Recording - June 2010 - 43

They complement each other very nicely. A nice trick is to place a ribbon mic two inches off one of the cabinet’s rear corners, which will capture the low end of the guitar. 2. Fender Twin Reverb Now this an open-back amp, so its characteristics are going to be different. I recommend raising it off the floor on an amp stand. You can actually mike the back of the amp by placing a 57 off center to one of the speakers. You can also close-mike the front of the amp simultaneously, just remember to flip the phase (really “polarity”) button on the console or preamp and see which setting sounds best. To achieve more ambience in your track, place a mic against a hard wall in the room and mix it into the other tracks. You can experiment with different fade mixtures to get various tonal qualities. 3. Mesa Boogie Mark II The more adventurous can do a threemic technique on this one. Use the classic 57 mic, then add a Sennheiser 421 at a 45 degree angle pointing at the center of the cone. Now add a third mic, usually a ribbon like the beyerdynamic M160 pointing to the voice coil of the speaker (it’s in both of the photos on the facing

Acoustic guitar miking—sample mic choices and techniques 1. Neumann TLM 49 This is a fantastic mic for many different applications—I like it on acoustic instruments. When recording acoustic guitar I usually place the mic between the sound hole and the neck. I move the mic around a bit until I find that sweet spot according to the type of acoustic guitar and the player. If the guitar has a L.R. Baggs microphone system in it (see below), I find going direct with the Baggs in conjunction with the TLM 49 is a great combo. The Baggs system gives you the woody sound of the guitar and the Neumann captures the tonal quality of the guitar in the room. 2. AKG 451 This is one the most classic microphones for studio recording. It features a precise, nearly frequency-independent cardioid pattern and a transformerless output stage. Place it pointing at the sound hole about 3 inches way, or as close as you can get it without obstructing the player. Position a second 451 between the bridge and the end of the body of the guitar about 10 inches away. Hard-pan each of the mics left and right and compress them by about a 4:1 ratio with a high threshold on the mic facing the sound hole to get a nice attack tone. For a more rhythmic tone, you can place the second 451 pointing at the 12th fret about twelve inches away. 3. L.R. Baggs Microphone System Leo Kottke used the first L.R. Baggs product, the LB6 Series Pickup. The active Acoustic Guitar Pickup System combines an all-discrete, Class A FET preamp built on a stereo Strapjack. It also is assisted by an internal mic that is connected underneath the guitar top. The preamp also features a second active input, so you can easily run a second pickup to complement the L.R. Baggs. It’s an incredible system and completely preserves the integrity of the acoustic tone. I usually plug directly into the Universal Audio 610 mic preamp and record. With the various contour controls the Baggs comes with, plus the eq control on the 610, it is simple to get the right tone. Final thoughts Once you get the hang of recording the guitar in various settings, you will become acquainted with what will work in a track and what won’t. Once in the studio you’ll discover that just moving the mics towards the speakers or away will get various tones. Employing different angles, mics, distances, and rooms will achieve a whole host of guitar colors. One thing to keep in mind is that a huge part of a guitarist’s tone lies in his hands. Eddie Van Halen said it best when he was touring in 1979, “I’d let other guitarists try my rig with my guitar and they sounded nothing like me!” To each his own.

page; that’s a Neumann TLM 49 as a room mic in the first shot). Again be sure to flip the phase button to get the best tone. You actually get the best of all worlds; the 57 gives you the top treble tones, the 421 the strong mids and the M160 adds the fullness of the body. You can certainly substitute the M160 with a Royer R-121 or—what I love to use—an sE Electronics RT1 ribbon tube mic. It gives a nice fat sound, but still keeps the mid tonal quality. (See the photo above.)

Brian Tarquin (tarquin@recordingmag.com) is an Emmy-winning recording engineer and guitarist, who runs the guitar-centric label Bohemian Productions based in New York (www.bohemianproductions.net).
RECORDING JUNE 2010

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Recording - June 2010

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