best mic for acoustic guitar

[alex99]

Hi i am having trouble mic'ing up my martin acoustic guitar. was thinkin of buying a shure sm57, does anyone know much about these for use with an acoustic guitar? dont want to spend all that money and it be no good!

[jb4674]

What preamps are you using?

The SM57 is probably one of those mics that are very flexible in terms of recording. It can record mostly anything you can think of but, it won't do you any good if you have a cheap preamp. Also, you might want to consider using 2 mics instead of a single one or maybe spend a little more money and get a nice condenser mic if you can only buy a single mic.

Jimmy

[ScottB]

For recording acoustic guitar, you can't beat a Shure PG81 if you're on a budget. I have a pair of the PG81 that I use live and for recording. You can use phantom power through your board or a battery.

[jb4674]

Scott, not to be a d1ck but, why would you even suggest buying a $40 mic when an SM57 is much better than a pg81?

Jimmy

[rty13ibz98]

Originally Posted by jb4674

Scott, not to be a d1ck but, why would you even suggest buying a $40 mic when an SM57 is much better than a pg81?

Jimmy

um, sorry, jimmy, but why are you suggesting a dynamic mic for recording an acoustic guitar? the complexity of the acoustic guitars dynamic range is best served with a condenser mic. i have found that dynamic mics are a bit bland sounding and lack the harmonic overtones associated with acoustic guitars. my new low budget LDC is the mxl v67. on acoustic guitar is hard to beat! before i was mic'ing my acoustics with my mojave ma200 on the 14th fret, a a stereo pair or rode nt5's on the 5th fret and right behind the bridge. gives a great one, but was a bit on the bright side. i bought the v67 due to the price and bought a pair of sennheiser e614's on the cheap and found that for AG, these are a winning combo. hell, the v67 alone is simply amazing. for the OP, i would recommend a pair of the v67i. it is a dual voiced LDC that has a dark/bright switch that enables either the front side of the capsule or rear for 2 distinct sounds. a stereo pari for capturing the 14th fret and the bridge would definitely bring out the voice of your martin. run those into a good preamp and enjoy a slice of sonic nirvana.

rich