Is my guitar made of plastic?

[SpaceCad]

I've been trying to get a usable recording out of my acoustic for many months now and I'm at the end of my rope. It seems that no matter how I mic the guitar (or what mic, pre I use) it always ends up sounding like its made of plastic. It's got this really annoying, kinda honky frequency that dominates the recorded sound. Maybe its my mic placement, maybe its just the guitar - bottom line is I have to work with what I have:

Otari MX5050 4-track with mic pres
Mackie 1202
Rode NT4 stereo mic
57
Oktava 012

Fender solid top acoustic (this is probably 80% of the problem)

I think the guitar has a dominating frequency response at 220Hz. I say this because when setting levels if I play the open A string it pins the needle but if I continue playing other notes with the same dynamic the needle peaks at 0. Don't know if this is part of the problem.

Is this something I can fix with mic placement, and if so what would you recommend. (I'm recording myself play so it is a pretty tedious at this point - placing a mic, recording, listening back, moving mic, replaying, etc. I'm finding that I'm spending way too much time setting up and very little time recording.)

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[soundguy]

Plug in all your mics and stuff that you would normally do. Assuming you cant get a friend or your mom or someone to help you for 20 minutes, put the guitar on a stand, hold the mic in your hand, strum the strings open and while listening with headphones on, move the mic around in front of the guitar and this should let you know at the very least what you options are in regards to what each mic is gonna do with the offending frequency you are worried about. If you can find a good placement for the mic, make like, a mental drawing, or a paper drawing (that later someone will undoubtedly ask you to scan and post on the internet under the misgiven fantasy that your mic placement in your room will help them solve their similar problem with a different guitar in a different room) and try to recreate the angle and distance you had worked out on the stand. Of course with your body touching the guitar its going to resonate a little ddifferently, but its at least a start. But you have to listen when you place a mic. any other way is just guessing.

dave

[ottokbre]

I have a Fender acoustic as well. A maple cutaway, really a stage guitar if its to be validated as an insturment. I've just got so used to playing it tho.

I get a very decent sound out of it by pointing a SM57 right around the sound hole and the end of the fret board, about a good foot away.
Then, when seated, I slip my Oktava 219 behind the body, on my lap facing up. Sounds strange, I know. But it works when I mix these hard panned each way. The 219 picks up the percussive elements and low end, and even some high mids off the back surface. The SM57 gets the mids and the string articulation.

In the end, it sounds like what I'm hearing as the guitar player. I like it and its all I've been doing latley!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Try the 57 in front of the guitar pointed at the 12th fret but angled toward the body and another (condenser if you have it) over your right shoulder at head leval pointing down toward the guitar.

[lunchboxaudio]

You should be able to get really nice sounds on acoustic with an MC-012. I would definitely take everyone's suggestions. 12th fret pointed at the neck or angled towards the sound hole. Over the shoulder approach is great. 1 mic is all you need.

With the A-string, is your attack even across the instrument? Maybe your guitar resonates more at that frequency? I dunno. Micing the body of the instrument will get you more woody low tones. So maybe move more towards micing at the neck or further away from the instrument 6" is pretty good or 2 feet. Whatever works.

Try a friend's guitar and see if your results are the same.

[bobbydj]

Then, when seated, I slip my Oktava 219 behind the body, on my lap facing up.

If you get a boner does it rustle?? Ok - seriously though - do you have to stay still as a statue?

[record]

you might also want to pay a little attention to the room you are recording in, and where your instrument and mics are placed in that room. Have someone else play the guitar, put on some headphones (send the signal to the headphones) and move them and the mic until you find it.

The Oktava should definitely get you something useable. The "honky" sound your getting sounds like the mic is picking up too much of the soundhole and area behind the bridge. Try micing at the 12th fret pointing at an angle away from the soundhole, toward the headstock.

Also, make sure you're not using too much compression. That will acccentuate any "ugliness" you pick up, just as it will accentuate any "niceness".

[SpaceCad]

Thanks for all the help.

Yeah, the 12th fret approach is the most workable yet. Also having good luck with the NT4 over the shoulder pointing down directly above the strings (about 2-3 above the guitar). I love the sound of the 57 the best but I have to crank the pre to make up for the distance.

Thanks for all the advice.