Recording direct out from an amp vs direct vs mic'ing amp

[Woodpecker]

Equipment:
Eastman E20om
Fishman Matrix Infinity
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Lexicon Alpha Interface
Shure Sm-58
iRig Mic
Garageband and Reaper

Which of these do you think would sound better?

1. Eastman to Loudbox Mini direct out to Lexicon Alpha to Reaper
2. Eastman to Shure to Lexicon Alpha to Reaper
3. Eastman direct to Garageband (thru apogee jam)
4. Eastman to iRig mic to Garageband
5. Eastman to Loudbox Mini, mic'd by the Shure to Lexicon Alpha to Reaper
6. Eastman to Loudbox Mini, mic'd by the iRig mic to Garageband

LOL - so many choices. I'm pretty keen on trying direct first because I run into noise issues.

As a side note - I equally like the glassy acoustic/electric sound of a UST and the sound of pure mic'd acoustic. In otherwords I'm not trying to get rid of the UST sound.

What do you guys think? I'll post some sound clips when I get everything.

[Psalad]

For me microphone always wins. I might mix in some pickup tone but very rarely.

[Woodpecker]

Originally Posted by Psalad

For me microphone always wins. I might mix in some pickup tone but very rarely.

Thanks for the direct input - pun intended.

also, i have used reaper quite a bit - i'm curious if it wouldn't be easier recording through garageband and imovie.

[Doug Young]

Even if you don't mind the sound of a UST, many of your listeners will :-) Do yourself and them a favor and use a mic! None of these setups will produce a sound I'd want to listen to.

[Woodpecker]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Even if you don't mind the sound of a UST, many of your listeners will :-) Do yourself and them a favor and use a mic! None of these setups will produce a sound I'd want to listen to.

Doug,
4 of the 6 settings I mentioned would be mic'd - options 2,4,5,6?

What would you want to listen to? Did you read my original post?

[Doug Young]

Oops, sorry, I missed that. I was distracted by your statement about wanting to use the pickup. So my vote is any of the options with a mic, but leave the amp completely out of it. Just mic the guitar, which ever option that is, preferably with a pair of mics, in stereo.

[Woodpecker]

got it....thanks for your input.

[Doug Young]

I shouldn't be so black and white, but if you want an *acoustic* sound, at least a traditional one, I'd suggest micing the guitar. If you want something else, there are of course a whole spectrum of sounds you can have. Add distortion, chorus, etc, get a Monte Montgomery type sound, whatever. In that case, to me, you've left the acoustic world and are chasing something entirely different, in which case, anything's fair game. Perhaps it would have been better to ask "can you name someone who's sound you'd like to come close to?"

[Woodpecker]

i agree - the question i posed wasn't very good because sound is so subjective. i like john mayer's sound. i like the glassy sound of a ust and also the natural sound of a mic'd acoustic.

i was more thinking about what set-up would give you best recording results but failed to consider there is going to be 2 different sounds - the acoustic/electric sound of the ust and the natural sound of the mic'd guitar.

thanks for your input.

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I shouldn't be so black and white, but if you want an *acoustic* sound, at least a traditional one, I'd suggest micing the guitar. If you want something else, there are of course a whole spectrum of sounds you can have. Add distortion, chorus, etc, get a Monte Montgomery type sound, whatever. In that case, to me, you've left the acoustic world and are chasing something entirely different, in which case, anything's fair game. Perhaps it would have been better to ask "can you name someone who's sound you'd like to come close to?"

[Woodpecker]

now i have another option. i just bought a 95 dollar zoom q2hd...so the first recording method i will try will be;

eastman throuh loudbox mini with video and audio recorded simultaneously by the zoom.

p.s. sorry my shift keys are working again.

[Doug Young]

Definitely just try things, try everything. I'd still narrow down your goal: John Mayer's live sound, his CDs, his You Tube videos? Pick a specific recording, then see if you can match the sound. We had a thread here a while back about the sound of one of his videos. Some liked it, many didn't as I recall, because it was clearly plugged in. Maybe you were one of the ones who liked it. But most people don't call the UST sound "glassy", they call it "quacky" and consider it a bad thing. Adequate for live, but not for recording. But again, try each of your options, not once, but dozens, even hundreds of times, and you'll find a path that works for you.

I think you'll find that most people would prefer to listen to recordings that are made with a mic, not an amp or pickup, but you may not be trying to please other people, so go find what works for you.

[Psalad]

The other thing you get with a pickup is the ability to record vocals and guitar separately and replace the vocals later with a better take.

Personally I always record guitar first without vocal (singing it in my head as I record). I always use a stereo microphone... Even though there is very little difference between the two channels it makes it sound more real to me. I almost never end up using a pickup and most of the time don't even bother recording it... Waste of tracks.

If it were me, I would grab some of the Mayer tracks you like and find some sections with just solo guitar. I'd record using the microphones I had and then try using EQ in your DAW to see how similar you can get the two to sound. Keep in mind mayers sound will also be compressed and peak limited too, with added reverb.

[MikeBmusic]

Like the others, for me miking an acoustic always works best, but since you like hte 'plugged-in' sound, why not record both at the same time? The lexicon offers 2 input/2 track recording - Mic the guitar AND plug it in, reocrd both to seperate tracks.

Your questions regarding using Reaper vs garageband vs a video camera makes me wonder what your purpose (for recording) is. Reaper is a full-function DAW, garageband is limited, and a video camera is something entirely different!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Woodpecker

i agree - the question i posed wasn't very good because sound is so subjective. i like john mayer's sound. i like the glassy sound of a ust and also the natural sound of a mic'd acoustic.

i was more thinking about what set-up would give you best recording results but failed to consider there is going to be 2 different sounds - the acoustic/electric sound of the ust and the natural sound of the mic'd guitar.

thanks for your input.

Just to clarify while no doubt a well mic'ed
acoustic will be closer to what an acoustic sounds like in person (natural sound). The sound will still be a mic'ed and amplified sound and can not really be called a "natural sound" but simply perhaps "more like" the natural sound.

And while it is probably true that most acoustic guitar players like on this forum prefer the more natural "like" mic'ed acoustic sound, that is in fact only a personal subjective preference, and holds no more artistic validity than any other type of sound.

Like Mike suggested it is possible to record both ways at the same time and then decide or even blend the two and of course the beauty of digital is you are not using up any tape in the process so experimenting cost nothing but time.

Here is an example of an artist who actually features the "pic up sound"

[ukejon]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Just to clarify while no doubt a well mic'ed
acoustic will be closer to what an acoustic sounds like in person (natural sound). The sound will still be a mic'ed and amplified sound and can not really be called a "natural sound" but simply perhaps "more like" the natural sound.

And while it is probably true that most acoustic guitar players like on this forum prefer the more natural "like" mic'ed acoustic sound, that is in fact only a personal subjective preference, and holds no more artistic validity than any other type of sound.

Like Mike suggested it is possible to record both ways at the same time and then decide or even blend the two and of course the beauty of digital is you are not using up any tape in the process so experimenting cost nothing but time.

Here is an example of an artist who actually features the "pic up sound"

Good point. Just to be clear, this not only shows Craig's preference for the pick-up tone but also for the use of pretty noticeable effects as well (sounds like ample compression, reverb, EQ, maybe even some chorus or some form of sonic/dynamic maximizer).