Semi/Electro guitar recording - Help the ignorant?

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moffdnb
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2010/07/08 05:19:27 (permalink)

Semi/Electro guitar recording - Help the ignorant?

Hi Folks,

    I plead ignorant for a start here as Guitars are new to me.  I don't play.  But I am looking to get a session guitarist in for some work.  Now ideally I am looking for an acoustic type sound.  Very soft chords as an accompaniment to a Rhodes organ.  My set-up (room) for recording is not ideal and I don't have 2 mic to capture a stereo recording.


    So I'm thinking that to get the cleanest recording I might be better to look for either a "semi acoustic" or "electro acoustic" guitar player.  To be honest I'm not too sure of the difference between them.  From some vids I've seen they sound quite similar and either one might be the right fit.  I'm just in the dark on how to go about recording them and what to expect.


    I will be going into a Focusrite track master pro as it has an Instrument line in.  Not sure if this would give me a stereo recording.  Can any of you guys share some advise on this?  Basically I want to minimise the room ambience (if not avoid it completely).  Maybe I'm naive under the impression that semi/electro guitars don't actually make significant noise unless connected to an AMP and thus would pipe there signal straight into the Focusrite and therefore avoid any room problems.


Hope some1 can shed some light.  Apology's for my ignorance here.
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    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Semi/Electro guitar recording - Help the ignorant? 2010/07/08 07:57:06 (permalink)
    The mic is the important part of the chain, and I didn't see what type you have.

    Are you planning to record an acoustic guitar or a guitar with a pickup in it or is it an electric guitar through an amp?

    For acoustic, a nice condensor will generally do OK. One mic is OK if you don't have 2. You  will likely have to experiment and do a few tests to get the mic placed correctly.

    Electric with an amp? Same deal, mic placement is important. Moving a mic a few inches in front of a speak can change the sound the mic is getting totally...so again..... test.

    It's not brain surgery but after reading a few things on the subject you might think it is..... just play around and see what sounds good to you....

    Good luck.

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    moffdnb
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    Re:Semi/Electro guitar recording - Help the ignorant? 2010/07/08 08:26:48 (permalink)
    Aha.  So a Mic is needed for any type of Guitar recording then ?


    I though there were types of semi/electrics that would output a signal through a line out into my preamp.  So I wound't need a mic at all.

    Showing my ignorance here.
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    Slugbaby
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    Re:Semi/Electro guitar recording - Help the ignorant? 2010/07/08 08:45:42 (permalink)
    I mic is pretty important, at least from all the acoustics i've plugged in.
    I've got a nice fat "Jumbo" Takamine with an internal pickup.  I'll plug that in for rough demos, but the pickup is quite harsh and trebbly.  For a proper recording i'll record that way and at the same time mic the soundhole (actually aiming for the 15-17th fret).  Combining the two gives a good strong acoustic sound.  You can pick up a Shure SM57 for under $100 new (used should be cheaper). For me it would be well worth it.

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