Recording Acoustic Guitar (My Foolproof Method) - TheRecordingRevolution.com

[@recordingrevolution]

And here are The 4 Rules Of Acoustic Recording: www.recordingrevolution.com/the-4-rules-of-acoustic-guitar-recording/

[@chrismichael1984]

Would I need to keep the mic closer using a Shure sm7b since it’s not a condensor? Thanks for the great instructions.

[@samdunkksu2b129]

"what a lot of people do wrong is..." *proceeds to do exactly what i was doing*

[@inspiredbythekingYT]

Me too🤣🤣

[@the.bobbybass]

Literally same

[@combrogos]

I prefer to place my microphone at least 24 foot away and around the corner from the house as my guitar playing is so bad...

[@andreasrausch5552]

Wonderful! 😂

[@klausm4086]

Good joke😂

[@madalomusic2097]

That's awesome. I am literally laughing out loud as I write this.

[@hadifelani]

you had me in the first half not gonna lie lol

[@GRequinBlanc]

combrogos funny man. I lol. Thanks

[@SwordOSouls]

1:37 2:39 4:25 If you switch back and forth between the playing you can really hear the difference. Great advice here, i really like the way it sounds

[@__Leon__]

you da real MVP

[@777Yoni]

Thanks for putting the time stamps in your post. Very helpful.

[@JavierScheuermannMusic]

thanks so much

[@MirzaAnshari]

thank you, this comment should get marked :D

[@zekewillard8703]

this helped so much! 😃

[@Mixthelightintogray]

Song: Facing sound hole, by 6 Inches Away

[@rafaarganaraz7463]

Suzuka underrated comment

[@jonathanlee4653]

LOOOL

[@rodemic]

Great tips as always Graham

[@railamusic]

i am from Nepal and i recently bought rode nt2a. It is a great microphone i love it i want to learn music production can you help me please ? here's my facebook account please do reply me facebook.com/bhupendrarokamusic

[@kelvinadithya7885]

learn the basic first, usually take 1-3 months,try to learn it by yourself, just watch a lot of youtube tutorial and keep experimenting

[@Howaudioworks]

I was shocked to learn that he was using what I had considered to be an albeit very good but low-end microphone :-) Yay for Rode :-)

[@focusedonmusic8612]

What about Electric guitar? The set up is probably much different

[@alistaircassidy]

@@focusedonmusic8612 Of course! You are plugged in for a start and, if you are using a mic at all, it is in front of the amp. What a strange question.

[@ColeRolland]

Great video Graham, very helpful!

[@hepingpanlol7206]

Mantap

[@dimitreze]

meanwhile The Boxer from Simon and Garfunkel used 7 mics for the main guitar. "On my guitar, they had me miked with about seven mics. They had a near mic, a distant mic, a neck mic, a mic on the hole. They even miked my breathing. They miked the guitar in back. And they had an ambient mic overhead."

[@flockofsheep6]

Very helpful thanks. I watched it just before I do some recording with my Taylor acoustic.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Graham, very simple and straightforward and totally makes sense with that mic positioning.

[@lagiator]

+Curtis Judd i know you bro, i didn't expect to see you here

[@LearnLightAndSoundSessions]

+Nick Kapenkar I don't actually record a lot of music but Graham's often got good info for audio in general. Good to see you here!

[@BobbyHarrisonGuitar]

Great tip. Thank you so much. I have an NT1A (excellent mic) and was just about to record an acoustic part for the first time in a while.

[@leviowings5265]

This helped a lot, thank you.

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

The first one is exactly how Coldplay records acoustics, that and a ton of Nashville engineers will place a mic right on front of the sound hole for a more bluegrass tone. There's always another mic, but they do point them at the sound hole a lot of times.

[@de1vos]

I was just about to say, from the first strum I heard Yellow there.

[@lrlarch1706]

GaragebandandBeyond I think they did that back in their earlier days. Any rhythmic guitars in their music now are very thin and lightweight

[@JairajSinghPatil]

Can you tell me where did you find out about Coldplay's recording technique? Any sources which you might share?

[@Texturas75]

If there's always another mic, then pointing to the sound hole is OK, as it's just part of the sound. It's like a scooped tone, while pointing to the 12th fret yields a complimentary midrange tone.

[@TR-zf6io]

@@Texturas75 Exactly. Using a single mic like he is needs to take in all the frequencies to backing it away makes sense. . But having multiple mics pointed at multiple parts of the guitar gets all those frequencies recorded, so you can then adjust levels to taste when blending them.

[@gerimayawhyte6359]

Thanks... This is was awesome and simple... I recently saw a video of Pixies front man Frank Black playing a solo set for some kind of charity organization. They captured the audio for the video this way and the sound was sublime. I was shocked at well they were able to capture such a balanced sound with one diaphragm condenser microphone. I realized now watching this video that they were doing the same mic placement because the mic was tilted at an angle towards the twelfth fret...

[@tomywidacol]

Anyone else see the strings changing colors from red to green?

[@aoldatabase]

ye

[@bern047]

Aliasing is the cause, simple

[@NikoSatiaNuryanto]

Me

[@wilborth5th]

Great video, thanks

[@philmccracken6134]

A technique i find interesting is to aim one microphone at the sound hole and one at the neck, then you can blend both sounds and play with the stereo field all you want.

[@Rocketsong]

I'm an SM57 aimed at the 14th fret sort of person myself. 18-24 inches away.

[@jamesstonehouse3448]

I'm a massive fan of the Rode NT2A. Acoustic guitar can sound really beautiful with one

[@YOGIBEAR919]

Great video, cheers

[@aaronjonesgospel]

I've been recording for 25 years and I still watch acoustic mic placement videos haha. It's such a dynamic instrument and can be used for so many elements that you can choose different placements each time. I like that you acknowledge that there's no "one" way to do it but this might work for you. Always good stuff Graham!

[@BrianMPoole]

Great tips. Thx!

[@nosoup9146]

But I think that the guitar also play a huge part when it come to recoding

[@datamasked623]

Correct. And the player. Good guitar + shitty musician = terrible recording.

[@ChugliTV]

I have a scarlet solo studio pack. I do not want to invest in a new mic right now. How do I record my ukulele and my vocals? Can you suggest something?

[@lucianorockbh]

Nice job, man. Now, I am intending to record voice and guitar, at the same time. For this, I have I condenser microphone (AT2020) and the guitar are both plugged straightly into a Scarlett 2i2 (XLR, and P10 cable). But, the guitar's sound is just like strange, totally different from what we can hear from it. How do I fix it?

[@eatacay]

To compare: 1:37 - sound hole 2:39 - 12th fret 4:25 - "both" I would really like to compare them easily. If there were an annotation on each example, leading to the next or first one, that would be great. Or if there were simple time codes in the description. In any case, here are some for anyone's convenience. (including mine. lol)

[@eatacay]

+Elliot Miller oh dang. Using the time codes, I heard how much of a massive difference it makes!

[@SoloElROY]

+Elliot Miller haha thanks! :D

[@V081WLBlue]

Good Job Well Done!!!! Did you do this 1st or the other guy!!! lol

[@madalomusic2097]

Yeah that works well doing it that way. I can really hear the difference. Thanks

[@PeteKaltsa]

Would have been good to have a/b'd the 3 videos at the end of the video to hear the sound difference

[@paulmurphy4525]

Hi ..Excellent thank you . My wife and I would like to try to record at home ( acoustic and voice), Just for our own entertainment purposes. Wondering if you have some sort of comprehensive list or process that we should follow to get going . Not looking for a Pro set up just something decent that we can use . Much appreciated

[@BlastBinary]

recordingrevolution playing that "insurance company jingle" "department store christmas commercial" chord progression xD thx for the video man

[@HectorGallegosmusic]

My friend and I recorded classical acoustic using 2 mics in stereo. BOY! what a difference that made! We love the results.

[@BertiVox]

the problem is to have a good acoustic of the room because more you take away the microphone and more you will hear this acoustic ... So the most important is to have a good acoustic which is impossible to have in a non-treated room

[@feelfreemtb3474]

Hey man....this was very helpfull. Now I rock in my recordings.

[@trevorkinman7161]

What I do is probably really strange, but I put a mic close to the sound hole panned hard right and another at about the 12th fret panned hard left. It gives a lot of fretty noises to the left ear and the strummy sounds to the right ear. I think it sounds super cool

[@billovsky]

I suppose that with this method we will get much more from the room, right? If we don't have a sound-friendly room, but one with nasty echos and reverberations, won't this method get the bad things?

[@xer0947]

What is the model name of this guitar?

[@xacilys3772]

really cool video what software do you use when recording??

[@fastfrankblack]

it's alright doing this in a well treated room!!!!!!!

[@shivamoon108]

You mention an SM57. Would you use the same positioning for it ( or an SM58?)? Very good advice. a.) I would maybe use a small condenser and b.) I would stay away from dreadnaughts.... I have played mostly Martin D-28s throughout my 50 yr + career, but I've also been aware for 40 yrs or so that "triple o"s record much better. There's a reason why you don't see Eric Clapton using a dreadnaught. Thanks!

[@sugatooth]

I only have one mic for recording and this shared exactly what I was looking for regarding single mic set ups. Very helpful!

[@GringoJacinho]

What moc stand are you using?

[@RobOndras]

Thanks Graham! I asked for this a couple of weeks ago and here it is! Awesome!

[@M-SONICBAND]

Great tips graham. my acoustic is just sounding right now. but please help me with my vocals, when i record it sound too high oriented. I am using akg3000 condenser. and on the other hand, when I perform live, my vocal has more lows in it with a very normal dynamic mic like share sm58.

[@rome8180]

I've had really good results using two mics. I put one angled toward the 12th fret and one down by the bridge. I use one bright mic and one that's a little darker. I make sure they're the same distance away from the guitar so there are no phase issues. Then after I've recorded my part I pan one hard right and one hard left. It really creates a huge sound that's still bright enough to sit in a mix.

[@TC_Conner]

Condenser or dynamic mics?

[@sunjamrblues]

Using a Shure SM58, if I move it that far away, I have almost no input volume. I’m going mic to Scarlet 2i2 to Logic Pro X. Maybe I should buy a condenser mic.

[@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube]

I use the same method as well! Exactly the same, moving the condenser mic back and turning it a bit to face the neck :) One question though: sometimes I have a lot of problem with the noise of the pick, especially when I'm not strumming but picking the strings one by one. The above method helps with that, too, but often it's a big headache for me. Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

[@TobiasCovers]

Same problem here actually:/

[@rodrigoavga]

+Laszlo Harsanyi I'd say try a different pick. Maybe one made of slicker plastic, or metal, or even one of those made of felt. Or a thinner pick of the same material you're using. Also, check how strongly you are picking the strings, and in what place. Maybe you're hitting them too hard, or too close/far away from the neck. Move your position around a little bit.

[@Akashsama]

+Laszlo Harsanyi Try finding those offending "pick" frequencies between 1kHz and 3kHz and cutting them. You'll have to experiment though, as always.

[@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will definitely try them out! I never thought about the type of the pick that is for sure, maybe that's the problem! By playing around with the mic I can get rid of the pick noise most of the time, but still it would be good to know the exact source of the problem! Tried playing around with EQ, too, but I think the problem is rooted in the recording technique itself, which you cannot repair with EQ, at least not fully.

[@tompparmp9928]

@@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube Super late, but multiband compressor does the trick. Find the annoying frequency and compress just that so you don't eq the stuff in vain. Same process goes for palm muted heavy guitars (compress the palm muted low mid/bass away when it happens, don't eq away all nice bottom from open chords) and million other things. Just compress the annoying stuff when it occurs, don't cut it away with eq. You can do this in a guitar buss also, not just for the independent tracks. Multiband compression is a tool that gives you opportunity to give other stuff some space with parallel compression too. For example, when bass drum hits, you can snap out some low end and kick attack frequencies out of bass track so you don't end up over emphasizing the low and attack frequency levels with every kick hit. Or you can make some room for snare by snipping some frequencies off the guitar buss and not peaking the mids. Everything builds on top of everything. You need to create a space for every sound you want to be heard. Multiband compressor is a powerful tool for that.

[@Kineticartist]

nice tips Graham a veritcal stereo SDC setup works well too but if all ya got a is a single LDC or dynamic mic this is excellent advice

[@PKua007]

I'm recording acoustic guitar on Wednesday for the first time, the video is just in time

[@ljhmusicman1]

Hello. I'm getting a lot of subtle, but bothersome noises when I record acoustic guitar..every little chord change and movement with the guitar on clothing etc...it's like a microscope. Any tips for controlling "handling noise" when recording acoustic guitar? Thanks.

[@MonticArckeys]

Final positioning should help. New strings maybe needed?

[@Whitty43]

Turn the gain down a bit pre recording. You can increase volume post recording

[@craigmartin2460]

Nice video Graham, but do these principles only apply to a dreadnought guitar? I have two guitars, an Ovation 1868 which is a shallow body, which obviously sounds thin acoustically (It's made for plugging in onstage!) and a Sigma travel guitar, which is beautiful but again, obviously sounds a bit thin as , well, it's a small bodied travel guitar.....any tips for making them sound "big and full/warm" ? Thanks if you read this :)

[@EmilioLanzaMusic]

Thank you! How could I do some acoustic treatment to my bedroom music studio? Thank You!

[@samiulhaque8238]

in my case 1.5 feet is the best im using BM-800 with no phantom power

[@rakaattt]

Hey I use the same one and my acoustic always sounds super super weird. Some of the noise from the string just cuts off and just sounds super bad. Any tips?

[@kapilmadan87]

Bro you did not show what you did in post processing ?

[@StephenTack]

My favorite, for a 'warm' acoustic guitar sound: Ribbon mic, level with and a foot straight out from players left shoulder (assuming right handed), pointed between 12th fret and sound hole. This also aligns the edge null of the ribbon mic with the player's face, so breath noise won't be captured...also enabling playing and singing at the same time with good (enough) isolation. Another favorite for a woody but clear sound: Omnidirectional mic (Large diaphragm preferable, but small works fine), 8 inches out from just below the bridge. This captures the body of the guitar (only sounds as good as the instrument), and still gets some good pick-on-strings attack. It works best if you have a dead or good sounding room. Cheers!

[@kamalorahim]

hi bro nice video, is it same michrophone position if you play a solo ?

[@dongdelacruz1250]

This man is very talented and the only consistent and direct to the point teacher ive ever seen in youtube. A million thanks to you sir!

[@jamesbonheur1330]

Good morning. I'll have 7 songs by august .... and I would like to know how much it is for you to mix them and master them?

[@riwaj4372]

tell me im high but his strings have a rainbow effect going on

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

i thought he was using color strings

[@aarondoodles3380]

Just the lightening

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

@@aarondoodles3380 you’re right it’s definitely lightning.

[@aarondoodles3380]

@@ruthlesscutthroat4030 *Lighting

[@hokagoband]

Why the hell that strings is RGB

[@BeauHannamGuitars]

Great video thanks- Do you record acoustic guitar so the levels are hitting about -12bd???

[@ToddAudio]

It's great to watch someone else's methods! I use the NT1-A too, but in the past I've used that in combination with an SM57. I put the SM57 about where you showed on your second example demo, and then put the NT1-A further away in the room. You are getting an awesome sound with your method of backing it up a bit and angling it! I'm definitely going to try that out! Thanks!

[@johnjosephsmith73]

Just a query. Why spend a fortune on a pro mixing desk then use KRK monitors? Sorry that just baffled me.

[@IsaacWale2004]

Thanks for this :)

[@StepanVasylyshyn]

Record guitar DI (only clean sound) soundcloud.com/stephan-vasylyshyn/taylor-ps10ce-lrbaggs-piezo-clean-recording

[@lexluthier8290]

Yep, nice one Graham. Little tip for those with electro-acoustic guitars (one with a pick-up built in). I have seen some make the mistake of just recording the output from the pick-up, which can be ok for some applications if there's lots more going on in the mix. But, if you want a really big, sonically wide (yet not boomy) sound, and you have a halfway decent condenser mic, position the mike about 2 feet from the sound hole (maybe a little more - you'll need to experiment depending on equipment) but at an angle, i.e. have the mike opposite the belly of the guitar (not the hole or the neck) but pointed at the soundhole. If you get the placement right, most of the boominess will have dissipated by the time the sound hits the mic. Now record that to one channel, and the output from the pick-up to another. You then have a kind of stereo recording - not true stereo, but meh, sort of. Now you can have some real fun while mixing - effects on one channel; clean on the other; wide-pan both for an interesting soundstage; run both clean, and straight down the middle, and you get fat, clear, full-range acoustic sound - no mud, not much string/fret noise, clarity of top end etc etc. If you don't have an electro, but do have two mics, experiment with one over the belly and one over the neck. Not quite as good, but still very versatile in the mix. One of the nicest sounds I've got (to my battered old ears anyway) was with a little bit of chorus on the pick-up channel (takes some of the 'twang' away that's all too common on acoustic pick-ups) and a smidge of reverb on the mic channel. Then pan each by about 5%. Lush. Keep on keepin' on bro. You're helping a lot of people out there.

[@robertw1871]

I think it really depends on the player, the exact mic, the room and the exact guitar being used, I doubt there is specific better way, seems like have pickups and a couple mics at different positions and mixing it to get the best blend would be a better gotta get it right on the first take solution... being a great player in an actual engineered acoustic space is probably how most really good recordings have probably come about even before a mic matters. For instance, i suck at playing the guitar hence it’s gonna sound like shit no matter what else is going on haha...

[@WAV-E-MUSIC]

I cant stop watching these videos! I love it! Thanks for all your help Graham! I really appreciate your insight on music and life and how your so willing to help others stuck in places where you've probably have been stuck in yourself. I can honestly say you've made me see my own approaches to those two aspects in a whole different and better way. THANKYOU!

[@Digiphex]

I use a pop filter and record close to the sound hole. It is irrelevant where people normally listen to an instrument from.

[@TheSimonarne]

i found the M/S technique this week and i love it for solo acoustic guitar tracks. you position the first mic with a cardoid pickup pattern at the 12th fret and point it towards the sound hole and once you have found a sound you like you put a second mic with a 8 pickup pattern on the top pointing to the sides. then you take the second mic duplicate it in a daw pan them to each side and flip the faze of one of the second mics and add in the first mic till you like the sound. i also grouped them into a stack and added eq to the stack instead of eq to each of the tree tracks

[@TrevorHuntMusic]

Subscribed. Thank you for helping improve my recording game for my KZbin Cover Channel!

[@michaelashe5265]

Interesting technique, I've never seen/heard it done this way. I usually do about 12-16" directly in front of the 12th fret. I'll have to try your way next time I record, thanks.

[@Fox131333]

Recently I recorded an acoustic track using two condenser mics (Rode NT2000) in an A-B configuration with one facing the sound hole and another facing the 10th/12th fret, both about a foot back. I produces such a wide, full yet bright tone when I panned he the tracks hard to opposite sides! The best tone I've achieved!

[@utubehound69]

I use a Lg Dia. at the lower part of the Acoustic Gtr. body about a foot away & another small Dia condenser mic pointing to the point where the body meets the neck& mix the two together. Make for a "Complete" sound & you can easily change the feel by balancing the two mics w/compression & EQ.

[@HandlerRezeiofficial]

I record my youtube videos with the Tascam DR 05 two built-in mics, which are condenser omni mics. As the mics are omni, I use them to record, most of the times, both voice and acoustic guitar together. Is it bad/wrong? Can you give me some tips about that?

[@jamesmoore5469]

Hey man, great advice. I've been playing around with recording acoustic in stereo with a matched pair of Røde M5's. Is this a method you would use, and if so what's your best advice on setting the mics?

[@tedstryker7965]

BAck the “F” up ....... end of story

[@Disasterbator]

This was perfect! I was just going to start recording acoustic with my NT1.... it's like you read my mind man! Much thanks, and keep up the fantastic work! :D

[@JeanmarkRodriguez]

If you guys go to Grahams first video here on KZbin you guys can see he basically copy, pasted the same information to this vid and still uses that same mic placement! Pretty awesome!

[@Taurus3000]

What would be the best method to record someone who is singing while playing the guitar?

[@GarryWan666]

You actually made me laughed at 3:40 hahahahahahahahahahaha😂😂😂I don’t know why but I am laughing out loud right now

[@thegreatgambeeno]

I just came across your vids, I'm already 3 or 4 in and have learned some extremely useful stuff. Thank you sir, keep it up, and have a nice day.

[@Ohew12]

helpful, God Bless your channel..check my channel out and tell me what you think about my sound engineering in music or producing and mixing

[@boabstewart]

Horses for courses. I've sometimes ditched my Taylor for a cheaper guitar (walden) as it records better. AKG 414 placed as described.

[@ginster31]

Very useful and makes sense, although i can't understand how it still sounds pretty good directly in front of the sound hole! If i put my mic directly in front just sounds a complete boomy mess!

[@TheKnealing]

I like to use a matched pair of rode nt5 small diaphragm mics in a X Y pattern. then I like to double the guitar with 2 rode nt2-a mics set to mid side. after completed make a duplicate track of the mid side, fix the phase, put the mid recording up the middle and play around with some panning and levels with the other tracks. I know that sounds like a lot of work but I do singer/ songwriter stuff and it adds fullness and depth to my songs.

[@DavidLeeKing]

Wow - that's very noticeably different. Nice suggestion!

[@yathirajuppoor9612]

awesome bro...because ur tutorial..i got chance to work in studio...thnks for ur tips and all basic stuffs

[@david_v2.1]

Every KZbinr recording 'guru' tells you how to record acoustic then proceeds to hammer it with a pick....I'd like to see a video demonstration of how to record fingerpicked guitar

[@koosmangat]

Hi there.. Excellent tutorial.. Awesome. What about recording plucking , not solo but continuous plucking.. Do i play the mic as suggested? I am using an audiotechnica cardiod microphone AT2020

[@GiorgosSartabakos]

Great tips Graham! I own a Martin and I found a way which works really well using my Rode NT1-a, a Shure sm7b and the line from the guitar...You can pan hard left the line and put some reverb and also pan hard right the Rode and put some delay on it,with the shure sm7b being the only 'raw' in the center and it will create great atmosphere!

[@JeffreyHackReacts]

Thanks for the video @recordingrevolution :) I've been making acoustic covers on my KZbin channel and have 3 microphones that I use. It's always a matter of how you USE your microphone and not always what TYPE of microphone you're using. I'll definitely refer to this video for my next acoustic recording!

[@EndEverAfter]

Hey, graham! I would love for you to answer to this. It would be of great help. I'm having troubles with the sound of my acoustic guitar recording. I've seen other videos where they use an Sm57 too and they were absolutely raw and it sounds great already yetit sounds so different than what I hear on my end. So, my equipments are: Shure Sm57 Alesis iO2 express MXL 990 And my DAW is Garageband I'm not getting that sound that I hear from this video too. I understand we used different mics. I would love for you to hear what mine sounds like and it would be great if you help me out with this problem. Thank you!

[@MaemiNoYume]

so. I have an advice for you. When you talk about distance using the Imperial System, try to remember to show it converted. I had to google "1 foot" to know that it's 30 cm. Okay, I know that googling something is not such a big workout, but if you just show the converted measure, it would also show that you think about your viewers, that you know your viewers aren't all North Americans. ;) but, I can't forget to thank you! your video is very clarifying.

[@PherotoneStudios]

Nice work mate. Can't go wrong with simple

[@JUNOtheArtist]

Very Helpful, thank you so much!

[@Pfaeff]

When I do it the "correct" way it still sounds a lot worse than even your "how not to do it" example 😅 Maybe that's because I have a small-ish acoustic guitar? Fingerpicking sounds fine, but strumming sounds like shaking a can of nails. And it's not the levels...

[@EatonEditing]

Dude, you're playing my guitar. Martin DCX1E. Guess I won't have to wonder if this will work for my guitar. Definitely going to try this next time I'm recording my acoustic. I'm tired of not getting the sound out of it I'm looking for when recording.

[@DINKOVMUSIC]

I think it's better to know how to do few techniques like those 3 and few more and use them according to the piece you record and how you image it would sound.

[@Chantmagick]

Great tip! I'm excited to implement this on my next recording. Thanks, Graham

[@miguelcesaroliveira3448]

Thank you.I somehow wrestled with the blow effect and thought my Martin was worse for recording than my APX7. Both sound great now. And maybe it's now time to try both together one on each mono track and one captured with my NT1 and the other a bit more directional with my SM86. But I still need to learn what to do then fx wise.I don't command frequencies yet. God bless!

[@yumewav]

So would you recommend a large diaphragm over a small diaphragm instrument mic? Cos I've got an AKGP170 and just can't get a full tone out of it for acoustic-only instrumentation.