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Originally Posted by ljguitar
When I was starting to learn about recording in the early 2000s, there was confusion for me about small versus large diaphragm because what many recordists declared to be "small diaphragm" seemed positively 'tiny' and large diaphragm were speaking of 25-26mm.
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Agreed, "Large" vs "Small" sounds like there are only two choices, when really, there are lots of capsule sizes. There are even hybrids, like the AT5040 that combines 4 "smallish" (relatively) capsules to form one gigantic capsule, which they tout as a feature - having the best of both. But I think most people would call small pencil mics like the Schoeps, KM184s, etc "small", and mics like my Brauner VM1s, U89s, etc "large"
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All of this to ask, if you were forced to record guitars for a year with either a matched set/pair or two mics of differing size of your choosing, what do you think you might choose?
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I honestly never even think in terms of diaphram size, I just go by how my results sound. The differences between most decent mics is so small, it hardly matters, for solo guitar, I can make a bigger change in sound by moving the mic an inch, or moving my hand an inch, than by switching mics. If I had to do all recording on one set of mics, I'd probably stick with a set of small cardiods, like the Schoeps CMC6/MK4s, or KM184s - mostly for practical reasons. They're easy to setup, easy to carry around - I can put them in a gig bag or my pocket, don't require an external power supply like my Brauners, don't require a massive weighted stand, don't get in the way of a video, etc. I'd prefer a pair of the same mics, not necessarily factory certified as "matched", but again because it just makes placement a little easier - XY with one LD and one SD just looks "wrong" :-), even if the sound is fine.
I find it hard to defend mic choices one way or another. When I first tried the Schoeps mics, I called them "boring". These days I'd probably say "neutral", and mean it in a good way. I have had people tell me that recordings I make with the Brauners sound more "like a finished recording" without any processing, and I sort of agree with that. At the same time, when I've set both up in a reasonably fair comparison with spaced pairs, I know I'd be unlikely to consistently identify which is which in a blind test. Bigger differences usually show up with other placement patterns. With setups like XY/MS/ORTF, the larger mics are harder to get as close together as the Schoeps. So I suspect any differences I hear there has more to do with the different mic placement than things like capsule size, tho capsule size (and body size) plays a role in why I can't get the LD mics any closer together!.
Of course, everyone's trying to discuss the OP's specific question, while in this case, I'd say it's mostly irrelevant - the biggest improvement he could make is to use a pair of mics (any kind), close-mic, and/or do something about room acoustics. Capsule size isn't going to make any significant difference compared to more pressing issues.