Critique the sound of this acoustic guitar

[Big Al Rocks]

Will you critique the sound of this acoustic guitar? Just the sound. Not the ability of the person playing. Please and thank you.

[venuestudio]

Well what I like is that it is not excessively boomy. There is no finger/string noise. It does sound a little flat, one dimensional. A little light plate verb would be nice. I would like to hear a bit more shine on the top end, a bit crisper. That can be done with mic selection, a condenser with an extended top end would do the trick.

Here is a sample with a plate reverb brought in and out for comparison. The use of verb is going to depend on how you want it to sit in the mix.

verbed sample.mp3

[Big Al Rocks]

I will give your sample a listen tomorrow. I'm on my way out the door to band practice right now. I appreciate your input. Anyone else wanna chime in?

[brandondrury]

So far so good. You've got a nice little mono guitar sound that can certainly effectively convey real intensity in a real musical effort. It ain't gonna win any awards, but that isn't the point.

It's hard to give further advice as there is no musical context and that's the only thing that really matters. You could get more 3D-ness using m/s.
Brainworx | M/S Recording Tutorial - NEW!

Brandon

[venuestudio]

You can get m/s on the cheap without the plugin following this wiki entry. About halfway down the page there is a nice picture of what you are doing in the mix. You just need two mics, one with a figure 8 pattern.

[garww]

That's a good way to start. It's also highlighting your strum instrument (thumb ?) So, I'm hearing your thumb or whatever. If you are asking if this is a good sound to setup for, sure. But, a lot of things can change and you may want a different sound. For someone who does solo in a coffee house without any MIC, this might be unacceptable. The full range of the guitar is part of his voice.

[EnSkorSang]

For a single acoustic on it's own, a good part of the sound is how well it's played. It's not clear whether this is going to remain solo or be part of a dense mix.
For a single guitar, I'd try 2 mics, either M/S or xy pair. Or get two of the same mic's, put one pointing toward the bass strings and 1 directly below pointing towards the high strings. Then pan left/right.
A bit of pick/string noise can be nice on a solo guitar.

[Big Al Rocks]

Thanks for the input folks. This guitar is not going to be used for ANYTHING solo. It's an inexpensive acoustic I picked up recently and I wondered if anyone thought it would be good enough to do any recording with.

So far so good. You've got a nice little mono guitar sound that can certainly effectively convey real intensity in a real musical effort. It ain't gonna win any awards, but that isn't the point.

Definitely not trying to win any awards. HA HA! Just wanna make some noise.

You can get m/s on the cheap without the plugin following this wiki entry. About halfway down the page there is a nice picture of what you are doing in the mix. You just need two mics, one with a figure 8 pattern.

I was thinking of using my AT2020 to mic the room as well as using the Dean Markley acoustic pickup I recorded this sample with. Of course, I also have a couple Shure SM57s to record with as well.

For a single acoustic on it's own, a good part of the sound is how well it's played. It's not clear whether this is going to remain solo or be part of a dense mix.
For a single guitar, I'd try 2 mics, either M/S or xy pair. Or get two of the same mic's, put one pointing toward the bass strings and 1 directly below pointing towards the high strings. Then pan left/right.
A bit of pick/string noise can be nice on a solo guitar.

Definitely going to be a part of a bigger mix. I am no where near close (or confident) enough to do anything solo, especially considering I'm a only a drummer turned bass player. {insert drummer & bass player jokes here}

[garww]

I don't know this, but I suspect EQ is a big part of recording with a pick-up on acoustic guitar. I've thought about getting a used Markley as they can be pretty cheap on eBait.

[Big Al Rocks]

I don't know this, but I suspect EQ is a big part of recording with a pick-up on acoustic guitar. I've thought about getting a used Markley as they can be pretty cheap on eBait.

My suspicion is that your suspicion is correct. I picked mine up used from a local friend/recording engineer. He used it as a spare in his studio. I actually got it mainly to play live in my acoustic cover band but there's no reason not to use it to its fullest...

[m24p]

My suspicion is that your suspicion is correct. I picked mine up used from a local friend/recording engineer. He used it as a spare in his studio. I actually got it mainly to play live in my acoustic cover band but there's no reason not to use it to its fullest...

It's certainly good enough for recording if it's not going to be a featured instrument. See Love The Way You Lie.

To get this guitar like the example, you'd probably just eq it a bit to make it brighter with a few judicious cuts in the mids and a tiny broad boost up top, and double track it.

[brandondrury]

I don't know this, but I suspect EQ is a big part of recording with a pick-up on acoustic guitar.

In my view, the DI from an acoustic guitar is a totally different instrument from what you hear in the room. It's such a different sound that it's hard to apply any rules on it. I've not found any situations where a song screamed for the DI acoustic sound. The piezo-type thing just isn't my thing. If I need an acoustic sound, I always think of the sound in the room and go for mics.

I've heard recordings, usually big boy live productions, where the acoustic sounds amazing. I'm not sure how they are pulling that off. I've never heard a DI that sounded sparkly and jangly (whatever that means).

Brandon

[garww]

I think the pickup is a hole mount magnetic PU. There are some that are respectable. I plan to get a bridge p90 that is more authentic than the one in my Jay Turser SG, and the import p90 will go into the acoustic sound holes. Think blues. The Markley could be one of the even cheaper transducer models