Your Opinion on this Mic/Preamp combination with Acoustic Guitar

I would say you should look at the strengths of each mic and pre-amp choice.

Dynamic mics are supposed to give faster transient response than a large diaphragm condensor. That would mean it would be best used to pick up the part of the instrument most critical to variations in transient response - eg. the attack of a pick on the strings or the sound of fingers fretting. That would indicate you are best off getting it in close.

The downside of that theory is the large proximity effect on the SM57, (and most mics with a cardioid response pattern), means that you will get exaggerated bass response the closer you get to the sound source.

The baby bottle is a large diaphragm condensor - yes? That would mean it would give a good representation of the entire frequency spectrum, probably with some hype of the 5-8kHz+ areas. Worse transient response than the dynamic. This would indicate that it would be better capturing the entire picture of the performance, not just a specific section - a la the dynamic mic. I would find a nice sweet spot in a nice room somewhere about 12" - 24" out from the guitar, maybe about eye level, looking down at the guitar.

Either way, stick some headphones on, make someone else play the guitar and sweep the mics around to find the best position for both mics.

Exactly where you stick the mics will depend on the part itself - I currently like a M-S technique in a nice room for solo acoustic + vox. stuff or just a spaced pair configuration or even one mic "BBC mono" style if it is a strummed part sitting back in a mix. Each time I track a new song, I find I have to stick mics in new spots to capture the unique elements of the song. If it works, go for it -- just make sure that if you are using multiple mics, you should either get the diaphragms of each mic as close to each other as possible or three times the distance away from each other as they are from the sound source. If you don't, you will have phase shift issues with the recording.

As far as the pre-amps go, I would used the ART to drive the dynamic and the Eureka to drive the Bottle... Or whatever sounded good.

Ciao,

Q.

ORIGINAL: skbass88
I'm leaning toward using the Baby Bottle on the body of the guitar through the DPS II (to give it a little warmth, hopefully) and the SM57 at the neck/12th fret through the Eureka.

As Chaz says, be prepared to experiment, but I'd say say that what you're thinking of is a good starting point. But heed also Qwerty's warning on the proximity effect. Qwerty's points are all good, helpful ones, but my inclination is to try a way of making two mikes work if you can - it can give you such a fuller, more rounded sound.

In particular, you want to keep each mike far enough from the guitar to minimise this proxinity effect, and far enough apart to avoid phase cancellation. I'd start by trying each about 9" from the guitar. Remember that it's easier to add warmth when you're mixing than it is to add air.