Recording Small Body

[otavio]

Hi, folks...

Any tips for small body guitars recording !?
It´s a double 00 12 fret mahogany with plenty of highs

My mics are Shure SM81, AKG C414 and active ribbon AEA N22.
The guitar will arrive with KK mini (already have a preamp with 1mega input (FMR audio - RNP (Really Nice Preamp)

[Sage97]

Experiment with mic positioning, use good headphones and monitors.

Have you tried the RNC with your RNP?

[otavio]

Originally Posted by Sage97

Have you tried the RNC with your RNP?

Dont have RNC but always hear lovely things about it.
Hard to find those things in Brazil. RNP was brought by a friend.

Actually, the small body guitar didnt arrived yet, it´s almost in the end of the process with the builder...

[ChuckS]

Seems like you have nice recording gear to start experimenting. Personally, I don't use any type of compression when recording acoustic guitar. If there were vocals involved, maybe I'd look into a RNC.

I prefer stereo recording with a spaced pair setup. I don't care for mid-side recording that much for acoustic guitar, and the ribbons I've used (low end) haven't impressed me much. So, I'd be trying the AKG and Shure mics you have. If the guitar is pretty bright, a mic that is aiming around the neck joint could be tilted a bit towards the sound hole to compensate for too much treble. Seems like the Shure mic is flatter response in the high end; that might be better aimed at the neck joint and use the AKG aimed at the bridge area; but who knows, try it both ways.

[dmoss74]

try the 414 in omni mode. move it around until it sounds best. i'd stick to the mics only, but that's just me.

[Bob Womack]

I've had a bit of luck with a spaced pair of cardioids, arranged a bit like an inverted ORTF pair, and turned vertically.



You could do this with the AKG and the Shure. I use the same dimensions as the ORTF: 7" apart and 110' angle between the two. Aim it at the neck joint or possibly just out from there, starting around a foot and adjusting to take into account room ambience and bass tilt-up. It gives you a wider stereo field than a coincident pair but still offers a strong center image. The vertical arrangement eliminates the "bass on one side and treble on the other" effect of arraying them horizontally.

I came up with this in the middle of the night before a big session and was all flushed with the success after I used it. When I posted it here someone said, "You know George Massenberg was using that a while back." Lo and behold, I remembered that I'd read up on George's sessions with Dolly, Linda, and Emmy Lou for the Trio album back in the '90s. He used that array, turned on its ear, for his acoustic sounds. I just brought it back in my sleep!

Bob

[otavio]

Thanks, folks.
When arrives my 0018 ill run some tests on it.