Strange sounds in acoustic electric...

[servex]

I have just recently picked up a micro br... and I LOVE it! I have mostly been playing around with the effects, recording some standard guitar rhythms, and playing lead back over top. I have no experience with recording, but I am having a blast learning. That being said, when I plug in my ovation acoustic electric to do some finger picking, I get a lot of hissing and popping, and an overall bad sound. Is there any suggestions that could help me with recording acoustic tracks?

Thanks in advance!

[Glenn Mitchell]

Have you eliminated the guitar and cords as the problem?
IOW have your tried any other gear with the same results?

[servex]

Yes... I have tried my fender electric with the same cords without the same noise (electric guitar sounds fine). My guess is that it is something with the acoustic guitar. Just curious if this is a common problem, or if I could make some adjustments to the BR or my amp to improve recording with this instrument.

[hewhoiscalledj]

your best bet will be to record your acoustic guitar using either the built-in mic or another mic plugged into the BR. i've learned from several recording engineers and online that THE best way to capture an acoustic guitar is to mic them; and usually with at least 2 mics (one in front of the soundhole, another somewhere in the middle of the neck) this may sound strange and counterintuitive since you are able to just plug in, but it's definitely the way to go.

to begin, just use the built in mic. and also look up the other thread regarding the sony electet condenser mic. i've had awesome luck and results with it so far and it only cost about $10 on ebay.

good luck. glad you enjoy that BR. it's an awesome investment and tool.

[Pedro]

your best bet will be to record your acoustic guitar using either the built-in mic or another mic plugged into the BR. i've learned from several recording engineers and online that THE best way to capture an acoustic guitar is to mic them; and usually with at least 2 mics (one in front of the soundhole, another somewhere in the middle of the neck) this may sound strange and counterintuitive since you are able to just plug in, but it's definitely the way to go.

That is interesting, I've heard and compared sounds from a internal pickup and microphones and I must say that if you are using cheap microphones, the internal pickup always sounds better. Mainly because of the low end clarity. With a cheap microphone the low end is usually very fuzzy and unclear compared to the internal pickup.

Servex: First of all, welcome!

Do you have an amplifier? Try to plug your guitar to the amp and check if the sound comes out bad.

There could be a problem with the guitar's preamp or something.

[guitarron]

Sounds like the ovation is doing it-maybe bad connection or oxidation on the jack-possible a loose connection on  jack or battery-i would also try a new battery just in case

[guitarron]

BTW Welcome to the forum

[servex]

Hello all and thanks for the welcome!

I was running the ovation directly to the micro br, then tried it from the line out on my amp... I thought about it last night and realized I was going form the line out on my amp to the guitar input on my BR. Changed this to the line in on the BR and had quite a bit better results. The crackling and poping seem to be gone, still a low level hiss, but not too bad.

So are people getting pretty good results with the sony MIC? Looking to get some vocals from my wife and was curious...

Also, just wanted to let you guys know that this site is great and has been a big help for me getting started.

[guitarron]

probably the amp hissing-
you should be able to go directly from the ovation to the guitar input though w/o popping noises
still waiting on my Sony mic should be here next week-

still a low level hiss, but not too bad.

So are people getting pretty good results with the sony MIC? Looking to get some vocals from my wife and was curious...

Also, just wanted to let you guys know that this site is great and has been a big help for me getting started.

[joevocht]

Another possibility is to turn the tone lower (counterclockwise?) I have a Martin LXME and if I record with the volumn and tone all the way up I get a slight hiss...if I back off the tone a bit it goes away.