Acoustic Guitar tone: Platinum plugins, double-miking, or acoustic pick-ups?

This may not be in the right forum, but I didn't see anything that seemed more appropriate, so I put it here. If it needs to be moved, please do.
 
I know that most pros like to mic their acoustic guitars, but it's just a clumsy arrangement for me when I'm just working up songs and doing home demos....picking up and setting down the guitar over and over while I work out parts, do over dubs, etc. 
 
I have an old 1970s D18 Martin and the good acoustic guitar mics and know where to put them, but I keep hoping for an acoustic pick-up...or more so...a good SONAR Platinum plugin that will bring out the full richness of the lows and mids, and still the high end sparkle of a good acoustic guitar recording. With so much out there today, and with Platinum having so many good plugins and effects, I'm hoping that the difference in the quality of double-miking an acoustic and using plugins or pickups for DI is getting closer and closer to the same.
 
I'm running my acoustic through and A - B box, with one input through a Kemper for some smooth, glassy tones, and one going DI, and am trying different Platinum plugins and effects on the DI track.
 
I'm hoping some of you good acoustic players and acoustic engineers...and I know this forum has some mighty good ones...can give me some tips on what you're doing to get really good pro sounds without the mics, and what you would suggest for the scenario I described above...me doing work tapes and home demos. Even though what I'm doing is not pro level recording, I want the best tone I can get from my old Martin and my relatively new Baby Taylor. Before, both were kind of muddy, thick, and bland with just an acoustic pick-up, but the Kemper and the Platinum plugins have made it sound a lot better. I just want to get the max tone without the hassle of the mics and mic stands, and I want to be able to get that tone if I take the recorder to a friends house, and not have to drag all that extra equipment around. 
 
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Any links to your acoustic recordings giving examples of your tones will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
DS

I was afraid you would say that..lol...
 
What mics are you using? I have an SM81, a C1000, a AT4033...KSM...a couple of Sterlings that sound good...a couple of other standards...and my favorite...a Peavey 480, which has a bright sound. Most people have never heard of the 480, but it records a very lively sound from an acoustic. It's not a strong mic, so I have to be careful when setting the record level to get it loud enough.
 
Are you familiar with Martin Tallstrom? I think he's the best acoustic player on the planet and he has a lot of good videos on YouTube, especially Freight Train and the guitar version of Foggy Mountain...but many other good ones too. One pickup company has him playing a $200 guitar with their pickup and it sounds great. I think the pickup is called something like a MiniFlex 2Mic or something similar. And of course, a lot of performers just use a Fishman because it's easy and close enough for live shows with noisy crowds, and the Fishman's just sound good, too. Plus...a big plus...I don't know if I'm a good enough acoustic player for it to make that much difference, since so much of it comes from the player. I'm pretty average on acoustic. Most of the dedicated, really good acoustic players will probably agree with you 100%.
 
One of my engineer friends in Nashville says that when everything else fails, use a AT4033. Of course, no one there is going to think much of plugins and pickups for acoustics anyway, so there's no need for me to even ask.
 
You probably have the right idea...change the work flow...save the heavy artillery for when I'm ready to do some serious tracking, and just have fun in the meantime.
 
Thanks!
DS

I agree with much that has been said.
 
I tend to use a pickup when writing and mapping out tracks, and then replace them with mics when I am happy.
 
I will just add this:-
 
Yesterday I played a track to a guitarist with whom I have worked for many years.  It had a long, solo, nylon guitar intro (classical in style) that was recorded with the on board pickup.  I had never got round to replacing it.  He commented several times about what a great tone it had..
 
Now, I had done a lot of processing to it to make up for the shortfalls of the pickup, but it has made me wonder about the need to replace it now..

I like my Strat for composing. There is an acoustic sounds stomp box in TH3. Plus my Strat has a midi pickup, so I can compose other parts. I can walk around without concern for Mics.

Adding my voice to basically agree with everyone else.
 
I write/arrange with an electric because it's easier.  When it comes time to record the "final version," I put my AKG C2000B condenser mic in front of the fretboard, angled slightly towards the soundhole.  I'll also put an SM58 over my right shoulder to capture what I'm actually hearing.  Between those two, the performance is captured.
For mixing, I like to add light compression, and then use a Send to an AUX channel that has the high and low frequencies filtered out, running into a very wet reverb.
This will change based on your room, your guitar, and the sound you want.

A "good" acoustic sound can vary enormously, depending on the role that the guitar is playing in the arrangement.
 
Strumming along with a dense arrangement containing bass and drums, piano, other guitars, strings, etc. can be easily captured with a good pickup. For something like that, you're going to cut out all the lower frequencies anyway. Some engineers cut out all but the percussive sound of the strings so that it's hardly tonal, and that can sound great in some mixes.
 
For an arrangemen that's built around the guitar, you need to catch the richness of the instrument at a full range of frequencies. I've never heard a pickup that will get even close to that.
 
And of course there are in between situations.
 
For blocking out a song, the advice given above is good. Use whatever is quick and convenient to capture the song, then go back and re-track with more sonic perfectionism.

Fishman Aura with a preset that is matched to both your pickup system and guitar is as close as you will get from a "pickup system" in my experience.
  
However, this is still lacking compared to just micing the guitar.
 
If your situation allows (i.e. it is quiet all the time), just set up a single condenser mic.  It is the same amount of cords as if you were plugging into your acoustic, in fact less, than the OP's Kemper setup.  The only addition to the equation is a mic stand and the mic.  
 
You never know when a take will be "it" so why waste it using a pathetic guitar pickup recording?  Recording via a mic is simple to get better results as long as you have a quiet environment.  
 
 
I've used tons of different pickups, none sound fantastic recorded.  period, end of story.  

So many good ideas -  I am just a beginner when it comes to acoustic stuff, but I am in a country band that records acoustic guitar tracks, fiddle, mandolin, banjo and the like, so I have a good interest in the subject. 
 
I would say 'NO' to plugins,  'it depends' to double micing and 'probably not' to pickups - depending upon the music genre and function of the track.   
 
The two my input echo are jb101 and LJB - but maybe add a few different thoughts.
 
I like the idea to run scratch tracks first 'in easy mode' when I am writing.  I use a PRS 24 trem which has a piezo. Not electric, but it helps me hear the notes in a relative context. 
 
I like form function.  I have a touch screen that keeps me away from keyboard and mouse, and a nice swivel chair.  I position my mics so that I can turn around into them - about 110 degrees - however, I also adjust my screen so that see it, and my right hand can touch it really easy.  I have a fixed point on the wall so as I turn, I lock into the same place, every time.
 
Mics - its easy once you have a few to think 'it can't be my mics', but from my experience, it is highly possible that what I was reaching for in a sound, required the same mic that I was listening to, used by the artist in a session I got the idea from. I use stereo pairs (of what I can afford) of large diagram condensers (C414s) or ribbons (R121's), for a fuller sound yet maintain a nice presence. That gives me width and fullness.  When its solo or single channel, I tend to use one of each, and blend the two instead of using EQ if I can, and I usually can. To me, thats a goal - NO EQ.  As of late,  FET based mics have piqued my interest because they can have a really nice effect in the presence area.  I am looking at a Mojave 301 FET today and will pick up a pair within the next few months.  I know - pricey for some, but I can cover a house with chalk or paint.  When rain scrutinizes the effort, paint wins.    
 
It is also probable that micing technique can help improve the sound in good ways, in which you eluded to in the subject with pairs - but there is more out there you can explore.   From the simplest 12th fret - single large diagram mic, to stereo pairs and all their positions and configurations like near coincidence and the like.  Each mic also exhibits characteristics that enhance a certain range close in, and further away.   Inches count.  Good folks here on the forum have written a plethora of priceless info on this topic, far smarter than I could ever be on the subject and I use that info, with gratitude to those who care enough to provide it. 
 
Then the room.  When you pick a good mic, its going to do its job well, which may include picking up sound artifacts from the room.  I have found that treating my corners, and ceiling have tamed a bit of the 'room monsters'.  
 
Then the preamp \ converter \ cable team.   You can go a long way with value based electronics, no doubt.  The world we live in has demanded more for less and we win every day.  However, that pre amp can really improve the sound quickly.  Take some time and peek down that rabbit hole.  Another chalk paint thing. 
 
L
    

That's a useful article on making piezos less "piezo" Craig.

One thing I'd suggest is that as well as eq a little compression can really help, especially on steel-string guitars. Acoustics tend to have a kind of "natural compression" because they've quite a limited volume range. Which is one of the things that "glues" a good acoustic's sound together. Piezos tend not to have a very smooth, uniform response through the frequency range of the instrument or even string to string.

Personally I'd usually think of using a mic or magnetic pickup before a piezo, though I've heard good results from L R Baggs systems and the Godin electros.

If the new guitars can match the couple of 1930s L-series instruments I've been lucky enough to play (but not wealthy enough to justify owning) they should be pretty spectacular. I don't play much acoustic at all these days, but I could be tempted by an L-00.
 
Especially at the 1932 price of $25 rather than the 2016 list price of $2349 :-)
 
What I was referring to is the difference between a microphone recording of a strummed chord on a decent acoustic, where the notes tend to be at a well balanced volume range, and there is a consistency in volume up the neck as well as across it, and what a piezo tends to do with it. Many have a habit of making some notes louder than others, or an entire string louder or quieter, which can be countered by a tasteful use of compression.
 
I must admit that I don't favour piezo as pickups or speakers myself, though they do sometimes have the advantage (or disadvantage, depending on which side of the equation you are) of making a modest guitar and many quite expensive ones sound remarkably similar when amplified. I just find that for what I do and for my ears a sound hole magnetic pickup is easiest to dial in.