Conference napalm::guitar

    
    The advantage of omni mikes for close miking guitars is that most
    omni mikes do not have "proximity effect" which boosts bass.  This
    can cause a muddy pickup, but many unidirectional mikes have bass
    rolloff filters that can be switched in or you can use EQ on your
    mixer.
    
    You should listen to a good condenser mike, as these typically have
    a more "transparent" sound that is preferable for instruments like
    guitars.  But mike choice is a real religious issue.  There is an
    extensive note on it in MUSIC.  It is note #518.
    
    Press KP7 to add DREGS::MUSIC to your notebook.
    

    I think you should try out a PZM mike.  (This mike is Pressure
    sensitive to sound..)

    VBery strange looking.  About 4 inches square with a rib that runs
    up the middle.
        
    Set it on the floor about 2 or 3 feet infront of you, or, on
    a stand a few feet infront of you.
    
    It does a tremendous job on acoustic guitars as well as live
    performances...  About 50 bucks at Radio Shack, which by accord
    to the consumer reporst, Radio Shacks PZM mike is one of the best
    you can buy.  We've usd em for both, and they give you much
    better results than standard mikes.

    I'm recording a tune that starts out with an acoustic guitar and
    I've been making some experiments.
    
    I'm not a fan of very close miking acoustic guitars.   I like the
    tone you get from that, but I don't like to hear all the various
    noises (pick scrapes, string talk, my picking hand hitting the
    guitar, etc.)
    
    The problem though is that not close mic'ing I lose gain.  I usually
    run the mic through a compressor/gate/limiter (I compress the peaks
    with a fairly high ratio, 4-to-1 with a fairly high threshold).
    
    When the mic gets too far away from the guitar, I don't even get enough
    signal to drive the compression the way I'd like and have to boost
    with the preamp which of course, means more noise.
    
    I've borrowed a PZM mic that I'm hoping to try this weekend, but what
    I've had the best luck with was using a fairly unidirectional mic
    2-4 feet away pointed somewhere close to the sound hole but not "at"
    the sound hole.
    
    If you're really going for perfection, I suppose you can try mixing
    in a few ambient mics.  That adds a little realism but I don't bother
    cause the guitar part isn't that prominent in the mix and I have a 
    really good reverb that I add in.
    
    Another approach is to get a pickup, but I haven't liked any of
    ones I've tried.   I hear that some pros like to mix pickups with
    mics. 
    
    	db

    
    Well, thanks for your responses, I can definitely relate to what people
    have said already, I get a very muddy sound from the mic, especially
    when recording my six string.  With my 12 string, I'm fairly happy with
    the results.  And I have found that 2-4 feet away is a pretty good
    distance.  But I know I can do better, and if I'm about to dish out a
    lot of $$ for a multi-track recorder, I should make sure I get the best
    mic I can for my purposes.
    
    Dave
    

    I have an acoustic guitar that records better than any other guitar
    that I have. It's a junker, $50.00 (new) special. I mounted a 'Tele'
    bridge pickup (set into a piece of oak, screwed into the sound hole)
    under the strings, and I use a Shure SM58 about 10 inches away from the
    sound hole. This mixed thru a cheap parametric (Radio Shack) equilizer
    and a reverb unit (either an old Fender tube type or an Alesis
    MicroVerb), where the midrange in enhanced at around 1.5 khz. I get
    a fairly live sound without too much extra picking noise. The
    Microphone seems to add a lot of warmth.

    I use .008's on the acoustic guitar (kind on light, but they work well
    for me) & I seem to be able to make the guitar sound like any type of
    guitar that I want (this doesn't work at all outside of the recording
    envireonment however) using various stomp boxes & rack mount gear.

    I find that things that depend on the ambiance of the instrument (like
    acoustic guitar) works best if you can add a regular pickup on it some
    where (just don't mess up an expensive collectors item or a cherished
    guitar to try it) so that other noise generators that tend to surround
    you don't get the upper hand.

    I use a Teac #144 portastudio (4 tracker) for recording.

							Jens
    

    I want to try the PZM, but what I really like so far is a PL-76
    condenser mic about 18 inches from the guitar and pointed at the
    treble side of the 16th fret (approx.).  It has a great freq. response
    for guitar.  I also have an SM-57 that sounds pretty good in the
    same setup, but, to my ear, it seems to roll off the high overtones 
    too much.

    Bob

    
    I know quite a few bluegrass players who swear by PL76s for miking
    the instruments but use dynamics on the vocals.  I personally have
    found the PL-76 and its followup, the PL-76A good vocal mikes, but
    I think the PL series is gone in favor of the N/DYM line?  There
    still might be some around, I recall them being about $150.  
    
    I currently use a PL-91, rugged yes, but a muffled sound next to
    many other mikes (including the SM-58).
    
    

    There's a guy in our church orchestra that has a Martin with a built-in
    pickup.  When I do the sound, I hook him up right into the mixer.
    
    He doesn't use I pick but the sound of his fingernails strumming
    the strings can be annoying.  How could I get rid of this?
    
    Mike

    
    I happen to like and use as percussion the sound of fingers ploppin'
    on strings and if i am trying to be real acoustic sounding, i make
    sure they get picked up. To solve the close-miking problem and not
    loose too much gain, i often play into a corner and let the mike
    pick up the sound bouncing off the walls.
    
    Anyways, if i wanna lose the string 'noise', i use the pickups on
    my Ovation and feed in direct. 
    
    bs

    re .8   You should be able to notch out the annoying sound with
    a good eq. 
    
    Perhaps a noise gate or de-esser would help !
    
    Mark