Suggested/favorite signal chain for acoustic guitar...?

[Wayfarer]

If this has been discussed before or if it just upsets you for some reason, I do apologize...

I am in the process of planning an upgrade for my tiny home studio, and was wondering what mic/preamp combo people have had most success/satisfaction from. Also, if you can briefly describe mic(s) position and such as well...

My room is treated and sounds great, by the way.

My budget for said upgrade is about 3k.

My current mic situation is sorry at best: (1) c1000s and (1) SM58.

My current preamp is the Octane pre's in my ProFire 2626.

The acoustic guitar is an old, but nice sounding Martin.

I do thank you for taking the time to help a feller out!

[Ryan Silva]

Well if you?re going mono, and Acoustic Guitar is your only concern; I would think these combo's would sound nice.

Shure SM81 > API 512
Pros- Fast, and detailed
Cons-Weak low end

AKG 414 buls > Chandler Limited TG Channel
Pros- Full low end, smooth warm attack
Cons- Darker

Chameleon Labs TS-1 > UA M610
Pros- Soft and warm transients, lots of Tube Mojo, sits in dense mix well.
Cons- Slow attack, very dark

All I can think of at the moment

[casey campbell]

this is going to sound odd, but here we go....

purchase a at4041

purchase a at4033

take the at4033 on a boom stand and place it on the upper bout. monitor it solo'd through a nice pair of headphones (make sure your studio monitors are not going). place it where it sounds the sweetest. be sure to avoid the sound hole. some guys start at the octave fret....it's not real critical...just get it as close as you can to the guitar. i prefer close micing the top and not the fret board.
every guitar is different.

then, take your 4041 and mic towards the bridge on the lower back end. again - solo it and adjust it while monitoring on your headphones only...until you find the sweetest spot. pan'em wide...record a little sample and listen back. make adjustments as necessary.

as far as a mic pre, i would go with something transparent. martins can also come across with a ton of mid-low range if they are the dreadnaught variety.

the 4033 and 4041 combination is magic. sounds strange, but it's true.

i can send to you many samples of different guitars that i mic'd this way if you'd like.

[dsw]

I've had glorious success with two Neumann 184's and a True preamp.

[dave watkins]

i've got similar for signal chain, just the pres in my presonus firestudio project, and an old tascam mixer (which i use as the front end for dynamic and ribbon mics), but as far as mic placement i have absolutely been loving mid side setups on acoustic lately.

fantastic for when you have sparse arrangements/single guitar parts and some vocals. or use it just for the rhythm parts and do single mic setups for lead parts. extra great when your room sounds great. nothing like a single acoustic guitar wall of sound! and of course collapses well to mono.

i always use a fathead for the side, cause that's the only figure 8 i have.

and i have used a heil pr 30, a cascade v57, and a cheap behringer omni. for the mid duties, and have gotten results that i like. usually place the mics at least a foot out from the 12th or 14th fret, but it all would of course depend on how it sounds to you in your room with your guitar etc. etc. ymmv. but i like the results i get with my cheap stuff.

i have a larrivee dreadnought with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides that i have used this on. i can post samples if you like.

[kittonian]

My favorite signal chain for acoustic guitar is:

Peluso 2247SE on the body with a Peluso CEMC6 up top by the tuning pegs (for air). Both mics run into BAE 1073s and then into a DBX 160SL just to shave off any peaks. From there it goes into an Aurora16 and into PT|HD at 24bit 96kHz.

Killer signal chain and outstanding results.

[Neil Weir]

I love M160s on acoustics... almost always in mono but occasionally in conjunction with a figure 8 of some sort in a MS configuration for a little more width...

I hate zingy, bright acoustic sounds and the M160 usually gets me close to a sort of Beggar's Banquet / Let It Bleed tonality...

I've had good results using API, Great River MP-2NV, and Sytek pres with M160s...

[joninc]

that's a difficult question to answer.

what's the context?

solo fingerstyle?

rock band rhythm?

country?

bright and modern?

dark and dusty vintage?

there are endless ways to record it and what works in one context might sound terrible in another. the guitar itself is first and foremost in dictacting the sound and then using whatever mics/technique to capture whatever it is that song requires.

i have used nearly every mic and pre/compressor/eq at some point. pair of SDC for lots of top end shimmer. ribbons or dynamics for meaty and dark. LDC for very full frequency sounds.

i hate the idea of recording something the same way everytime and assuming it will work in every context.

[DupleMeter]

for the most part - a pair of KM184s will get you a lot of useful sounds from a nice old Martin.

As far as pre: Really depends. I, personally, would go for something like a Great River or a Broadhurst Gardens DAV (http://www.davelectronics.com/products.htm).

[jaguarsg]

modified peluso 2247le > 1272 > purple mc77

[jspartz]

Well last night I was playing around with finding a good setup for my new acoustic (Martin D-16GT). I started with an SM81 and an API clone. This sounded flat (I was looking for rich harmonic tones off the strings). So I plugged the SM81 into a mono gama, after a little tweaking I had a very nice sound. I thought about swapping out the SM81 but I knew I should be able to get a good sound out of it. The trick is to not get caught up in the brand/model of the gear but to use your ears and move on when it does not seem quite right.

Good luck!

[firesine]

Mojave MA200 > Neve 1073 > Gates StaLevel

or

Mojave MA100 > Neve 1073 > DBX 160X in overeasy mode

Depending on the sound you are looking for. The first is smoother but doesn't cut through a dense mix as well.

Then again, if its acoustic rhythm tracks for a rock song I'll most likely just throw up a 57 into the 1073. Instant balls-y acoustic sound. Probably don't even need a compressor.

[KennyLusk]

the 4033 and 4041 combination is magic. sounds strange, but it's true.

+1, I love this combination to bits, and the 4033 w/an MC012 also. I find the AT mics to favor fast pre's also, so I keep them away from tube pre's and just use my ZED board.

The 012 is magic with the EH 12AY7 tube pre as well.

I'm in love over the ZED pre's right now, they're huge bang for the buck IMO (6 pre channels for $400) and sound great with my AT's and 012's. They even almost kept me from selling a CAD M39 I had. There's no self-noise, they're solid, clean but not sterile, have a hint of sweet and are super tight. No hiss, no sizzle in the high's no spongey lows, no mud in the lower mids, no grit or spit in the upper mids and have a smooth top end. Just solid. And they're open...but not huge. Plus the EQ is totally transparent with incredible range of sweepable mids. People are going to get tired of me posting about the ZED I think.

The Octopre is a great buy IMO for clean stuff and I like the True Systems pre's a bunch. Nice dimension on the True Systems gear if you have the money.

[nick_a]

oktava mc012 -> shadow hills mono gama on nickel. instant badfinger.

[radical recording]

I've had glorious success with two Neumann 184's and a True preamp.

+1 on that! I love my Neumann's! Great on acoustics and overheads for drums. With a smaller mic you can move it around easier and really pinpoint the sweet spot for certain acoustics--all the shimmer and none of the boominess.