Do I need to record solo instrumental guitar in stereo?
 

What about mono? Is this a bad thing? It certainly would double my mic budget. ;)

You don't NEED to but I think it's preferable as it creates a more interesting listening experience for the listener.

I do like a nice stereo capture in a great space. But I also think there's only one best spot to put a microphone. I did a 4 1/2 year stint mixing an internet radio show in a tiny, acoustically iffy room, and there was no way to do stereo mics on a guitar in there. But I had my delays and reverbs and that helped.

Here's a couple clips from that, one steel string and one nylon.

I prefer stereo. Good SDCs aren't that expensive IMO. Even a lot of inexpensive mics like the MXL603s are quite good.

Shure KSM 137
Line audio CM3 or CM4
AT4041
Oktava MC012

Just to name a few solid choices.

Also you can find them used for great prices.

Yes, no question, two mikes are needed if you want the potential for a top sounding recording of a solo guitar.

Bearing in mind, of course, that the top tier of the AGF is a pretty niche-y place, with a fairly narrow point of view. But if you want your recordings to sound like the ones they like, you need to record in stereo.

I want my solo guitar recordings to have a sound I like. Thus my opinion. On the other hand some instruments (including a voice) can
often be captured well in mono - usually small ones with a pretty uniform wavefront radiating in all directions (say a flute or some other
wind instruments for example).

It depends on the application. Solo guitar? The audience expects stereo, even if it is just coincident X-Y pair.

Bob

Whats in a word ??????

"NEED" absolutely not.

"WANT" mebby

"BAD THING" only in ones imagination :D

With the obvious budget issue in mind,,, that is say effectively cutting your budget per mic in 1/2 with a pair (First it depends on actual budget) But if for example you are thinking instead of 1/2 ing your mic budget you want one (perhaps better ) mic now and a second at some future point.

Then honestly there is nothing "wrong" recording in mono to start because :

As Brent mentioned you can always send from that mono track to a parallel stereo track with a stereo instance of a reverb or delay or even both and get some widening of the perceived sound field OR you can also duplicate a mono guitar track and "slip it" ever so slightly time wise then pan the original left and the dup right to create a faux stereo recording
Now some contend that slipping a dub track can create some minor phasing issues but I think there are ways to mitigate that by EQ-ing each track but slightly different

Also here is an example of a mono recording in this case a mono guitar track and a mono vocal track both panned center ....BUT as Brent mentioned both being sent to a parallel stereo reverb . While not as wide as a stereo guitar recording but still usable IMO

I really like the fingerstyle playing you've been sharing on the AGF. I play similar stuff. I certainly prefer my recordings in stereo (usually a spaced pair using sdc mics). I think it adds more interest and does a better job of capturing the entire instrument (especially if your space doesn't allow recording at several feet from the guitar). I spent years buying and upgrading recording gear. It certainly would have been less expensive if I would have known what to buy and bit the bullet on nicer gear earlier on. You've got some fine guitars; it's nice when your recording gear doesn't limit what's captured. For me, it seems like a really nice stereo recording chain costs about the same as one of my guitars. What I've done lately is decide what I'd like then take my time looking for a deal on used equipment.

Also, there are plug-ins that take a mono track and turn it into stereo. For Cubase, for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qy-hSSetHk

I’m sure similar plug-ins exist for whatever software the OP is using.

The audience expects stereo of some sort in everything except AM radio.

Pseudo stereo at best compared to a real stereo recording.

Not necessarily. Most any good reverb plug is going to add stereo ambiance to your mono recording. Panning the image hard left and right could end up being everything you want your track to be.

It's best to experiment a bit and see what YOU like, and not what everyone else insists that you need.

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