Mic for acoustic guitar?

[Pete]

Which style/models of MIC do you prefer for recording acoustic gutar(s)?

[budhalite]

Here's a few ideas..........

 

I really like my matched pair of Peluso CMEC6 mics. They are really one of the best pairs of small diaphragm condensers for under $1200. And in fact, you can usually find a set on ebay through SoundPure for around $600 (new). I would highly recommend saving up for these if you are thinking about going any cheaper than that.

 

The one cheaper mic that I could recommend would be to find a pair of Octava MC-012's (about $100-150 each). These are not nearly as good as the Pelusos but are the best "cheap" mic that I've tried. I little bit of a bump in the low end doesn't make them the best acoustic guitar mics, but not bad. They are GREAT tom tom mics though.........

 

The next step up from the Pelusos would be to get a matched pair of old 70's (or 80's) Gefell 692s on ebay with either the m70 capsules or the m94 capsules if you want that really bright hyped thing. A pair will usually be about $1000 using Buy It Now and they also get bought that way before the auction ends. I have a pair with the m58 omni capsules which are really awesome as room mics, overheads, acoustic guitar mics. Of course you will get a lot more bleed from the room with the omnis so you have to know how to use them. but they sound amazing. But the m70 or m94 cardiod capsules are also really great. The Pelsuos actually have a much tighter pattern, so if you want something that won't pick up a lot bleed they are excellent.

 

I have pairs of all three of these mics and can recommend owning all of them. I use the Pelusos and Gefells all the time for acoustic guitar, drum overheads, room mics, piano mics, etc. The Pelusos are more colored than the Gefells (the Gefells just sound unbelievably realistic, but they are still "big" sounding), but the Pelusos are colored in a good way.

 

Another option is a matched set of Earthworks SR77 cardiods (about $1600 if I'm not mistaken). These are super realistic. They literally sound like you are there. Of course if the room isn't that great or the source has a few weird frequencies, they will faithfully reproduce these in all their "glory". I would personally choose my Gefells over the Earthworks 9 times out of 10, but that's more of a personality/subjective thing, and not a reflection of the quality of the sound. I tend to find that ruler flat thing to be a bit boring, but if you are working on jazz or classical, it's pretty nice. I find them to be a bit thin on the low end for overheads, but on a big acoustic guitar they sound fantastic. Lots of detail...........

 

Anyway, hope this helps. I highly recommend spending a bit more to at least grab the Pelusos, rather that spend $200-300 on some cheaper pair that you will grow out of pretty quickly.