Acoustic Guitar - What Mics and Techniques Are You Using?

Hello all Sonar brothers and sisters. I have heard many songs in this forums by users that have amazing acoustic guitar tracks. They sound like how my ears hear them. Unfortunately I am not getting the same results. I use a Martin D15 M guitar, freshly strung and tuned. I have tried single miking, stereo miking (ORTF, XY, Spaced Pair) with dynamic, small diaphragm and large diaphragm mics. All my mics that I have tried are:
-Rodes NT5 stereo pair
-Rodes M5 stereo pair
-Audio Technica 2035
-Shure SM58
-Shure SM57
 
I am aware that in my case I believe that my recording environment is a big factor that is affecting the quality of my acoustic sound.
However, I am still curious to know what mics and techniques others are using. If you are so inclined please share. I would love to read about it.
 
Cheers

here's an old demo i did, soon to be redone,
that has all mono guitar tracks..
 
but the KEY to a good capture, is getting your gain levels correct,
and if you listen carefully,
the gain on the 'solo' guitar part is too hot, and it distorts.
 
to my ears, it's clear as rain.
 
https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/lake-katherine
 
 
point is, this was a demo, i was writing the song in real time...
 
but when it comes to 'tracking' time, performance is everything.
make sure you get your levels right before tracking for real.
 

actually, it's 5 guitar parts in all, each playing a slightly different part...
the two main rhthym guitars, are simply panned hard left and right.
the chimey harmonics guitar, and solo/harmony guitars, move around a bit,
but are basically solo centered, with harmony and chime left and right about 35%
 
this mic, was a Audio Tecnica 4033, thru a A designs Audio MP-1 (solo guitar) and a ART DPS (all other guitars)
 
the a designs is a class A tube pre, and i had it too hot going in. made it sound a bit fuzzy, even tho the tone is smooth.
 
 

I like an ORTF pair -SDCs- mixed with a pair of close Mics-usually LDCs.

Occasionally, I add a sideways figure eight pattern duped and phase flipped panned left and right.

My favorite part of this is that you can hear the vocalist turn her head on loud notes. It gives a nice accent as she pulls away from the Mic.

I almost always capture the pickup in the guitar and I almost never use it.

I use Melda auto align to make phase alignments. I recalculate several times while listening. I enable and disable the effect on clusters of effects to control the scope of the effect calculation.
 
Example...
http://stabilitynetwork.blob.core.windows.net/g-tunes/20150506_Susan_05.mp3
 

For phase issues Bats, do you set up the mics to be equidistant from where you pluck on a string. In the sam way you'd set overheads to a snare, literally measure with string, cable, ruler the distance from you plucking fingers to each mic and set the same?

I've been seriously avoiding recording acoustic guit in my apartment for a bunch of reasons but I think I might be able to get away with it now a little.
 
My mics are kind of screwy but I've been trying to learn as much as I can about various techniques and I think I might be able to get some cool sounds going. My acoustic is kind of a POS too but it sounds nice and throws well.
 
My test plans involve either my stereo set of Blue Ball powered dynamics which have an interesting sound or the C1 Samson condenser pair I have. Either way that could be the main stereo pair. Then I have a Samson pencil condenser that is pretty decent (meant for hi hats) that I might point at the higher frets to pick up pick/finger/string/hi freq noise. Then I can blend that in.
 
Biggest problem I REALLY have for this is my lack of proper stands and room to actually set it all up (and still be able to access the DAW for transport control). Essentially I am using a combination of Frankenstands that I've cobble together out of actual mic stand parts and old drum hardware (pretty funny shiz but it works... kind of). Once I set all those buggers up though I will not be able to move around the room at all because it's so tiny.
 
Soundproofing in here is garbage too so I risk annoying neighbors but they make a ton of racket themselves sometimes and I'd only be working in the day so whatever. I can practice up on the electric, DI through cans as usual then only whip out the acoustic to do finals.
 
Total p*ss off really but we do what we gotta in this world.

For acoustic guitar I frequently use an AKG 451 positioned about a 9" to a foot out pointing directly where the neck meets the body of the guitar. I generally position a straight back chair in the middle of the room, I have a large room (32' by 38') with lots of wood on the walls. 
 
Sometimes if I want more, I put a couple of AKG c414's  positioned as room mics, playing around with distance. Mix them left and right and blend with the close mic.
 
 
I'm generally doing alternative rock and the acoustic is in the mix with other instruments. So mileage might vary with other styles of music.
 
gabo 

For acoustic guitar I frequently use an AKG 451 positioned about a 9" to a foot out pointing directly where the neck meets the body of the guitar.

 
I know a rather decorated classical recording engineer who could choose any number of mics costing $1500-$8000 a piece.  But he told me when it comes to acoustic guitar, the preferred mics are the AKG 451s.  He's got more Grammys than I can count, so I take his word for it.
 
I am partial to Schoeps or Josephson C617 on guitar myself, but I've never won a Grammy.   

If you are a guitar player you will find that recording guitars is the most difficult challenge... most fun, but definitely most difficult.
 
You are going to be very picky because you KNOW what a guitar is supposed to sound like. And capturing that sound is a challenge, because microphones don't hear like we do.
 
It is very tempting to continue adding microphones to try to fix problems that you perceive. This (almost) always makes thing worse.
 
So first recommendation - calibrate your ears, and not with your guitar, but with other recordings that you enjoy. Get used to what a guitar sounds like coming out of a loudspeaker instead of making the direct trip through the air.

Next up, start with ONE microphone. Try to find a great spot with just one microphone.

Then, of course, it's time to be crazy!
My personal preference, for most of my guitars, in my room, is small capsule condensors up close, large capsule  condensors a little further away, and a stereo ribbon even further away. But that's a rule of thumb kind of thing, and if I thought about it I probably don't use it as often as I think I do<G>!

One of my favorite single microphone placements is next to my right ear, or shoulder height. I'd seen tracks recorded that way, and I liked them, and then the logic hit me - that's what I hear (more-or-less) when I play. It has little to do with what I hear when I'm in the audience, and I do have to remember that.

Recently a friend of mine suggested a single microphone in front of my nose. Try it! It works.
 
It really is all about placement, and placement will differ for every instrument, every track, and every space.
 
Favorite microphones:
 
For an accurate, lifelike sound nothing beats a Schoeps CMC6 with the hyper-cardiod capsule in a sub-stellar room, and the cardiod if the room is well behaved. You'd expect the omni capsule to be even better in a well behaved room, but in my experience it isn't. (and boy do I wish I owned a pair of them!)

For a nearly accurate recording with some real attitude I like the KM-84. Wish I had a pair of these too!
 
From my own locker...

• The AKG C-451 with the cardiod pattern works well as a single microphone on most of my guitars.
• I also use the Earthworks SR-77s as a pair when I want stereo. These are really accurate microphones, and insanely sensitive to placement.
• An oddball microphone, the TEAC PE-120, works really well on my D-18. Not sure why.
• I also have a pair of AKG c-61s (predecessor to the C-451) which I like, but they are noisier than the C-451.
• The only two large capsule microphones I've ever had consistently good results with are the Neuman TLM-193 and the Shure KSM-32. Every once in a while an AKG C-414 will sound great, but I get frustrated trying to place it. The Blue Dragonfly is a quirky microphone, I love it on mandolin and smaller body guitars.
• And I have a Royer SF-12 that I use as a room microphone. I love it. It works up close too, but I like it better as a room microphone.

Probably more than you wanted to know...