The effect of pick-ups on Acoustic Guitars

[Martin00028EC]

Hello,

I totally understand the benefits of acoustic guitar pick-ups for on stage performance. However, I have been asking myself the following two questions:

1. Would it be preferable to record using a pick-up or a microphone?
2. Would two different account guitars sound closer to one another when they are played through a (identical) pick-up, as opposed to purely acoustically?

[piper_guitarist]

When it comes to recording there is no substitute for a high quality (interpretation: expensive) mic. That's just all there is to it. You'll never hear professional recording artists playing plugged in on studio recordings.

As far as pickups, I think it really depends. For example, with the exception of like the M80 and other soundhole pickups that have body sensors, soundhole pickups will make pretty much every guitar sound the same as the sound is purely produced from an electromagnetic field that's upset by the vibration of the strings. Likewise with USTs you're hearing the pickup rather than the guitar. Pickups that actually vibrate with the instrument (such as the K&K, for example) would probably sound different guitar to guitar.

[fishstick_kitty]

1) if your guitar has a pickup, there is no reason you can't bring that signal into your recording...along with a good mic signal. Then you have a true comparison and you can mix in both signals as you see fit.

2) 2 guitars will probably sound closer to one another if they had the same pickup...I've never experimented with that.

[Ergoetal]

I agree with Fishstick -- recording on multiple tracks, one w/pickup and one or more with mics gives you good flexibility in the mix. You might want to add a bit of growl to your bass, for instance, or even a touch of distortion -- the pickup signal will come in handy.

[MikeBmusic]

There are many methods of recording acoustic guitars, running the pickup DI-ed signal at the same time as miking is not uncommon. If you listen to enough music, you may be able to pick up on the recordings that HAVE used the pickup signal, rather than miking.

[Toby Walker]

I think it depends on the sound you're going for. On a few of my albums I've plugged my guitar directly into one channel and had multiple mics set up around the room creating a variety of tracks to mix as I saw fit.

I disagree with piper_guitarist when he says that you'll never hear "professional recording artists playing plugged in on studio recordings." Many of them have done so.

[Michael Watts]

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

I disagree with piper_guitarist when he says that you'll never hear "professional recording artists playing plugged in on studio recordings." Many of them have done so.

It does happen, in fact in the R&B community it's seen as an accepted texture rather than a substitute/imitation of acoustic tone. Sounds that in a fingerstyle context would set my teeth on edge can be used very effectively.

Thin-line acoustic Fender...



Ovation action for the purist...



This may just be an awful guitar recorded with the wrong mic... but it does work...

[clintj]

Soundboard pickups like the K&K do sound different with different guitars. The better balance and overtones of my OM come through pretty well plugged in as compared to my dread, and they both have the same pickup system. IOW, they sound like different guitars.