[cowparsleyman]

This was a pain for me for many years, I could not get my acoustic guitars to sound as I wanted, so I did an extensive test and found the best configuration was the Mid-Side.

it gave depth and clarity that I was looking for.

How about you, what do you prefer?

cpm

[Boydie]

My starting point is a mic pointing towards the 12th fret, which usually gives a nice balance of "body warmth and clarity"

You can then move around to taste

If you have more mics I tend to find a good coverage of the guitar - eg close mics pointing at various bits of the guitar (using test recordings to find the sweet spots) and a room mic at some distance

You can then blend the tracks when mixing (paying particular attention to phase relationships) to get the overall sound you are after - which is likely to vary from track to track

[Hooded Singer]

I like to drop the mic inside the hole of the guitar to freely rattle around and find the tone naturally on its own intuition.

You could try this.

[Bill Saunders]

My starting point is a mic pointing towards the 12th fret, which usually gives a nice balance of "body warmth and clarity"

You can then move around to taste

I do this as a starting point too. I have also rather radically had the mic positioned over my shoulder (next to my ears!) The ideas here is to replicate the sound you are actually hearing.

[Wicked Deeds]

I direct the mic towards the bridge every time without fail. it's never let me down.

Paul

[cowparsleyman]

Well this is really interesting, a few surprises in there, love the idea of putting the mic inside the guitar.

I think about how much love and care it takes to make a guitar, why should one guitar cost £100 and another £1000? and why does the £1000 one sound gorgeous?

Poor mic placement  can make a great guitar sound awful, but rarely the other way around, so you need a good sound to start with.

I can't afford a pair of Neumann's, so I squeeze what I can from my humble mics, make them work hard for me.

What do you think?

cpm

[Wicked Deeds]

Surely, placing a mic inside a sound hole would result in an awful recording.

I notice any attempt to place a mic near the sound hole results in very poor results. Ideally, a mic at the bridge and a second at the  12th fret if you have the luxury of a second mic. Please enlighten me if I’m missing something about the qualities of different mics that produce good recordings from some of the suggested placements. I think that it is  quite important to sort this out to avoid misinformation and subsequently frustration and wasted time for everyone.

Paul

[cowparsleyman]

Hi Wicked deeds

Mic's can generate some heated debate, and your'e right not everyone has the luxury of 2 or 2 mic stands or the space to set them up.

I can only give you my own personal experience.

Neumann U87 condenser mics are popular in pro studios, but they are very expensive (way over £2.5k ea) and yes they sound very very clear, and they do pick up EVERYTHING from a long way away, scratch your eyebrow from a metre away and it'll pick it up.

As for placement that's why I posted this here, I just wanted to get the vibe from you all, and see if there was a clear concensus, or if mid side was a popular setup with you.

I was always looking for the best sound, and wasn't convinced I was getting it, so I thought I'd invest a day in controlled conditions to find what works best for me, it really paid off because now I know what to do to get the sound I want, I suppose it's getting one's money's worth from your gear.

I tried condenser and dynamic, mono , stereo, in/out phase stereo, mid side, 12th fret and soundhole, along with the K&K trinity preamp in the guitar.

If you haven't tried it, give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised.

This is a good place to start

https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013311/10-Microphone-Placement-Techniques-for-Acoustic-Guitar

Hope this helps

cpm

[Ramshackles]

U87's are used more often for vocals than acoustic guitar...but work well in either situation

I recently got a pair of beyerdynamic MC930, I'm really liking them in ORTF setup.

[cowparsleyman]

U87's are used more often for vocals than acoustic guitar...but work well in either situation

I recently got a pair of beyerdynamic MC930, I'm really liking them in ORTF setup.

Great to know. Have you got any recent acoustic instrumental tracks where you use them so I can hear in that config?

I would be interested to hear it.

Regards

cpm

[Ramshackles]

Sure, just recorded a quick doodle for you.

ORTF

XY Pair

If you are interested I could also do a spaced pair and mid-side example (if I can find the time).

Not saying stereo is best though, I also like a single mic toward the 12th fret if it calls for it...

[cowparsleyman]

Sure, just recorded a quick doodle for you.

ORTF

XY Pair

If you are interested I could also do a spaced pair and mid-side example (if I can find the time).

Not saying stereo is best though, I also like a single mic toward the 12th fret if it calls for it...

Thanks very much indeed Mr Shackles, I'll take a listen today, that's really good of you to do that.

cpm

[shadowfax]

I have one mic 30cm from the 12th fret..one mic 1metre away and one mic in the furthest corner of the room..I record guitar in our bathroom which is 5mx4m with a high ceiling and fully tiled..it has a fab sound...

couldn't live without it..

[Bankie]

I record guitar in our bathroom

Aren't you worried that the sound will be too wet? *gets coat*

[Martinswede]

12th fret aiming a bit towards the neck is my go to with a cheap large condenser. A possibility is that you let a friend who's good at playing guitar play and you listen. Many times you can get different good sounds out of the same good guitar. The sound you hear when you're playing might not be the best sound to capture.

In the end it's about volume. Where does different frequencies sound the most. Balancing out the 'palette' of sound hole boominess, fret noise, malnutrition-ed ambience etc.

My issue is more of placing myself in exactly the same spot in the next take.