Best position for internal mic

[Schau_ins_Regal]

Hi,

I am using a DPA4061 as an internal mic and did not experiment much yet regarding its position.

If the guitar is placed on a stand, I have it placed at the 6 o´clock position pointing upwards.

I wondered if anybody here already tried different positions and could share the insights.

Regards, Christoph

[dberkowitz]

The 4061 is an omni capsule. It's going to behave better against the soundboard than if you have it aiming out of the box from below the strings because when you place an omni-directional capsule against a surface, be it your face as we do for Broadway shows, or a soundboard, it no longer behaves as an omni capsule but rather as a cardiod. My $0.02.

[Schau_ins_Regal]

Hi David,

I have it placed against the soundboard. But the question is which position around the soundhole is best...

Regards, Christoph

[dberkowitz]

Play around with it. If I recall, Doug Young liked it coming right in front of the X-brace facing the neck. You do want the mic to be picking up near the sound hole so it reduces the tendency of an internal mic to sound boxy. Use your ears. If it sounds too bass-y, move it toward the treble side, etc. Start with a piece of tape to hold it there, then if you like the placement, mount it.

[j3ffr0]

Pointing towards the neck centered under the edge of the sound hole closest to the neck for me.

[Doug Young]

I usually place mine at 6 o'clock, if possible, and have it peeking out of the soundhole. Seems to sound good there. I first saw this setup from Laurence Juber, and just went "aha!". It made sense to me, clean, simple install, placed where it's going to pick up a bit of string, a bit of body, etc. I've tried mics in different places in the past, and to me, this seemed to work at least as well as any other place, tho I've never been very methodical about it.

Interestingly, last time I spoke to Laurence about this, he said that in one of his newer guitars, the guitar tech had misunderstood his instructions and mounted the mic deep in the body attached to the back of the guitar. (There have been some commercial systems that place the mic like this.) He said he was surprised to discover that it sounded better that way (He uses Audix mics, which also work great). That's been a while, and I don't know what his current positioning is, but I think it just goes to show: whatever works - try things!

[dberkowitz]

Doug, wasn't it the M7 that had the mic mounted there?

[Doug Young]

The one I was thinking of was the Baggs Dual Source, with the block of foam with the mic embedded in it. That was a nice sounding system, too.