Acoustic with pickup to DAW interface - Is it possible to get a great sound?

[Bourbon Burst]

I connected the pickup from my Taylor guitar piezo and a Seymour Duncan Woody soundhole pickup into my Focusrite Scarlett to record in Reaper. I also tried from the Woody into a LR Baggs preamp to the Scarlett.

It doesn't sound bad but it isn't the greatest either. To get a good acoustic sound do you need a ribbon or condenser mic pointing to the neck or fretboard to get a rich sound?

 

[klasaine]

With an acoustic, mic'd will always be better.
Having said that, you can certainly make it better with strategic EQ.
There are also some plugins that can help ...
https://www.waves.com/plugins/maserati-gti (cheap)
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/guitar-bass/sound-machine-wood-works.html (expensive)

 

[Bourbon Burst]

With an acoustic, mic'd will always be better.
Having said that, you can certainly make it better with strategic EQ.
There are also some plugins that can help ...
https://www.waves.com/plugins/maserati-gti (cheap)
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/guitar-bass/sound-machine-wood-works.html (expensive)

Thanks! Those are pretty cool. Have you used any of them?

 

[swervinbob]

I tried everything, including the UAD Sound Machine Woodworks and the Fender Acoustisonic Tele, along with acoustic impulse responses loaded in a Helix. Nothing comes close to just sticking a mic in front of your acoustic. I started a thread a couple of years ago complaining that we live in a world today where we have outstanding direct in electric guitar sims, but acoustic sims have been left behind.

But, just like the argument over amp sims, I really don’t think most people care. I think we, as musicians, let it eat us up when we record acoustic direct. I was watching a video recently. At the end was an outro song. I could easily here that the acoustic guitar sound was a piezo. The video was not about music production, so all comments were about the video content. If it would have been about music production, the comments would have been about the piezo guitar sound.

 

[thesamhill]

I posted this a while ago when a similar question arose.

Thread 'Every Kind of Wrong (John Moreland Cover)' https://www.tdpri.com/threads/every-kind-of-wrong-john-moreland-cover.1107463/

So acknowledging that the audience doesn't really care unless the tone is really bad, it's kind of on you to decide what "good acoustic sound" is.

For me, in the recording environment I have at home, the overall take will pretty much always be better if I'm free to move around (more energy in the song, but therefore have to use a pickup) vs if I have to sit still and think about playing into a mic.

The alternative I guess would be going to a studio and spending money on a recording in an environment that could handle both.

 

[klasaine]

Thanks! Those are pretty cool. Have you used any of them?

Yes, I've used both.
Neither will turn a DI'd Cort into a vintage D-28 but with some tweaking (and additional EQ), they will improve the acoustic tone.
The UAd 'Woodworks' is better than the Waves 'GTI', but not by much.
*No slight to Cort guitars in general

As swervinbob says, micing an acoustic is the way to go. Any mic too. Doesn't have to be specific or high-quality.

 

[Peegoo]

Piezo and mag pickups do not capture the zing and pop of an acoustic guitar (they sense only mechanical sound transmission). Any mic, put in the right place, makes a world of difference. You need that 'air' in the sound.

 

[Timbresmith1]

Piezo and mag pickups do not capture the zing and pop of an acoustic guitar (they sense only mechanical sound transmission). Any mic, put in the right place, makes a world of difference. You need that 'air' in the sound.

Yep. Even a cheap electret condenser blended in can help.

 

[USian Pie]

I found the magnetic Fishman Rare Earth is a pretty sound if I pre-amp and EQ it right.

But it doesn't really sound like an acoustic -- just a pretty guitar sound.

 

[Chud]

Mic’ing is the way to go as others have noted. I have been wanting to try the LR Baggs Voiceprint pedal though.

LR Baggs Voiceprint Acoustic DI

Acoustic DI with Voiceprint Technology, Full-parametric EQ, and Feedback Control

www.sweetwater.com

 

[mixmkr 2023]

And of course Ovations are well known for their plugged in sound, not saying it emulates a properly mic'd acoustic. But I have 3 of them because I like the way they sound, even if I struggled with these danged round backs, when sitting down. If they weren't so slippery too. Might as well put a good coat if wax on 'em!
But in there own color palette arena, some will say their high quality, unique sound isn't matched with other acoustics...mic'd or plugged in.

 

[codamedia]

I agree with the comments so far... nothing beats a mic. A Fishman Aura (or impulses of a Fishman Aura) can get you much closer to that sound with a Piezo... even passable. However, if there is an option for a mic, give it a try.

There is a missing ingredient a piezo or magnetic pickup cannot record... that is the sound of the pick (disregard if you are playing fingerstyle). When I used to track a direct acoustic guitar... regardless of how nice it sounded the playback was missing something. It took a while to realize I no longer heard the percussive sound of the pick.

One nice trick that works well is to double track the single acoustic part. Record the mic, and the piezo at the same time. Blend & pan them on playback with a little EQ and seasoning. The mic will be light and airy, the piezo bold and tight.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

Thanks for this thread and the responses. I'm just getting started with recording, and this will save me some time and hassle. I'll just stick with a mic for acoustic sounds.

 

[SRHmusic]

Yep, I agree with the others here. A piezo pickup by itself usually sounds pretty quacky. I've had nice results by recording with both a mic and a piezo pickup. You can dial in a good mix between the two. Add a bit of appropriate reverb if in an acoustically dead room.
Edit- You can try some equalization, perhaps with some narrow notches to get a more natural acoustic tone from a piezo alone.

 

[Dukex]

I use microphones. You can get a pair of good SDCs for $100-$200. You can pay more (and I do), but you don't need to. I record in stereo for solo acoustic guitar (especially fingerstyle) and use a single mic (usually a LDC) for song mixes.

 

[ficelles]

I'm something of a piezo-hater as I cannot stand how they seem to bring out the sound of fingernails scraping on phosphor-bronze strings, but maybe that's me being picky (no pun intended ). So I would always mic as well as DI, and usually EQ the DI'd track severely then blend the two. Stereo mics plus DI in the middle can get you a huge sound.

 

[Bourbon Burst]

I use microphones. You can get a pair of good SDCs for $100-$200. You can pay more (and I do), but you don't need to. I record in stereo for solo acoustic guitar (especially fingerstyle) and use a single mic (usually a LDC) for song mixes.

Any recommendations on a mic? Maybe around $300 or less for a LDC? I can go up more if it is worth it.

 

[klasaine]

Lots of good choices around 3 bills ...
Warm Audio 47 Jr
MXL Revelation mini fet
Audio Technica AT4040
Rode NT-1

 

[Swirling Snow]

Choose a good vocal mic - it'll sound great on guitar.

It was years ago, but we started with the Rode NT-1. Still a good choice, I believe.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

My only similar experience is from last year getting our last bass player with his upright rigged up.
The right preamp was the difference maker, and we could run the uprights pickups to the preamp and into the AI. The other decent sounding result was the same setup into an amp or mixer, then line out into the interface.

I've not had any acoustic pickup sound better than pointing a decent condenser mic and a mediocre dynamic mic at the acoustic and getting a stereo sound from it.