
Why you should consider tracking the acoustic sound of your solid-, semi-, or hollowbody axe in addition to the amp it's plugged into.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Dojo. This month we are going to do something rarely done and counterintuitive. We are going to mic our electric guitar in addition to the amp! Why? Because there is something to be gained. The Dojo is now open, so let's get started.
I first remember hearing about this technique back in 1989, when I bought the CD Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint, composed by American minimalist Steve Reich and featuring the Kronos Quartet and one of my guitar heroes, Pat Metheny. Pat played all 13 guitar parts called for in Electric Counterpoint with great aplomb, and the result was gorgeous—vertical, pulsating clouds of harmonies weaving into tightly knit, horizontal, rhythmically imitative, melodic fragments that are constantly changing. Can you tell I like this piece? Hopefully you've already started listening to the recording as you're reading this.
Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint (complete), Pat Metheny
One of the subtle things I noticed was that in addition to Pat's characteristic dark archtop timbre (achieved by rolling back the tone dial on the neck pickup), there was also a clear attack of the note from an additional microphone that was placed near the guitar itself, and not the amp. The result was something quite unique and not really possible without using this technique.
Now, think about this for a moment. When we practice, chances are we're not playing at maximum volume—pissing off the parental units, girlfriends, and neighbors. (There's a time for that, but not all the time.) Most of us will play at room volume or practice volume. Which means, that you are hearing a slight mix of your amp as well as the snap, ping, and buzz of you plucking the guitar that's in your lap. Most of the time, we tune this out and place our focus on our amp volume, but we're missing something here. That little bit of pick attack that happens acoustically is part of our sound, and most of the time isn't captured.
That's the crucial difference of recording an acoustic guitar and an electric. The acoustic will have a microphone or microphones placed around it that are relatively close to your ears and will sound much more natural on playback. Whereas when we dime our 100-watt full stack, we're not going to place our ears right next to the speaker.
That little bit of pick attack that happens acoustically is part of our sound, and most of the time isn't captured.
That little bit of pick attack that happens acoustically is part of our sound, and most of the time isn't captured.Try this: Get your guitar out, mic your amp your favorite way (if you need ideas, read past Dojo articles for some inspiration). Get some distance between you and the amp, and now place a mic four to eight inches away from your neck pickup. Be sure to aim the amp speaker and the acoustic mic directly towards you. Put on your headphones, and as you set the gain level for the acoustic mic, don't overdo it. We're not trying to make it as loud as the amp mic (although you can experiment with that in playback!). We're just trying to get a little bit of that ping and snap of the guitar as if it wasn't plugged in at all. Hit record and play for a couple of minutes. Play something loud, something funky, something soft, single notes, chords, even take a solo.
Now, before you listen back, bring down the level of the acoustic mic and then slowly start fading it in. You'll know when you get the level right, because it will start to sound like you're right in there and playing it without headphones on. Note how your spatial perception changes. If you have a solidbody, a semi-hollow, and an archtop, each will yield varying results.
Until next month, keep an open mind, experiment, and have fun.
[Updated 10/11/21]
That's the crucial difference of recording an acoustic guitar and an electric. The acoustic will have a microphone or microphones placed around it that are relatively close to your ears and will sound much more natural on playback. Whereas when we dime our 100-watt full stack, we're not going to place our ears right next to the speaker.
Try this: Get your guitar out, mic your amp your favorite way (if you need ideas, read past Dojo articles for some inspiration). Get some distance between you and the amp, and now place a mic four to eight inches away from your neck pickup. Be sure to aim the amp speaker and the acoustic mic directly towards you. Put on your headphones, and as you set the gain level for the acoustic mic, don't overdo it. We're not trying to make it as loud as the amp mic (although you can experiment with that in playback!). We're just trying to get a little bit of that ping and snap of the guitar as if it wasn't plugged in at all. Hit record and play for a couple of minutes. Play something loud, something funky, something soft, single notes, chords, even take a solo.
- The Recording Guitarist: Stick That Mic Where the Sun Don't Shine ... ›
- The Recording Guitarist: Two Mics Are (Sometimes) Better than One ... ›
- The Recording Guitarist: Mic Makes Right - Premier Guitar ›
- The Recording Guitarist: Stick That Mic Where the Sun Don’t Shine - Premier Guitar ›
- Using VCAs for Mixing - Premier Guitar ›
- Using VCAs for Mixing - Premier Guitar ›
- A Fresh Look at Alternative-Material Electric Guitars - Premier Guitar ›
- Recording Tips: How to Max out Marginal Gains - Premier Guitar ›
- L.R. Baggs Acoustic-Electric AEG-1 Reviewed - Premier Guitar ›
Create, layer, and jam with the BOSS RC-1 Loop Station and BIC cable! Enter the I Love Pedals giveaway now and come back daily to increase your odds!
Boss RC-1 Loop Station Looper Pedal
The RC-1 Loop Station is the most intuitive looper pedal from BOSS. Its compact layout provides all the essential functions—record, playback, overdub, and undo/redo—encouraging instant creativity right out of the box.
The BIC 10-A cable from BOSS delivers uncompromising performance that faithfully transfers every nuance of tone and adds a vibrant touch with color options inspired by the brand's most iconic compact pedals.
The National New Yorker lived at the forefront of the emerging electric guitar industry, and in Memphis Minnie’s hands, it came alive.
This National electric is just the tip of the iceberg of electric guitar history.
On a summer day in 1897, a girl named Lizzie Douglas was born on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, the first of 13 siblings. When she was seven, her family moved closer to Memphis, Tennessee, and little Lizzie took up the banjo. Banjo led to guitar, guitar led to gigs, and gigs led to dreams. She was a prodigious talent, and “Kid” Douglas ran away from home to play for tips on Beale Street when she was just a teenager. She began touring around the South, adopted the moniker Memphis Minnie, and eventually joined the circus for a few years.
(Are you not totally intrigued by the story of this incredible woman? Why did she run away from home? Why did she fall in love with the guitar? We haven’t even touched on how remarkable her songwriting is. This is a singular pioneer of guitar history, and we beseech you to read Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnie’s Blues by Beth and Paul Garon.)
Following the end of World War I, Hawaiian music enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity. On their travels around the U.S., musicians like Sol Ho’opi’i became fans of Louis Armstrong and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, leading to a great cross-pollination of Hawaiian music with jazz and blues. This potent combination proved popular and drew ever-larger audiences, which created a significant problem: How on earth would an audience of thousands hear the sound from a wimpy little acoustic guitar?
This art deco pickguard offers just a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise demure instrument.
In the late 1920s, George Beauchamp, John and Rudy Dopyera, Adolph Rickenbacker, and John Dopyera’s nephew Paul Barth endeavored to answer that question with a mechanically amplified guitar. Working together under Beauchamp and John Dopyera’s National String Instrument Corporation, they designed the first resonator guitar, which, like a Victrola, used a cone-shaped resonator built into the guitar to amplify the sound. It was definitely louder, but not quite loud enough—especially for the Hawaiian slide musicians. With the guitars laid on their laps, much of the sound projected straight up at the ceiling instead of toward the audience.
Barth and Beauchamp tackled this problem in the 1930s by designing a magnetic pickup, and Rickenbacker installed it in the first commercially successful electric instrument: a lap-steel guitar known affectionately as the “Frying Pan” due to its distinctive shape. Suddenly, any stringed instrument could be as loud as your amplifier allowed, setting off a flurry of innovation. Electric guitars were born!
“At the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.”
By this time, Memphis Minnie was a bona fide star. She recorded for Columbia, Vocalion, and Decca Records. Her song “Bumble Bee,” featuring her driving guitar technique, became hugely popular and earned her a new nickname: the Queen of Country Blues. She was officially royalty, and her subjects needed to hear her game-changing playing. This is where she crossed paths with our old pals over at National.
National and other companies began adding pickups to so-called Spanish guitars, which they naturally called “Electric Spanish.” (This term was famously abbreviated ES by the Gibson Guitar Corporation and used as a prefix on a wide variety of models.) In 1935, National made its first Electric Spanish guitar, renamed the New Yorker three years later. By today’s standards, it’s modestly appointed. At the time it was positively futuristic, with its lack of f-holes and way-cool art deco design on the pickup.
There’s buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but that just goes to show how well-loved this guitar has been.
Memphis Minnie had finally found an axe fit for a Queen. She was among the first blues guitarists to go electric, and the New Yorker fueled her already-upward trajectory. She recorded over 200 songs in her 25-year career, cementing her and the National New Yorker’s place in musical history.
Our National New Yorker was made in 1939 and shows perfect play wear as far as we’re concerned. Sure, there’s buckle rash and the finish on the back of the neck is rubbed clean off in spots, but structurally, this guitar is in great shape. It’s easy to imagine this guitar was lovingly wiped down each time it was put back in the case.
There’s magic in this guitar, y’all. Every time we pick it up, we can feel Memphis Minnie’s spirit enter the room. This guitar sounds fearless. It’s a survivor. This is a guitar that could inspire you to run away and join the circus, transcend genre and gender, and leave your own mark on music history. As a guitar store, watching guitars pass from musician to musician gives us a beautiful physical reminder of how history moves through generations. We can’t wait to see who joins this guitar’s remarkable legacy.
SOURCES: blackpast.org, nps.gov, worldmusic.net, historylink.org, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, “Memphis Minnie’s ‘Scientific Sound’: Afro-Sonic Modernity and the Jukebox Era of the Blues” from American Quarterly, “The History of the Development of Electric Stringed Musical Instruments” by Stephen Errede, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.
In our third installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover, the master luthier shows PG's John Bohlinger how his team of builders assemble and construct guitars like a chef preparing food pairings. Hoover explains that the finer details like binding, headstock size and shape, internal bracing, and adhesives are critical players in shaping an instrument's sound. Finally, Richard explains how SCGC uses every inch of wood for making acoustic guitars or outside ventures like surfboards and art.
Featuring torrefied solid Sitka Spruce tops, mahogany neck, back, and sides, and Fishman Presys VT EQ System, these guitars are designed to deliver quality tone and playability at an affordable price point.
Cort Guitars, acclaimed for creating instruments that exceed in value and quality, introduces the Essence Series. This stunning set of acoustic guitars is designed for musicians looking for the quintessential classic acoustic guitar with fabulous tone all at an exceptional price point. The Essence Series features two distinct body shapes: The Grand Auditorium and the OM Cutaway. Whatever the flavor, the Essence Series has the style to suit.
The Essence-GA-4 is the perfect Grand Auditorium acoustic. Wider than a dreadnought, the Essence-GA-4 features a deep body with a narrower waist and a width of 1 ¾” (45mm) at the nut. The result is an instrument that is ideal for any number of playing styles: Picking… strumming… the Essence GA-4 is completely up for the task.
The Essence-OM-4 features a shallower body creating a closer connection to the player allowing for ease of use on stage. With its 1 11/16’th (43mm) nut width, this Orchestra Model is great for fingerpickers or singer/guitarists looking for better body contact for an overall better playing experience.
Both acoustics are topped with a torrefied solid Sitka Spruce top using Cort’s ATV process. The ATV process or “Aged to Vintage”, “ages” the Spruce top to give it the big and open tone of older, highly-sought-after acoustics. To further enhance those vintage tones, the tops bracing is also made of torrefied spruce. The mahogany neck, back, and sides create a warm, robust midrange and bright highs. A rosewood fingerboard and bridge add for a more balanced sound and sustain. The result is amazing tone at first strum. 18:1 Vintage Open Gear Tuners on the mahogany headstock offer precise tuning with vintage styling. The herringbone rosette & purfling accentuates the aesthetics of these instruments adding to their appeal. Both acoustics come in two choices of finish. Natural Semi-Gloss allows the Sitka spruce’s natural beauty to shine through and classic Black Top Semi-Gloss.
A Fishman® Presys VT EQ System is installed inside the body versus other systems that cut into the body to be installed. This means the instrument keeps its natural resonance and acoustic flair. The Presys VT EQ System keeps it simple with only Volume and Tone controls resulting in a true, crisp acoustic sound. Lastly, Elixir® Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze Light .012-.053 Acoustic Strings round out these acoustics. This Number 1 acoustic guitar string delivers consistent performance and extended tone life with phosphor bronze sparkle and warmth. The Essence Series takes all these elements, combines them, and exceeds in playability, looks, and affordability.
Street Price: $449.00
For more information, please visit cortguitars.com.