Recording a J45/J50

[Salfromchatham]

Hey guys,

 

I have a J-50 Modern Classic. It is not as open and deep as my J45-TV; I never expected it to be - I am hoping it will come with time, and in the interim it can serve as a gigging guitar for me that I am proud of.

 

Here is the thing... I am experimenting with an Apogee Mic, and Garageband. I have the mic positioned about 14 inches away from the upper frets / soundhole. The sound is coming out somewhat tinny, and lacking bass and richness. I have heard some of the incredible recordings you all or doing; what must I be doing wrong? This setup is no way near as pretty and deep and rich as the recordings I can make on my Zoom H2n.

 

Thanks in advance.

[jrplefty]

Sal,

 

Typically, when I record acoustic I use a two mic approach. One is aimed at the twelfth fret as close as possible without interfering with my playing, and the second is around the lower bout aimed at the bridge, and I feel like I've always been able to capture a really accurate sound using that approach. If I had to choose just one, I would probably go with the twelfth fret position. It captures the sound really well, and doesn't get boomy or lack clarity. Due to a couple of unfortunate life circumstances all of my recordings are packed for a few months or I would share them with you. Hope that helps

 

Just my .02

[jrplefty]

I stand corrected. I actually found a recording I made for a song I was trying to co write with my brother. There is a small amount of electric work, but primarily acoustic. The guitar used is a guild F-50R, which is a rosewood b/s jumbo bodied guitar, so you have a reference for generally what it should sound like unrecorded. While listening, bear in mind, I am not an audio engineer or much of a player for that matter, just trying to give you an audio reference of what the technique I described above can sound like.

 

Never Gone

[BluesKing777]

I would start with ONE mic - you can easy get 'phasing' issues with 2 mics - yes it sounds like you have a 'phaser'! The Zoom recorder seems to have this problom licked, because it has a set "X, Y" pattern.

 

It almost sounds like I know what I am talking about - don't - that is in the sales brochure....

 

 

 

Have a look at the Music Villa videos - they use one very high quality Neumann mic (KM184), at the 12 fret in the videos... the rest is in the lap of the music gods.

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[EuroAussie]

Sounds like you have the mike too far from the soundhole. Bring it up a bit and just experiment with positioning, free experiment.

[Salfromchatham]

I shall and thanks.

[lannishboy]

Stay with one mic at first. Aim it at the place where the neck joins the body, usually 12th fret. Keep it fairly close - 6-12 inches. If it sounds thin, angle the mic more towards the soundhole. If it sounds too boomy, angle the mic further up the neck. As you move the mic, listen with headphones if possible. Your ears will tell you when you are in the ballpark. Moving the mic further back will include the sound of the room more, which is usually a bad thing. If you happen to be in a good sounding room, then moving the mic further away is generally a good thing. If you ever want to record a stereo guitar track, the same approach with an X-Y setup is probably the easiest way to go. This simple approach has been used to good effect on plenty of records.

[salomonander]

if you have access to a great neumann tube mic put it in omni and you should be set (if the room is good). also a pair of coles ribbon mics in blumelein works amazing. very natural.

 

ps: for a single mic the usual standard procedure is to have the mic pointed at the 12th fret. vary in distance to get the bass response you want. do not put the mic in front of the soundhole unless its a great omni pattern mic. if you work in cardioid the 12th fret is the place to go - in general that is. mic choice is crucial im afraid. they all paint a different picture. the best "mid budged" one would be a vintage km84. the km184s are horrible. if you are on a really low budged you might want to try a beyer m101. these are omni dynamic mics that show up on ebay occasionally. they are rather bright but sound very natural on acoustic guitar.