Best onboard electronics for recording ??

[gstring]

Getting into some serious recording and have no idea on what guitars offer high end onboard electronics.

From what i can research, Yamaha A5R ARE and A3R are highly praised.

What are you all playing for onboard electronics ?

Thanks for your thoughts.

daniel

[Doug Young]

I don't know of any pickup that's really ideal for recording. I'd suggest using a mic (or 2). The best pickup pales compared to even a cheap mic.

[MikeBmusic]

I agree with Doug - mic the guitar!

[YamahaGuy]

My Yamaha AC3M Deluxe records very well, as does my FGX5, LLX6A and FGX730SCA. That's why I have them--for recording and plugged in tone. They sound terrific plugged in.

Any *device that does the whole modeling thing can be effective as well. For instance, I can get my Yamaha CSF1M to sound phenomenal using the Yamaha AG Stomp, or my Yamaha THR10II amp with the acoustic mic modeling.

People with Tonedexter units get good results with lesser sounding guitars.

Very wide open area here.

And yes, of course, there's always the option to mic the guitar.

FWIW, my Takamine P5DC sounds great recorded. And running my Ibanez with its upgraded pickup into my Yamaha AG06 mixer and using the acoustic guitar default, I can get a very nice recorded sound.

[Peter Z]

A mic if possible.
If not, look for a Cole Clark guitar or a LR Baggs Anthem equipped instrument.

[AeroUSA]

What about a basic pickup (Matrix or K&K) and an IR? That could be good enough for demos.

[Mbroady]

Did some noodling the other day with my Stonebridge OM 33 which has an Anthem SL
I also had an AKG 414 set up and between the pick up (which was 70/30 mic -UST mix) and the 414 it sounded great. A bonus was when Singing along the Anthem had almost no vocal bleed.

Since the Anthem relies heavily on the SB mic it has very little quack, but you still get a deep low end when adding just a bit of UST. With some EQ it can lend a fat natural sound to a good quality mic.

[necrome]

Have an LR Baggs Anthem Stagepro and can verify it still sounds like crap no matter how many adjustments you make pre and post production. Mic it up if possible

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by gstring

…What are you all playing for onboard electronics ?

Hi gs

I have options, and I opt to NEVER record the onboard electronics.

It takes no longer to plug a mic into an interface to record than it does to plug in a pickup, with the added advantage that recording with a mic sounds like an acoustic guitar.

[lkingston]

I've been using a Schertler AG6 soundhole pickup with their added S-Mic. When I use this pickup live, I can only turn up the mic to somewhere around 20-15%, or it will feed back. In this mode, it sounds like a magnetic pickup with just a little bit of "mic air". Nice live, but I wouldn't want to record with it.

For recording, I turn the S-Mic all the way up. It's an omnidirectional mic and with that setting, all you hear is the mic. What I like about using this over a mic in front of the guitar is that the pickup mounted mic rejects most of my vocal, whereas, a mic in front of the guitar picks up a lot of vocal. It sounds like a mic because it mostly is a mic.

It sounds like this:

https://youtu.be/36W_wq65eDA

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I've been using a Schertler AG6 soundhole pickup with their added S-Mic. When I use this pickup live, I can only turn up the mic to somewhere around 20-15%, or it will feed back. In this mode, it sounds like a magnetic pickup with just a little bit of "mic air". Nice live, but I wouldn't want to record with it.

For recording, I turn the S-Mic all the way up. It's an omnidirectional mic and with that setting, all you hear is the mic. What I like about using this over a mic in front of the guitar is that the pickup mounted mic rejects most of my vocal, whereas, a mic in front of the guitar picks up a lot of vocal. It sounds like a mic because it mostly is a mic.

It sounds like this:

https://youtu.be/36W_wq65eDA

That Schertler with the S mic was on my radar awhile back. It sounds good with your playing style. I'd be curious to hear it with some heavy strumming.

[Monsum]

I often record a pickup directly.
But even a cheap Behringer C2 microphone beats all pickups I've used (like K&K, LR Bagss Anthem and Lyric, Schatten HFN).

[DakotaCovers]

Microphone is best sounding but I record my videos plugged in because I usually have less noise from my family that way. I just started using impulse responses on an Optima Air with my pickups and like the improved results so far for both live and recorded sound.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I don't know of any pickup that's really ideal for recording. I'd suggest using a mic (or 2). The best pickup pales compared to even a cheap mic.

Hi Daniel…

What Doug said - and not just by a small margin.

Neither my best dual source with a professional preamp, nor my ToneDexter compared to my $89 AudioTechnica 2021 do not sound as good as the inexpensive mic.

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

That Schertler with the S mic was on my radar awhile back. It sounds good with your playing style. I'd be curious to hear it with some heavy strumming.

Agreed, the Schertler mic sounds quite nice on that sample--as clear and warm as you could ask for. A good, well-placed external mic would sound even better, but I wouldn't hesitate to use that sound in a mix.

But yeah, strumming is the torture test for any kind of onboard transducer. Strumming really needs some "air blending" in order to sound good, I think.