Microphone for recording acoustic guitar -- any recommendations?

I'm very happy with the Rode NT5. There's also an NT55 which has a pad and HPF.

I also have Neumann km84s (earlier version of km184) and in my opinion, the Rode stands up against these very well, but much less expensive.

I've used that Shure KSM for distant micing of a period orchestra- it came out great. That's not the same as an acoustic guitar, but I can say it's worth looking into.

A Studio Projects C-1 ($250) works fine. A C.A.D. Trion 7000 ($250)ribbon works too. The C.A.D. sounds even better run through a Studio Projects tube preamp ($125). I would start with the C-1. Sweetwater is a great place to buy from.

James Holloway wrote:
My budget is under $400, Thanks!

Hi,

Rather than give you some brand X thing, why not try this:

If you are going to use the guitar as one of the main instruments, try to use two mics. One large diafragm, preferably tube, pointing towards the top frets, but not directly at the soundhole, and about a foot away. This will capture the "body" and warmth of the guitar.

The second mic, use a thin condenser, the straight looking one, and point that more towards the bridge, or if you want more fingering action, more towards the twelfth fret or so, and about 6 to 8 inches away. This one is for getting the high end detail of the guitar and the player.

Mix the two into one track, being careful to check the phase of both when together, to ensure they both add to the overall sound, and are not detracting from the mixed signal.

If you are going to use the guitar on a heavier many-tracked song, and only as rhythm support, then you might be able to get away with onyl the small pencil condenser.

Cheers

For what it's worth ( I don't know what these fetch on eBay) I use a Coles 4038 in conjuntion with a Neumann KM184, make sure they're very close to each other avoid phase problems and they've got air between the player and the mic's.

A winner everytime for me. To be honest the Coles is the most versatile Mic I've ever bought. It's great at recording stuff and giving it a natural clarity rather than the super bright modern mics that do nothing but build layer after layer of digital "fizz" to projects recorded in a budget set up. So far, shakers, tams, guitars, brass, anything with "bite" to them sound like proper records for the first time for me.

Christian Henson wrote:
For what it's worth ( I don't know what these fetch on eBay) I use a Coles 4038 in conjuntion with a Neumann KM184, make sure they're very close to each other avoid phase problems and they've got air between the player and the mic's.

Very nice. I use a KM184 and a Royer R122, although I tend to use them farther apart as a general rule. But yes, ribbon mics... that's the way records are supposed to sound!

Most small and large diaphragm mics under the 700 price point tend to have WAY too much "zing" on their frequency curve. You think they sound great upon first using it, but once you start stacking up tracks with it, it starts to sound like a pack of bees swarming around your studio 🙂

Regarding the question, has anyone used the blue mics...

I played a session 2 weeks ago, and the engineer mic'd my acoustic guitar with two of the blues... the Kiwi model, perhaps. It sounded excellent, and based on that one experience, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend those mics.