What to look for in a good recording acoustic guitar.

I'm not looking for a brand but more the characteristics of a good acoustic guitar for recording purposes.  I'm aware that what sounds good for concert purposes or just plain personal enjoyment may be a pain in the backside to record.   Take amped up guitars.  What might be giving you the warm fuzzies and tingles up your leg may be terrible in the control room and may have to be EQ'd to make it work.  So I'm think an acoustic guitars that have a certain tone might be easier to fit in the mix.
 
 

Hi Dave, I am no expert on acoustic guitars because I am not a guitarist as such but I have certainly recorded many. Martin guitars have always performed very well in terms of recording and possibly even in a live situation too. I found they have have several models but whenever I record a Martin it just seems to sing and play well and sit very well later in the mix with very little fiddling. Of course the microphone choice and placement still has a rather large bearing on the situation as does the guitarist. (I have recorded Frank Gambale playing a $100 acoustic guitar and it still sounded amazing! Funny about that. There will always be a situation where a fantastic guitarist or musician will simply overpower the instrument they are playing and the instrument makes very little difference)

Are Martins still considered to be great, not sure. Maybe they were and the Martins I have recorded may have been older ones. They have models that produce a big deep and clear sound and others that are lighter and more detailed. As MakeShift pointed out very correctly new strings seem to have a big impact for sure.

But you know I agree with you Dave and that is when ever I am mixing either my own sessions or someone elses and I am getting a great mix, acoustic guitars always seem to be involved. I think they are very important and rather special too.

I concur with the Martin guitar recommendation. My personal favorites are the OM body styles or the 00-28 or 00-18. They communicate melody in such a heartfelt manner. If you want the guitar to fill the speakers for a single voice and guitar type of ballad, you can't go wrong with a D45 for a full range of frequencies. Not to dis Taylors but they are so bright and piano like that I would rather keep them for strumming lightly in the background.

A very wise old friend of mine also once told me, you might as well get the acoustic that just sounds incredible when you sit and play it, because it will enspire you to keep picking it up and playing it. 

I think that is the bottom line.

Danny is right on the money, It matters only what you have in your hands that sounds good. Personally... I look and listen for a guitar that has a more muted high end on it. Nice crisp and bright sounds good in a solo situation when you're sitting alone and playing, But I have a hard time recording them. you can always and are likely to roll off the low end anyways in a mix situation. So, No 1. in my book is playability, if you struggle to articulate notes no matter what, the recording will not likely sound good. If you have to fuss around trimming away the high end because it's too bright, same situation.

Well if money is no object? If people are throwing Martin and Taylor around? The best acoustic guitar you will ever play, or ever hear, is made by James Goodall "period..." http://www.goodallguitars.com/

Here's my contention.  Haven't you found instruments that sound good live but don't translate on a recording?

I am a bassist and one of my basses is a Musicman Stingray 5.  It is one of the best live basses made but my son's MIM Precision was easier to place in a mix.   Another example would be a small combo amp like a Champ.  A Marshall stack will definitely win the music store audition but if you are going to have to roll off all that bottom end anyway, why haul it into the studio?  An amp with a 10" speaker does that EQing for you.

Now, an exposed acoustic guitar intro for a tune would be a special situation but on 90% of the tunes you have acoustic guitar on and the rest of the band is playing, I'll bet if you solo the acoustic guitar track, you won't have anything that sounds like what that guitar sounds like on the track.  I'll bet you it's mostly mid range and top end where the guitar becomes a tamborine or shaker with strings.  So with that in mind wouldn't clarity of mid range and top end be a factor?   So maybe a guitar with jangle like a Gibson J-45 be more of a work horse for a "house" guitar?

I should also mention that FEEL is important too, IMHO.  While you can adjust the sound of a guitar somewhat, a decent feel will help you get the performance worth keeping.  If you aren't jiving with that neck, it's much harder to get that perfect take...

Mod Bod


Here's my contention.  Haven't you found instruments that sound good live but don't translate on a recording?

I am a bassist and one of my basses is a Musicman Stingray 5.  It is one of the best live basses made but my son's MIM Precision was easier to place in a mix.   Another example would be a small combo amp like a Champ.  A Marshall stack will definitely win the music store audition but if you are going to have to roll off all that bottom end anyway, why haul it into the studio?  An amp with a 10" speaker does that EQing for you.

Now, an exposed acoustic guitar intro for a tune would be a special situation but on 90% of the tunes you have acoustic guitar on and the rest of the band is playing, I'll bet if you solo the acoustic guitar track, you won't have anything that sounds like what that guitar sounds like on the track.  I'll bet you it's mostly mid range and top end where the guitar becomes a tamborine or shaker with strings.  So with that in mind wouldn't clarity of mid range and top end be a factor?   So maybe a guitar with jangle like a Gibson J-45 be more of a work horse for a "house" guitar?

I get where you're coming from on this, Dave, but you may be over-thinking it a bit. For example, the Marshall example you used...you being into the engineering field, you won't choose that Marshall if it doesn't have the right stuff. You see, there are usually 2 sounds we need for our instruments.
 
1. The all alone sound: This is the sound that can be whatever you want it to be because there is nothing else in the mix to disrupt it. If you had a Marshall with a bit more low end than was needed, it's ok if it's on it's own.
 
2. The mix sound: 7 out of 10 times, the mix sound is drastically different than the all alone sound because the sound here has to fit in with the other instruments. It's a sound you may not even like if you solo it up yet it fits well with a mix of others. This is what automation is for....lol...you get that all alone sound the way you want it, then when the instrument comes into play with others, the automation kicks in. If you have to high pass a Marshall from 150hz on down, so be it...it's just one thing to touch, ya know? I'd much rather have a 4x12 cab blasting out with a bit more thickness and taking a little away over having something thinner that I may need to thicken up synthetically.
 
My rule of thumb has always been "if something sounds good raw and on its own, there is no reason why I should have a problem capturing that sound." The same with acoustic guitars. If you play one that sounds great when you sit down and play it, and you can't seem to find a mic position that compliments that, simulate your ears. Put mics where your ears are and literally try to grab the sound where you hear it best. Lots of people forget to try stuff like this. They go for the old standards of mic'ing and sometimes over-think things and waste loads of time only to fall short.
 
Sure, instruments are always going to translate differently once you try to use them in a recording situation. But you also have to know what to listen for and sometimes what we think may be a great live sounding instrument, isn't really that great to anyone else. This in turn shows some truth when you try to record the instrument because now you're not getting the hype of the live room involved or the live scene/club atmosphere. I can' tell you how many times I thought something was a great sound live...until I recorded it and then heard it for what it was. You also have to think live if you are going to record live which is important. If you love your bass in a live atmosphere...there has to be a way to capture that same vibe that makes you love it for the studio...or...just maybe the sound isn't as good as you think it is.
 
I use the same guitar rig live that I use in the studio. It sounds exactly the same no matter what I do...which is a good thing. The only time it sounds different is when people record me using cell phones and vid camera's....they clip out so bad at times, nothing sounds good through them. But you should always be able to find that happy medium man. If something sounds good nice and raw, the first thing to determine is if what you are hearing is really good....if it is, it should be easy to cop the sound with a little trial and error....no matter what it is; at least that's how it's been in my experience. :)
 
-DannY

batsbrew


i've not used ANYTHING that would knock my Taylor 414 off the recording pedestal.

if you wanna hear it, check out the songs forum, shure ksm44 test

I'm a little biased, but I have to agree - my SMB partner Larry uses one, and I've not heard a nicer tone. Check my sig for many examples.