control in mixing. i just haven't found any pickups that i have liked enough to record direct, although i tried a guitar with k&k transducers in it that i liked very much. i may put them in my little martin, at least for live work.
peace - jv
 
from what ive seen and heard.. i think martin takes the cake...

but thats throwing the player out the window
 
Light said:

I have never been fond of Taylors (the exception being the Leo Kottke twelve string). They are all very nice, but they tend to have no character. This is the problem with growing up with a Luthier as a father. I have been surounded by some of the best guitars in the world for so long, that I am jaded when it comes to factory instruments. Taylors just sound too much like one another to my ear. A guitar should be distictive and unique. Taylors never are. They are just nice.
Click to expand...

LOL! you kill me.

To paraphrase: Light doesn't like Taylors (or isn't fond of them) because the Factory CONSISTANTLY puts out a "nice" quality instrument that.... hmmm?..... sounds like a Taylor.

too funny!
 
Funny he may be...But honest he is...I own a Taylor 414CE..2000 model.When I bought it I had the money for a Kottke and was also looking at 814's and higher end Martins,Larrivees,Collings...etc.I played at least 30 guitars extensively.The Taylor I bought was the only one that was un-Taylor-like.The only one that had a balanced response throughout the ENTIRE guitar. Dont get me wrong, I love Taylors and think they have a distinctive sound.To me there are three signature acoustic guitar sounds as far as mass produced acoustics are concerned.The Martin,The Gibson, and now The Taylor.Taylor basically surplanted The Guild for that share of the sound market.And there is nothing wrong with this at all.You are assured,as a buyer, that you can go anywhere these instruments are sold and get one that is similar to another in a totally different section of the world.
What Light is refering to,is a truly hand built guitar.And if you havent personally experienced one of these in person then theres no way to describe the difference.If you want a taste of this experience, the search around for a reputable luthier and let them do a number on your straight from the factory Martin,Gibson,Taylor,Larrivee...etc etc.Let them shave the bracing,setup for your style of playing and your string tension.Then play your guitar and tell me what the difference is.A great luthier can make you a better player simply by allowing the guitar to operate at a higher plane of existance.

As far as recording, there are a lot of different sounding acoustics and each one may have a place in a mix.I use my Taylor for a lot of tracks as well as an old Alverez, and my favorite, an Ibanez Ragtime.Its a plywood guitar with an odd shaped sound hole...It has more of an archtop sound than your typical big acoustic sound, but it works so well for bed tracks...like an archtop on steroids.In short a perfect contrast for the more focused and woody sound of the Taylor.
 
The Gibson J45 is probably the standard steel string acoustic. There are lots of old ones floating around that are reasonably priced considering the quality of guitar.

My recording acoustic is a Taylor PK30. It's a parlor size with koa back and sides.
 
Martin

My dads Martin D28 is the best, the most amazing sound i have heard.

Although he doesnt know ive used if for recording!
 
gibson

I have had the opportunity to play the gibson j-60 studio model. Why it was a choice for studio recording is not a surprise. I've noticed it gets better with age. My Framus has improved in sound over the thirty years I've owned it. My les paul custom probably won't.
 
I have a taylor 314ce..it's a limited edition from 2001 and it has solid imbuia on the back and sides..it's tuned down 1/2 step and strung with phosphor bronze strings..very even and warm sounding...

some taylors are too jangly and bright for me but this one is great..

imho, the best sounding taylor, off the rack, is the 514..the cedar/mahagony combo is warm off the bat..
 
Well..........I thought my new Martin -DC16-GTE- souded good direct into my DAW, it did, sounded great actually. Then I plunked my new Studio Projects C1- large-diaphram mike in front of my martin and recorded it and the pre-amp together, mixed the two signals and....WOW..........
 
to me the best recording acoustic guitar will be Washburn's because that's what I'm playing right now, for woods I like mahogany back and sides with spruce top, solid of course, a dreadnought body and middle gauge strings tune to D to lower the tension and ease playability.
 
shredfit said:
LOL! you kill me.

To paraphrase: Light doesn't like Taylors (or isn't fond of them) because the Factory CONSISTANTLY puts out a "nice" quality instrument that.... hmmm?..... sounds like a Taylor.

too funny!
Click to expand...


Right, but they never put out a great instrument. I am only interested in great instruments, as that is what I have always played. I am spoiled by the fact that my father is a luthier, and he makes great guitars. I also do not like their sound, as they lack the low end fullness that I like.

If I was to play a factory guitar, it would be a Gibson, but I would spend a long time trying to find the right one. When I found it, it would be amazing.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I'm planning to buy a Yamaha APX5, and for acoustic recording a MXL 603S condenser mic. (Please don't go and talk about the mic, because there are other threads for that subject.) But is the APX5 a good sounding and playable guitar?

Thanks
Stan :)
 
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