Do you like to mic the acoustic guitar or use pickups?!
Question: Some acoustics have built-in pickups. I use a Fishman soundhole pickup. Used to have a Barcus Berry. Do you prefer mics? Why or why not?
Answers: Some acoustics have built-in pickups. I use a Fishman soundhole pickup. Used to have a Barcus Berry. Do you prefer mics? Why or why not?
I used to swear by the SHURE SM57,and SM58 mics,still work awsome,then the DEAN MARKLEY acoustic pick up came out (had the foam on sides to easily mount in sound hole without drilling) but was limited as far as control goes....now its the "piezo" pickup that's ruling my acoustic world...I still have to use the mics for certain things,but find I tend to lean more towards the piezo now,more control,sounds excellent,combined with the Parker Fly guitar it really is quite sweet,the easy feel and playability of an electric,with the articulation of a top line acoustic.Piezo pick up gets my vote,to be honest some things you just can't beat a mic for, angle it's at,distance from source can make a big difference, .makes you wonder whats "next"....Star for you...cool topic,never seen it asked before!!
i prefer my drum set with a double bass.
i find, in a recording situation, that a mixture of the two can work quite well, especially if the mic is angled slightly away from the sound hole, towards the neck.
but when playing live, pickups are a lot more convenient.
Although it really depends on what you like.
I prefer mics, it is much better for most of the songs... You can hear the guitar better....
I'm more of a mic guy. I suppose it depends on preferences, but to me the mic tends to save the acoustics warm tone
I have limited experience with onboard acoustic pickups, so I've always used a mic. They're a lot more difficult to use on stage (feedback!), and even recording you have to have good technique to capture a good sound... but mic's give you a very wide eq range, moreso than just pickups.
Let's say you have a go-to mic that you use to record with. Set it up in your studio, get its impulse response, then record your track. Deconvolve out the impulse response of the mic (and room, to some extent). Now you have a close approximation of a neutral guitar sound, and can apply any impulse response you want to it... put it in a big room with a tube mic... put it in a factory, being recorded by an antique telephone, and played back through a PA speaker.... that's the benefit of mic'ing that i've discovered. Impulse responses rule. You can't make a Radio Shack microphone sound exactly like a multi-thousand dollar tube microphone, but it will be a step up, even if it is just an approximation.
Of course, that's all studio trickery, and doesn't do you jack when playing live...
Saul