Re: OT: Recommendations for Microphone and Archtop or Acoustic Guitar

[William Walker <billwalker@baymoon.com>]

krispen wrote:

> "What I am trying to consider in this context is the jazz archtop  
> guitar.  It is quite a different animal than the acoustic guitar.  
> For one, it projects at only about half of the volume of an  
> acoustic, because of the volume in the body, that it typically only  
> has f-holes, and that it is often strung with flat wound strings. In  
> that case, it tends to sound thinner than an acoustic when micing  
> it, which is what you don't want in a jazz guitar. So I really need  
> a mic that can pick up the subltles of the guitar, but probably has  
> a good proximity effect when it move the mic closer to the guitar.   
> Of course, I'll be blending the tone with the mag pickup through an  
> amp."

  I would definitely go with a large  diaphragm mic for arch top,  as  
it will achieve a broader spectrum sound  than a pencil condenser mic,  
which is great for detail and high end definition, but won't bring out  
the body and fullness of an arch top. I actually prefer the sound of  
one large mic on the lower bout,  and one small condenser mic pointed  
toward the fingerboard, rather than a stereo xy pattern pair of pencil  
condensers, as I like the extra bottom end of the big mic. I use an AT  
4050 and sometimes set it to a figure 8 pattern if the room ambience  
is worth capturing. As Rick elaborated the 4033 is the same mic but  
with one element rather than two. I've been finding I really like  
using a large diaphragm mic on small tube amps as well, way better  
than the tried and true SM-57, as it really makes small amps sound  
huge. The truth is, there are a ton of affordable good sounding mics  
coming out of China right now, not just SE but MXL/ Marshall makes  
some decent dirt cheap mics. Will they have the longevity of an AKG or  
Neumann Mic? probably not, but if the  sound is good who cares?  
Another thing you might consider if noise and bleed are an issue is  
getting a good speaker simulator that can be  hooked up between your  
amp and its speaker. I use the bluestone pro made by emerson williams  
which is an excellent sounding compact  alternative to the pricier and  
industry standard Palmer speaker emulator. Right now I'm recording  
directly using a Ethos preamp, a Vox ac 10 and a princeton reverb  
(both using bluestones), and even with ought adding mics, which I also  
do,  I can get a very rich dimensional sound going direct. I but the  
Ethos at the center of the mix and spread the amps wide. I tell ya its  
like Budda...
  Bill