Wrong ....

Hey Man, welcome.

Personally, in my experience, no. I've had soooo many guitarists come in and tell me how awesome their pickups are and that they want to use em when we record -- and I am always polite, nod, smile and put up a KM84 and tell them that I like options - we'll use whatever works best. And we record both.

Upon listening back, I've never had them tell me they hated the KM84, and love their pickup track. Never. So that's MY experience, and my $0.02.

Now......if your room sucks, or your mic selection sucks, or your preamp sucks or your skills suck or they ALL suck cause you don't have the tools and experience you'd prefer - then yeah, maybe the pickup version will sound better. But generally, I've never used a pickup acoustic guitar track other than "ghosted in the background". So take it for what it's worth. Don't be discouraged by the struggle. Embrace it, try different things, and move forward in your skills. That's how we learn. We have ALL have struggled to get what we hear in our head, and truthfully, we STILL struggle if we're trying to grow in our craft.

Keep after it. And best of luck.

Or a KM86 (preferred IMO)  if you can have only one....

Keep looking!!!  It took me about 5 years, but I found a pristine pair, and I find them a touch more balanced in the upper freqs.  My 84's haven't seen much use on acoustic guitars since getting the 84's.  I've taken to using an 84 on the side of snares though.  Rocks there.  They are killer on the top of snare too but I'm too chicken to use them there.....  

Thanks all. I'll persevere a bit more with mike placement and experiment. Neumann's a bit beyond me, will check out K&K.
I think you're all gently pointing me towards a decent studio, and I agree. Been in a few with bands, which was great, but never felt confident to go it alone in one.
P.S. found my way here after lurking for years at that other place that can't be mentioned. I like what you've got here, thanks for letting me join.

drbill,

Do you have a separate room for recording acoustic guitar?

One of the things I'm trying to work out in my new studio rebuild is having  a good space for recording acoustic guitar in my dual use (tracking/mixing) room. It is one of the things I've discussed with Jeff Hedback. So, it will be interesting to see if it can be done.

Just as an aside , been having a listen via those links some of you have. Quality lives here.Particularly love that Gretchen Wilson recording (bit of a Chuck Prophet vibe on guitar)

I've got a K.Yairi (aka nearly-a-Martin) without a pickup but can't seem to get it to record anything like it sounds when played. I normally end up DI'ing my Ovation which has a sound I can only describe as "rubbery" (no, not chinese). I don't use a pick, would that affect mic placement (I'm thinking as there is less top end without a pick)?

P.S. I apologise for mentioning K.Yairi and Ovation to all you acoustic guitar purists and will now wash my mouth out with soap:)

Piezos, please shoot me, but they just suck soundwise. Maybe i am deaf, but to me as a non-guitar player, they always seem to distort as if they couldn't handle attack at all. Maybe i am the only one.
They might come handy for live playing duties though. I know a guitarist who uses his acoustic in solos like a solidbody, full effects board. Cool somehow. But nothing like a mic'ed acoustic.
Even a half decent mic might be able to bring up something much better.
I already guerilla-recorded acoustic guitar in living room and bedroom with a M201, my clamp it on everything mic, improvise with bedsheets, paravents, furniture, whatever you have there. If you are alone, you can run around snapping fingers and handclapping, try another placement, sit down again, play and listen to the headphone. Everything is allowed to achieve a result you can live with...
I heard good guitar tracks that were recorded between dining room and kitchen with a small Neumann LDC, i do not remember, but i guess it was a TLM103...
If time is not the issue and you want to record at home, i am pretty sure you can get a more decent sound than a piezo, even without perfect equipment. But you have to try out a lot. OK, don't expect wonders, but if you try hard, you *might* get a better result than you thought and learn something about working with the equipment you already have ... getting skills this way can be fun...
After all, if the performance is better at home ... why not.
You might get a good demo quality. That said i know of a(n experienced pro) guitar duo that tracked a whole album at one guitarists house, home recording style. AFAIK mix was done in a studio. Sounds pretty good though. As far as i got it, they used a small modern Neumann LDC (TLM103? not sure, but i think he mentioned...) for almost everything, guitars and vocals. However, it worked pretty good.
Sure - if you can, go into a pro recording studio. Often less expensive than upgrading the own equipment to the same level - and a good room...an engineer who knows his equipment and room....

Noting on Planet guitar ever sounded as bad as an Ovation!!

Oh yes, I forgot about those abominations!!

I remember my first flat in Berlin it sounded good by default.
It got even better when I placed my back in the direction of a corner and I did use one KM 184 to pick up the guitar at about 50 cm away of the 12 fret pointing angled to the floor.

Its worth to try different spots in your room things will change.

If everything fails in home recording I love to use a dynamic with the Triton-Audio-Amp.
I use reverb later.
Better than nothing.

I think learning how to mic a guitar never stops.
I remember Randge teaching here the ribbon over shoulder technique - priceless.