Acoustic Guit -Preamp Gain&Vol settings?

A few thoughts-

1. The "best" setting will probably vary depending on the kind of microphone you are using.
2. Which preamp are you using? If it is really clean this will probably make less of a difference. However, with a pre that has it's own distinct sound (for instance the Chameleon Labs 7602, or even something like a Blue Tube, where the gain determines how much tube you add to the cleaner signal, it can make quite a difference. Try putting a classical guitar recording through the preamp (so you don't have to try and play while you adjust) and play around a bit. What you'll probably find is that there is a certain point where you have turned up the gain too much and it gets a little ugly. Note where that is and don't exceed it as a general rule. Then, adjust both gain and output until you have a good amount of the preamp's character in the sound (usually more gain=more of the character.) BTW if you have the cash, the Chameleon makes an acoustic guitar sound VERY nice.
3. If you are recording in 24-bit and eventually performing bit rate reduction (with dither of course!) in order to output CD quality files (16-bit/44.1 kHz), then you have a lot more headroom to work with. As a general rule, set it so your general peak levels are around -12 dB (it looks really quiet, but it's really not!) This gives you plenty of headroom if you really bear down into the guitar when recording, and saves you the trouble of having to re-track when you accidentally clip the signal, all the while maintaining a good dynamic range.
4. I'm curious what kind of mics you have. :-) I got turned on to a technique that sounds really good for acoustic guitar as long as the room you're recording in sounds good. (If it's too live, buy some rugs and hang some sheets, if it's too dead, buy some of the laminate wood flooring you can piece together from Home Depot, and lay that out on the carpet in front of your guitar.) As for the technique, you'll need an omni mic (I bought a reference DBX one at GC for $99 that works great!) and a large diaphragm condenser (cardioid pattern.) You place the mics equidistant (about 1 foot) from your guitar to avoid phase issues. Point the omni at the 7th fret to pick up string movement and the room sound. Place the cardioid about a foot away between the sound hole and the bridge. Rotate the cardioid mic so that the sound from the sound hole hits it at a slight angle instead of right into the front of the mic (almost rotated to point at the 7th fret.) This gives a very clean, very full, very live sound. You'll want to experiment with the distance a bit depending on how much room sound you want, and might find some gentle EQ helps, but I haven't needed it much.
5. If at all possible, record in a room that DOESN'T have your computer in it- this will eliminate more noise from the signal. The Frontier Designs Tranzport is supposed to be a godsend for this kind of thing. :-)
6. If you haven't used Perfect Space yet, there are some impulses you can get at NoiseVault that are VERY nice on an acoustic. I especially like the Acoustic Ambience impulse that was sampled from UAD's Plate 140 plugin (I have the plugin now, so I just use that, but the impulse is very nice as well. I've also had great results using Perfect Space to add some character to the sound by using an impulse from a Neve 1272 (also on NoiseVault and free.) This really smooths out the sound nicely. You also might take a look at CLAS from RefinedAudioMetrics (also free.) It is similar to a BBE Sonic Maximizer but less in your face. If you use it carefully this can really bring AG to life- just be sure not to overdue it. Oh! If you haven't found out about the Modern plugins that are free, you should check them out. Some are ok, some are lame, but the Analoger can add some great sounding warmth as well.

Hope you're able to get some great sounds with your gear!

Happy recording.

Peace,

Tunes had a nice response...

I'd only add...

A nice mic-pre makes ALL the difference in the world. I went from a cheapo PreSonus BlueTube to a Neve box (actually not THAT expensive at $1400 for TWO channels of Neve preamp goodness) and the results were unbelievable.

Another thing that is very crucial when recording acoustic guitar is mic placement. I have the best luck using both channels of my Portico. I use one channel to record direct from the acoustic preamp (piezo pickup in my Taylor GS) and the other is a large diaphragm condensor mic in some location in front of the guitar. I put it in different places to achieve various sounds - but really anything about a foot or two around the 12th fret with the mic a little higher than the guitar pointing down works for me.

There are some FANTASTIC IR's on the noisevault site. I'd highly recommend grabbing the Eventide samples. I use a 'stereo vox' IR in the H3000 for vocals (keep in mind, you'll have to adjust the reverb tail times, reverb size etc... to get a nice fit) and I use a couple different ones from various other devices for acoustic. Nice 'hall' verbs sound great on acoustic guitar.

A couple other things worth playing with for sure...

EQ. You'll definitely want to EQ your acoustic in the 'trouble' spots. They vary depending on your guitar, mic placement, etc... but generally speaking areas around the 100Hz, 1.5KHz and 5KHz generally need some work.

Compression: IMHO, crucial to a nice 'even' sound. The amount of compression varies depending on your style of play and the sound you are trying to achieve - but generally speaking a little compression to even the guitar out is essential.

Anyway, there are a number of preamps available that will get you the sound you are looking for. There's a big gap between the ~$300ish range and the ~$1500 range and unfortunately, there's not a whole lot in between. It's a big purchase and one I did a TON of research on to find the right preamp for my style of music and the instruments/mics I was going to attach to them - but it pays off big time.

And... buy 2 of these....

www.naiant.com

Very very inexpensive and they are really good. I heard em and ordered em right away.

There is something to be said for capturing the room with an omni mic when doing acoustics....

They work great for over heads too...

ORIGINAL: Dickie Fredericks

And... buy 2 of these....

www.naiant.com

Very very inexpensive and they are really good. I heard em and ordered em right away.

There is something to be said for capturing the room with an omni mic when doing acoustics....

They work great for over heads too...

Wow... those mic's are some cheap!! Are they really that good? Sometimes you get what you pay for... I need mic's for a whole drum kit.... Also, for mic'ing acoustic would be good too... I currently just have one AT-3035 and two ADK-SC1's.... I know I should also pick up some SM57's but just haven't gotten around to it yet... I'd also like a D112, but hey, if I can get a bunch of those Naiant mic's then I might be all set too.... hmmmmmmm ... interesting

Dave

http://noisevault.com/nv/
click on IMPULSES on the left hand side menu