Tips for recording a jumbo acoustic?

[u/leonchase]

I'm trying to record a simple guitar part—basic strummed open cowboy chords—on my big trusty EJ-200. In general, I love the tone (had most of the hardware upgraded a while back), but on the mic I'm still getting a lot of droney overtones and unwanted harmonics.

I understand that the most important thing is to use my ears, and to keep the mic off the sound hole. But are there any other tricks or techniques that could help with this particular body style?

[u/wholetyouinhere]

There's about a million ways that this can be approached, all depending on taste, genre, and so many other factors.

But just to give you one (possibly irrelevant to you) example of something that worked for me recently was I put an SDC in the "standard" spot -- roughly 12th fret / where the neck meets the body. And then an LDC about three feet away. I was trying to get clarity from the close mic, and body from the other. I'd say it worked for me.

This was for a piece where the acoustic was the main instrument. In denser mixes, I have had success throwing a single dynamic mic roughly around the 12th fret also. Don't be afraid to try something simple and stupid.

[u/ThoriumEx]

When typical micing doesn’t work, I like to place the mic above the strings, pointing down at them, somewhere between the sound hole and where the neck meets the body. You get more of the direct string sound and less of the body resonance, might need to remove some low end with EQ though. Easier to do with a pencil mic.

[u/marklonesome]

Usually mic further away to further reduce boominess…also off the sound hole like you said.

I've also had luck putting a towel in the sound hole to reduce the amount of resonance.

Just grab a towel that fills about 3/4 of the body. Slide it under strings and out again easily…

[u/knadles → u/marklonesome]

This was going to be my suggestion as well. Everyone automatically goes close mic, but if it’s a solo instrument, it was usually designed to be listened to from at least a few feet away.

Also, the over the shoulder trick next to the player’s ear is an option.

[u/bythisriver]

I don´t know what mic you're using but try going a lot further from the intrument, experiment how far you can go and always check the sound in context of a the mix.

[u/moonduder]

eq is your friend and mic placement, just gotta play around. some artists like what they hear at their playing so they put a mic by their head. 12th fret is also a standard placement. room mic. again just play around until you find the right spot.

[u/midwinter_]

One of the most important things in my room is my chair—a regular old office task chair that I can move around a mic that I've set up in order to find the sweet spot for capturing whatever instrument I'm tracking. Set up the mic in a position that will capture the instrument (usually aiming at the 12th fret or the neck joint) and then, with headphones you trust on, move your chair around—side to side, near and far—until you get a sound you like. Be aware that you might be fooled into thinking that louder is better.

Big guitars are usually boomy, which means placing the mic farther away than you might expect.

[u/incomplete_goblin]

Positions as others have mentioned. Also: Be sure to be at least 30cms (12") off the guitar or even more. Consider using an omni if your room allows. Consider a ribbon or dynamic mic. And look at using different picks and picking positions