I don't see any ideas in this thread that should warrant the acknowledgement of a dissenting position. :-)
 
For example the last sentence in post number 2 offers the opinion:
 
"...You'll learn more by just trying what you have available."
 
and that idea seems to be the general consensus. :-)
 
 
all the best!
mike
 

Ok all those microphones are good for what you want to do and they all seem like pretty good value for money as well.
 
Some practical tips:
 
I would obviously use the MXLR144 for the side Mic. It is just a simple matter of setting up an M/S setup with this as the Side Mic and create two setups. One with the Behringer C1 as the M Mic and the second obviously with the MXL 991 as the M Mic.
 
Make recordings with both setups at various distances and positions on the acoustic guitar. Make sure you set both setups at exactly the same position. You could in fact set up the S Mic (horizontally) and both the M Mics at the same time one above the S Mic and the other below it. The S Mic should still sound the same either vertically or horizontally. Record to 3 tracks at the same time. Move the whole assembly around into various positions. Announce what position the setup is in. eg how far away it is and where it is.
 
On playback decode the S Mic with either of the M Mics. You should be able to setup this decoding by routing things around. Use a plugin to do the decoding, it is easier. Then you should be able to directly A/B the different M Mics (in real time) and see which you prefer.
 
With the Mics you have you wont be able to make Blumlein setup. Both of those M Mics are cardioid only.
 
I have recorded acoustic guitar with both LDC and SDC as the M Mic and both gave very nice results. It is just a matter of taste which you prefer. No amount of discussion will replace going through this process and finding out what sounds best to you.
 
Having a second Mic that has various patterns does open up many possibilites. You can then put it into figure 8 mode and make a Blumlein recording. Or put it into Onmi and use it as the M Mic in an M/S setup. With Blumlein you must remember it is picking up as much on the other side as it is the source side so you need to be very aware of the room acoustics on the other side of the Blumlein setup. (not always ideal in a small home studio) I made a very nice M/S recording of a string quartet using the M Mic in Omni. (room was really nice though) BTW M/S recording makes string quartet stuff very easy and it is almost the best way to do it. eg put the string quartet in an 180 degree arc and put the M/S set up in the middle of it facing the quartet. It means you have got Mics pointing at all the instruments at once, very cool. And you can either bring the image in or further out.
 
While I agree with Mike in that even a relatively mono source sound such as an acoustic guitar can sound good in stereo it still depends on the final mix. I have found from experience that in a dense complex mix recording the acoustic guitar in stereo is not so good or you just don't hear it really with everything else going on. However for a solo recording in a nice space it could be very good indeed.
 
 

I disagree with the idea that I have stated a preference for stereo vs mono. :-) I agree with the idea that each can be effective in differing circumstances. :-)

I'd also like to reiterate the idea that Mr. Blumlein's patent described the use of an omni mid for MS prior to his description of the idea of using figure 8s in the popular +45/-45 orientation. In other words, MS coincident positioning is a variety of Blumlein technique.


Sent from DROID.

Jeff - good idea for me to set up all three at once and then compare...and note the distances from the guitar. Like it - will get on it and if I remember - write back. 

I use an Mojave Audio MA-100 (they make the MA-200 now I think?) for the mid and it works really well (recommended) It's a small diaphram.

HI there :)