Anyone record your acoustic plugged in and are happy with the sound?

PorkPieGuy · #1 05-10-2011, 03:11 PM

I've always mic'ed my acoustic guitar to record it. Plugged in just sounds terrible when recorded, but...

is there anyone out there that records your guitar plugged in and are happy with the sound? If so, what kind of guitar, pickups, pre-amps, etc. do you use?

stratt2828 · #2 05-10-2011, 03:58 PM

I've played around with doing that. I have a Taylor DN3 with a K&K PowerMix w/ Pure Mini going direct into my Zoom H4N. I liked the result!!! The results received good feedback from some folks on here. I still prefer the sound of recording directly to the built in condenser mics though.

Good luck!

Bob Womack · #3 05-10-2011, 04:07 PM

I just did sessions with a guy who had never recorded before. He was working with an ensemble and wanted to stand. I "got that feeling" that he would be a "wanderer," meaning that he would move enough to ruin the recording, so I both mic'd him and took the D.I. out of his guitar. It was a good thing that I did because, sure enough, he moved. On some of the songs it stranded one or the other of my mics. I was able to use the pickup and the automation to fill in when he moved off-mic. It wasn't the most elegant recording I've done, but sometimes you have to go for the performance rather than the very best recording, hoping that the product will give the artist enough of a boost that he can mature out of bad habits.

Bob

Ed422 · #4 05-10-2011, 05:06 PM

The last time I plugged in for recording acoustic guitar parts was about 20 years ago. I recorded my Guild Starfire III with 3 sources; neck pickup on track 1, a Barcus Berry Hot Dot (stuck on the bridge with that sticky putty stuff) on track 2, and a Peavey ?? dynamic mic on track 3. A *glorious* sound once mixed.

IMO (of course), if you are after a purely acoustic sound (and can isolate the guitar), a cheap mic outdoes the best pickups available. But, there is a lot to be said for the "acoustic-electric" sound. That would be, the signal produced by an onboard active Pickup system (think Fleetwood Mac or Eagles acoustic guitar parts).

Ed

rhancox · #5 05-10-2011, 07:28 PM

I've done it and I was happy with it. I've since bought mics and mostly use them instead, but I wouldn't say the older recordings were crap.

I did a cover of Story in Your Eye (Moody Blues), on my YouTube page, using the pickups in both my 12-string and 6-string. I thought it came out sounding pretty good.

There's certainly a difference, but for me, it's now become a "place and time for everything" sort of deal.

jackweasel · #6 05-11-2011, 05:12 AM

Well, yes and no. When I record, I generally like to have a small condenser set up for the guitar one one channel and my ES plugged into another. The blend of the two gives me what I like to hear when I pan the slightly left and right. A little reverb on the plugged in track sometimes seems to "thicken" the mix.