Mics?

Kelly Dow

I have been experimenting on gigs lately with putting a mic in front of the guitar. So far so good, I am using a beyer dynamic but think that a condenser mic designed for instruments would be better. There are so many on the market with different price ranges, I would love some recommendations if anyone has any. I do have a big tone pick-up that does sound good, but there is nothing like capturing the pure acoustic tones of these guitars. I noticed on the Bireli Dvd he has a mic attached to the sound hole, does anybody know what that is?

Jack

If you poke around the forum, you'll find a long thread on the Bireli mic. The upshot is that they're used only for the stage monitors...

Best,
Jack.

djadam

Hi Kelly, I've always been really happy with the Oktava MK-012 mini condenser. Great mic and it won't break the bank.

I have used it to record my Martin dreadnaught in a professional setting - it was plugged into a killer preamp and sounded as good as any recorded acoustic I've heard. Haven't used it live though.

nwilkins

I have had great success playing live shows with the relatively inexpensive Apex 165 mini condenser mic - it sounded much better than the comparable Shure 98 in a side by side test.

joef

Also check out the Rode NT3 which has a battery compartment for the times when phantom power is not available. Makes it a bit larger than the others.

regards
Joe

Colin Perry

I use an AKG C-451, but I have also heard good things about the Rode NT-3.

Spruce

Sounds like we're talking mics for live gigs here, but can we talk mics for the studio here as well?

I've gone through a huge shoot-out trying to pick a mic'ing setup for capturing that mid-range honk that is so hard to capture on Django style guitars, and have surprisingly wound up leaning towards omni dynamics like the EV RE55 and 655c...

Even an EV 635a is a good call....

Tried Neumann KM84s, a U47, some AKG Bluelines, and even went through my ribbons (RCA 44BX, BK11, BK5, Beyer M500), and kept coming back to the dynamic omnis...

Anyone else out there have some favorite studio mics for a Selmer-style guitar??

Placement?

nwilkins

personally I prefer the sound of just a room mic for most situations - two large diaphragm condensers set 90 degrees apart for stereo separation works very well