Can someone identify this mic?

Get that song on tape! Errr... disk?
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fuzzjunkie
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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sat Apr 13, 2019 1:14 pm

The 3 mics that I usually pulled out for acoustic, which I didn’t do that often and didn’t have a huge mic locker to choose from, were a Royer 121, the AKG-451 and a Blue microphone’s Bluebird. The later two can be found in your price range and there are plenty of video examples of the 451, I linked one above, of course try one yourself before you buy it.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by DesmondWafers » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:29 pm

Those were both mics I was considering, actually. The 57 I have just really doesn't sound very good for solo fingerstyle stuff, but I think if I don't go into a pretty different price bracket, those will probably do fine.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by øøøøøøø » Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:07 am

I’m generally not a fan of the bluebird.

I am a fan of the R121, but seldom would use it on acoustic guitar.

This week I mixed a track I recorded with a U47 at about a foot plus a pair of KM86 in ORTF near the neck body joint (skewed so that one 86 was pointing right at the neck/body joint and the other was pointed kind of at the bridge).

The acoustic was one of about four total elements in the mix, and was the main accompanying element (there were no drums). Otherwise I wouldn’t have done so much or gone for a stereo presentation like that. But DAMN did it sound good, with the U47 being the main body of the sound and the KM86 brought up just for a touch of width and space.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:16 am

øøøøøøø wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:07 am
I’m generally not a fan of the bluebird.

I am a fan of the R121, but seldom would use it on acoustic guitar.

This week I mixed a track I recorded with a U47 at about a foot plus a pair of KM86 in ORTF near the neck body joint (skewed so that one 86 was pointing right at the neck/body joint and the other was pointed kind of at the bridge).

The acoustic was one of about four total elements in the mix, and was the main accompanying element (there were no drums). Otherwise I wouldn’t have done so much or gone for a stereo presentation like that. But DAMN did it sound good, with the U47 being the main body of the sound and the KM86 brought up just for a touch of width and space.
Your placement is my go to for acoustic guitar. I try not to mic the sound hole directly even when using just one microphone. Balancing the two and one getting the neck join area and another at the bridge or even bridge/body tone always works best for me. Mic placement is a huge deal on how an acoustic will sound on tape, regardless the quality of the microphone.

A better mic is better of course, usually, but not always, since it depends on the sound you want to achieve. A Neumann will almost always sound good, but a lesser mic can certainly work.

One artist wanted a “campfire” feel, Americana folk-rock songs, he wanted to sound like it was recorded in a cabin in the woods or around a campfire. We got what he wanted recording with an SM-57 and Bluebird into Pacifica preamps and a Tascam 38. We had better mics and better recording devices, but he wanted something specific. No compression and no EQ. He didn’t want anything else between his Martin and the tape. The Bluebird is a little hyped in the upper mids and it picked up just enough room reverb to make it work, but still transparent enough on the body tone of the guitar to capture the wood.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by øøøøøøø » Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:14 pm

I seldom use more than one mic at a time on acoustic.

Depending on its function in the arrangement (and on the size of the arrangement) I might like a simple KM84, KM86, KM54, etc near the neck body joint.

Or I might like something like a 47, 67, etc out front of the guitar a bit (as much as 2 feet out, occasionally more).

I’ve even used an SM57 before, a few times, when I wanted a specific thing (i.e. “small, flat, stark”)

I cannot ever imagine close mic’ing the soundhole with anything or for anything, for several reasons.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:19 pm

I cannot ever imagine close mic’ing the soundhole with anything or for anything, for several reasons
It only takes that one time!

I’ll admit the first time having a friend over to record her acoustic guitar on my 4-track cassette recorder and only having an SM-57 and an AT-4033 for microphones, we both, having never been in an actual recording studio before, thought that’s what you did. That’s where the sound comes from! You live and learn is all I can say about that.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Apr 15, 2019 4:34 am

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:19 pm
I cannot ever imagine close mic’ing the soundhole with anything or for anything, for several reasons
It only takes that one time!

I’ll admit the first time having a friend over to record her acoustic guitar on my 4-track cassette recorder and only having an SM-57 and an AT-4033 for microphones, we both, having never been in an actual recording studio before, thought that’s what you did. That’s where the sound comes from! You live and learn is all I can say about that.
Haha yes, the most-enduring method of learning lessons!

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Apr 15, 2019 4:37 am

Another reason why I'm taking the electronics out of my acoustic guitars, also.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Can someone identify this mic?

Post by fortytwo » Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:13 pm

øøøøøøø wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:07 am
This week I mixed a track I recorded with a U47 at about a foot plus a pair of KM86 in ORTF near the neck body joint (skewed so that one 86 was pointing right at the neck/body joint and the other was pointed kind of at the bridge).

The acoustic was one of about four total elements in the mix, and was the main accompanying element (there were no drums). Otherwise I wouldn’t have done so much or gone for a stereo presentation like that. But DAMN did it sound good, with the U47 being the main body of the sound and the KM86 brought up just for a touch of width and space.
That sounds like a pretty sweet setup, wouldn't mind hearing a tiny snippet of it.

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