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Post by geoff738 on Feb 9, 2014 21:15:23 GMT -6
You know, J-200s, J-185s or Everly Bros, Grand auditoriums (is that Taylor's name for them?) etc.
Playing? Recording? Both?
I like some of the tones of stuff that is supposedly J-200s (Babe off Zep 1, lots of Who etc.) but I don't get on with them when I've played them. J-200s mostly. Never recorded one. A buddy does have a Collings that sounds amazing - really balanced, And incredibly light as well. Great guitar.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by geoff738 on Feb 10, 2014 20:17:32 GMT -6
Ok, given the overwhelming silence, I'm gonna take that as a big fat no!!
So, on the other extreme, how about parlours (I'm a Canuck, you gotta add the u) and 0 or 00s?
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by mobeach on Feb 11, 2014 18:51:19 GMT -6
My Ibanez is a mid size so I can't really comment  I had a Sigma 12 string about 30 years ago that was a large Dreadnought. |
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Post by jazznoise on Feb 12, 2014 6:12:53 GMT -6
I use my dad's old Seagull 6 string. Great acoustic guitar tone with medium-heavy gauge strings. Great for big strummy stuff, and the low end projects very well. Ribbons for vintage guitar sounds, probably a large condensers otherwise. Sometimes a standard dynamic, like a 57, works for the context. Adds a little edge they don't have themselves.
Smaller guitars are often very bright and peaky. They can be great for cutting through stuff, but them + sdc's in an XY on the 12 fret is a really popular sound that I hate. Give me a simple mono setup any day. Go mid/side or, better yet, use a wide pickup mic a bit further back (Omni, Fig 8, LDC style cardioid) for real depth. U87, EV635a, ECM 8000 would all be my choices. Omni's don't do proximity which keeps the port noise down, as the body can really get honky on those guitars for aggressive playing..
I also don't like Elixer strings, while I'm bitching, and piezo pickups were invented in Satan's anus. That said I do sort of like the sound of magnetic pickups on acoustic guitars. Nirvana's Unplugged is an acoustic with a magnetic pickup going into a Fender amp, which was cranked.
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Post by geoff738 on Feb 14, 2014 19:21:07 GMT -6
piezo pickups were invented in Satan's anus. Words to live by! I'm a one mic guy on acoustics too. At first it was LDCs then I gravitated to mid-sized like the AT 4033 (at the time I didn't have a decent SDC) and now I'm playing around more with SDCs. A bit off my OP, but anybody like dynamics on acoustic? I've played around with a 201 a bit and I can hear how it might work ok for certain things. So, what of dynamics? Which ones, where are you putting them (hopefully not where piezo pickups were invented) etc. And, back to my OP. To turn it on its head, anybody here despise jumbos? Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by jazznoise on Feb 14, 2014 20:24:25 GMT -6
I like my EV635a or an AKG D160 as dynamics. Positioning away from the sound hole is less critical as proximity effect is less of a problem in Omni dynamic microphones.
M201's will work if the player can stay still. They're very condensery in quality - a classy dynamic to be sure, I want one! SM57's can work if you want something kinda aggressive. Think I used an RE20 before and found it a bit too slow, so I couldn't imagine an SM7 would be much for you either.
Not quite dynamic but ribbons are nice on acoustics - but you need the distance. Set up something like an RM700 or any long ribbon mic, step back 1-2 feet and bash out the chords to The Kink's Summertime. Bit of dirty, fast release compression and you're there!
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Post by geoff738 on Feb 14, 2014 21:38:09 GMT -6
I like my EV635a or an AKG D160 as dynamics. Positioning away from the sound hole is less critical as proximity effect is less of a problem in Omni dynamic microphones. M201's will work if the player can stay still. They're very condensery in quality - a classy dynamic to be sure, I want one! SM57's can work if you want something kinda aggressive. Think I used an RE20 before and found it a bit too slow, so I couldn't imagine an SM7 would be much for you either. Not quite dynamic but ribbons are nice on acoustics - but you need the distance. Set up something like an RM700 or any long ribbon mic, step back 1-2 feet and bash out the chords to The Kink's Summertime. Bit of dirty, fast release compression and you're there! oooh - I'm a Kinks/ Ray Davies nut, so - I hope Ray and Dave can get their shit together and tour this year for their 50th! Anywho - are you putting your dynamics in standard places (oh, 12th fret a foot or so out looking back at neck/body say?) or well, where? I guess 20 years ago when all I had was a 57 and a Porta-one I used 57s on acoustics. Definitely has a sound! FWIW I've pretty much stuck to the standard mic positioning when trying dynamics. Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by jazznoise on Feb 15, 2014 12:07:53 GMT -6
Anyway from 4 inches to 2 feet back depending where I want the track in the mix, but the mic usually stays around the 12th fret. I'll point it towards the neck if I need less pick attack, closer if I need more. I don't tend to dwell on acoustics, I just stick my headphones on and move the mic around (or move myself around if I'm playing).
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Post by mobeach on Feb 16, 2014 8:41:00 GMT -6
I had a Yamaha TRB-6P Bass with Piezo's, for Jazz it was awesome.
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Post by grummy on Feb 16, 2014 18:22:41 GMT -6
Don't know about large acoustics myself but on regular acoustics a dynamic that I've found very nice is the md441.
I recently picked up a NOS EV664A and have been meaning to try it on acoustic too. Like the md441 it's super cardioid but has no proximity effect. On a quick listen it's got a similar vibe to a 57 but possibly a bit smoother and open. That combined with the lack of proximity effect should make for a happy combo on acoustic.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2014 18:46:23 GMT -6
it depends on what it's being used for, I like 3/4 sized acoustics for just sitting around and playing. They're more comfortable and in dense mixes where it's not the prominent instrument they can be very nice. If it's a single acoustic and vocal I might be inclined to go with one as there's room in the bottom end for it. Some of those Gibson's have a massive bottom end to them that would be impossible to fit in a lot of my work.
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Post by iamasound on Jul 18, 2016 6:13:30 GMT -6
A little bit ago I adopted a very nice and cherry Ibanez j540 with the spruce top and sweetly tigered maple sides and back. My daughter commented upon hearing it for the first time that she thought it a very loud guitar, and I guess that it is compared to my D15 hog and Roy Noble ceder/rosewood. The three cover lots of ground and compliment each other well in a mix. When using one mic the Noble likes the Gefell umt70s, the Martin a AT4041 and the new Ibanez a Gefell m930. For a dynamic on some things where there is a sparse mix and I wish a guitar to take on a supporting roll and not stand out, the RE-20 is something that I reach for.
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Post by Ward on Jul 18, 2016 8:21:15 GMT -6
A little bit ago I adopted a very nice and cherry Ibanez j540 with the spruce top and sweetly tigered maple sides and back. My daughter commented upon hearing it for the first time that she thought it a very loud guitar, and I guess that it is compared to my D15 hog and Roy Noble ceder/rosewood. The three cover lots of ground and compliment each other well in a mix. When using one mic the Noble likes the Gefell umt70s, the Martin a AT4041 and the new Ibanez a Gefell m930. For a dynamic on some things where there is a sparse mix and I wish a guitar to take on a supporting roll and not stand out, the RE-20 is something that I reach for. I like your mic choices... but I have resisted commenting on this thread until now due to not having anything positive to contribute. I guess I could have issued my blanket warning about big acoustics being incredibly difficult to use for recording and live performances due to extreme boom-iness in the 'upper bass' range. Great at parties, campfires, kitchen sessions etc. |
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Post by geoff738 on Jul 18, 2016 11:08:18 GMT -6
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Post by drbill on Jul 18, 2016 21:53:53 GMT -6
So, on the other extreme, how about parlours (I'm a Canuck, you gotta add the u) and 0 or 00s? Cheers, Geoff 000-18 Martin's (old ones) are my most favorite sounding guitars I've ever recorded. And I've recorded quite a bit. I like em so much that I bought two late 60's 000's and I'm not really even a guitarist..... |
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Post by geoff738 on Jul 19, 2016 20:24:57 GMT -6
Yeah, OOO/OMs are probably the best all rounders. Plenty of good modern ones too. Collings, Bourgeois, Huss and Dalton, and, uh, Martin, to name but a few.
Then again a J45 or SJ can cover a lot of ground too.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by iamasound on Jul 20, 2016 0:04:57 GMT -6
The absolute easiest guitar for me to record is a little 50 year old Framus parlor guitar that was given to me when I first got to Switzerland 12 years ago by my ex sister-in-law wanting to clear out her basement storage. Any mic anywhere, it makes no difference. It has a long old crack on the top, despirately needs new machines, but when it decides to stay in tune it delivers a quaint old blue sound like in the days of yore. It has a flat radius fretboard which used to rip the skin from under my fingernails, but since I have been able to up my daily playing time this no longer thankfully happens, my fingertips are back to ninja deadliness and nothing can damage or irritate them...they are once again indestructable, immortal.
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Post by Guitar on Aug 2, 2016 17:47:40 GMT -6
I can't comment on the jumbo guitars but I can comment on dynamic mics for acoustic guitars.
My favorites are the Sennheisers, MD441 or 421.
My next pick would be most of the vintage ElectroVoice stuff like the RE15, 635a, etc.
And I'll be pretty down to use an SM58 or SM57 as an all around choice, if, say, recording to a 4-track machine.
Cheap ribbon mics are also really fun sometimes for a "vintage" sound, I like the MXL stuff. R80 and R40.
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Post by Ward on Aug 4, 2016 7:06:46 GMT -6
The Electro-voice 635a is an 'Electronic News Gathering' microphone and excels at two things only:
1. flat and gacky sounding mid-heavy voice recording
2. driving in tack nails when you're hanging pictures.
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Post by Guitar on Aug 4, 2016 9:00:27 GMT -6
I don't agree with that assessment, LOL. It's a secret weapon.
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Post by guitfiddler on Aug 5, 2016 21:25:44 GMT -6
I don't have anything to add until my next session next week. This guy has a big bowl Takamine, not sure of the model, but it looks like a Gibson copy minus the headstock logo. I have my SDC options that I prefer, but not on big bowl guitars, so I can't add anything at the moment. It all depends on the arrangement, style, and mood of the song for me on what guitars would work the best. I love me a nice Martin though.
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Post by jazznoise on Aug 6, 2016 7:51:12 GMT -6
The Electro-voice 635a is an 'Electronic News Gathering' microphone and excels at two things only: 1. flat and gacky sounding mid-heavy voice recording 2. driving in tack nails when you're hanging pictures. Or when you need an omni mic with a lot of midrange. It's great for acoustic guitars in big mixes, add a high shelf and the sparkle comes out easy. You'd just be cutting the low end anyway. Don't get the hype as an overhead, though. |
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I had a Sigma 12 string about 30 years ago that was a large Dreadnought.
