The Secrets of The Classic Acoustic Sound

[@norbertlohan5951]

Thank you Michael, great video. It‘s very important to point out what material was available back in the times THEY recorded their great sounding guitar sounds! There a no tricks, they simply used that stuff and sounded fantastic! And the second thing you need is what you have in your hands. The great tone you play is marvelous for what you wanted to show! Very well done!! 👍🏼

[@MichaelWatts]

@@norbertlohan5951 thank you Norbert! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rinseyvessel6523]

Favorite classic acoustic recording- Jim Croce's Operator live on the late night TV show The Midnight Special.

[@MichaelWatts]

Very cool!

[@QerstyBass]

monel was another very common string material used pre-phosphor bronze

[@MichaelWatts]

That’s very true! Good shout!

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

Love the Martins

[@davestagner]

I was going to say that myself! Monel strings sound more “classic” to me than 80/20 bronze. My main gigging guitar is an old Mossman dreadnought with monels (Martin Retro mediums) and it just oozes vintage tone.

[@davideckford1282]

I tried monel strings and a lighter pick on my om28 and it came alive......I would recommend trying it

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

@@davideckford1282 i love them for fingerpicking as well, lovely highs, and even strumming with fingers there's good note separation

[@ducktape2425]

Here's my ideal acoustic guitar recording setup: - Guitar: it has to be a mahogany/sitka guitar. Size of the body mandates the positioning of the microphone, however; - Mic placement: 12-14" from the 14th fret of the guitar and pointed slightly away from the sound hole. While this reduces the volume somewhat, it avoids the inherent breakup caused by the airflow coming out of the sound hole. This also tends to take away from the low end and the midrange, but I compensate for this by; - dual source from a soundboard transducer type pickup such as a K&K Pure Western Mini or a JJB 330. I actually prefer the latter for this purpose because the K&K tends to run a little hot and SBT's like this can sound a little compressed, so I rely on the mic to pick up the treble and attack sounds or as I call them, the "atmospheric" qualities of the instrument. - As for how to get the analog into digital audio. I used a FocusRite Scarlet 2i2 to bring them into a laptop running Windows 11. I run both channels as mono. Blending them seems to diffuse the sound to my ear. It also provides phantom power for both the SBT and a: - Studio Projects Large Condenser microphone. I know: it's best for vocals, which is why I blend in the SBT. - For a DAW I use a paid copy of Reaper with ASIO4ALL and run VST filters. My favorite is Acon Digital Reverb Solo (on each channel. - I also export the audio via ASIO to OBS Studio which I then blend with a web cam so that I can record video with higher quality audio, not that I'm much to look at!

[@1man1guitarletsgo]

I used to prefer 80/20 bronze, but swapped to phosphor bronze a while ago. I don't really record acoustic guitar with any great finesse, so I'm not particularly bothered about mic placement. For live gigs, however, a good sound is essential, and I use my acoustic plugged in, not mic'd up. The single worst thing to ever happen to acoustic guitars was the invention of the undersaddle piezo. I much prefer a decent magnetic pickup (e.g., Shadow SH-145).

[@juneabbey9538]

Hi Michael, another interesting and enjoyable video as always. I found your fingerpicking sound entirely convincing. Spot on, a classic sound nailed down. Your plectrum/strumming sound, well, not so much. On a matter of detail, 80/20 strings are not "bronze". Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin (typically there are also small amounts of other substances). See any chemistry textbook. 80/20 strings, however, are an alloy of copper and zinc, which is brass. (Again, see any textbook.) In the the classic days (1968, say, or 1948) , as you say, people played on brass strings (not phosphor bronze which wasn't invented, then, at least not so far as guitar strings are concerned). But (unlike today), most people changed strings very seldom. We played the same set for month after month, and even year after year. In those days there were no fancy coatings either. And 80/20 brass has an interesting quality: it is very bright fresh-on, but that extra brightness lasts only a short while (to pluck a number out of the air, maybe half as long as a phosphor bronze string, so say two or three weeks for an average player using uncoated strings). After that, brass strings mellow. They go dull. They still play in tune with good tone, but very, very mellow. Over-mellow most modern players would say. That dull/mellow stage lasts for ages (months) before they actually go bad and don't play in tune. (Contrast with phosphor bronze strings which go a bit atonal once they get past their use-by and then sound horrible.) What I'm getting at here is that most of those classic recordings we all grew up on were recorded with *old* brass strings, i.e.. very mellow ones. ("Dull" by today's standards.) I think the reason your fingerpicked example sounds so authentic to the classic sound is that your flesh (not nail) technique is just the thing to take some attack and some top end out of the sound, resulting in something very like a classic sound. With the plectrum, you get sharper attack and extra top end, which is why it doesn't sound so authentic. What you need with a plectrum (or nails) is a really well-worn set of 80/20 strings, say 6 or 8 weeks old for an average player on uncoated brass. (Much longer than that with Elixirs. I'm not sure how long actually, they keep their tone for ages. Maybe 6 months.) Anyway, all good fun and I enjoyed the video.

[@MichaelWatts]

You are absolutely right - I omitted the bronze/brass misnomer due to lack of time. And some other excellent points. Thank you so much for watching!

[@daryllossing1340]

This video was great. I'd love to hear a lot more about this recording style! Thanks

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you very much Daryl!

[@ellenrik]

Thank you, I had forgotten all about pick choices. I used to use a really thin nylon pick for Neil Young's Revolution Blues (acoustic) but got away from that in favor of a 1.14 mm Ultex Rhino. I'd burn through the thin one every 2nd play of the song but it was worth it just to get "that sound". Great video, you inspire me.

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you so much!

[@timlilly]

One ingredient missing is a Martin guitar, which is, in essence, the guitar sound we all grew up with

[@MichaelWatts]

Or a Gibson. Or a Harmony. Kay. Zemaitis. Larson Bros. Anything but what I play basically!

[@damianainscough]

Which, to me, reinforces my view that what and how it is played is so much more important than how it's recorded. Lots of bootlegs and 'bedroom' recorded albums reinforce that. But I know nothing.

[@MichaelWatts]

Totally with you there!

[@eaglerayrob]

James Taylor's 1975 Album "Gorilla", particularly the tracks "Wandering" and "Sarah Maria". The Mark Whitebook acoustic guitar sounds superb. A more modern (2006) album is Dale Adkins "Alone In The Red Room", one of the best recorded acoustic guitar sounds I've ever heard, a Martin D-18 I beleive.

[@MichaelWatts]

Oh yeah! Great stuff!

[@johnwashburn3793]

Michael, I must say, you live a charmed life! (If this is an illusion, please do not burst the bubble.) I was born in '56. The youngest child,and was influenced by the music of my siblings. I began playing guitar about the time of the debut album of Crosby, Stills and Nash and Sweet Baby James. Also long loved Simon and Garfunkel prior and today all of these remain special In live performances,l most would plug in an Ovation (yes I bought one). JT and CSN(&Y) never did, but sat before a mic. Of all the guitars I own, my Martins are my joy. My wife prefers me cedar over rosewood Washburn Tanglewood I bought over 40 years ago, before the Bob Dylan Live album and who doesn't enjoy a little Dylan now and then?

[@MichaelWatts]

You’re not the first to have made this observation John - all I can say is that I am very grateful for the people I have in my life. That’s all that really matters.

[@johnwashburn3793]

Yes indeed, Michael...as am I. Just a different cast of characters. I do hope you took a moment to read my comments. My guitar was mostly influenced by James Taylor, Neil Young and Paul Simon...until I discovered the blues. I am old enough to have some may live performances including Muddy Waters and BB King as well as the aforementioned. Tham I appreciate you.

[@szabolcsmezei4088]

Lovely tone, one other thing I'm wondering may have affected those classic sounds were the tv studios these recordings were taken in, with the spacious rooms that were mostly dry, or even dead acoustically, plus of course compression.

[@MichaelWatts]

Very good points! Yes indeed!

[@szabolcsmezei4088]

@@MichaelWatts It would be fun to arrange/book some location recording time in a largish carpet/drapery/textile store with a linoleum floor, just to get that weird effect. Or an old public library...

[@gerryr8713]

Thankyou Michael. Beautiful although your technique is better than most of the 'classic' musicians. I saw them live (yep that old) so i can say that. I almost missed you playing the bass. 🙂

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you very much Gerry! And I’m very envious that you got to experience such incredible music in person!

[@kbats8332]

I commend you on your efforts here. Well thought out. My personal objection is to the string choice. I used to play Elixir strings but found they lack the true brightness of standard 80/20's and I find that missing in the recordings as well.

[@MichaelWatts]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Mark-eg9lp]

One of my favourite acoustic sounds is the intro to Bobby Goldsboro’s Summer The First Time. Goldsboro’s music is a bit cheesy( but I love it) but his guitar playing is great. He also taught Keith Richards the open tuning he uses. Give it a listen, my personal opinion is it as gorgeous as you will ever find for that classic acoustic sound.

[@MichaelWatts]

I know what you mean! Great stuff!

[@BrianTruesby]

Beautifully done, MDW!!! Love the lighting, presentation, everything!!

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you my dude!

[@jez6345789]

Always interesting and informative and it sounded good. All those old school engineers were time served on mic placement and I imagine there were limiters/compressors or riding the faders, as a lot of those players from that era were scrappy young players without your refined technique. So capturing a good acoustic sound was always a handful. I imagine they also applied a bit of eq on the desk to keep the guitar out of the vocals as that was what sold the song back in the day. Anyway sure you have a few old engineers in your audience who can put us on the right road. Thanks

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you Jez! Yeah I’m sure there was all sorts going on behind the scenes - I however have kept it completely straight, no EQ reverb or compression

[@andorrasrevenge1683]

That James Taylor BBC is my favorite guitar sound. Also have you ver seen Ralph Towners mic placement for gigs, classical miced on stage pointed at the base of the body!

[@MichaelWatts]

That is a very good point - I’ll give it a go!

[@frankcousins6479]

Sounds fantastic!

[@robertmitchell2178]

Great video Michael. Very important point made about the 80/20 strings.

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you Robert! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thisllub]

Why bother with 80/20 yet use coated strings? I don’t remember them before the 90s

[@MichaelWatts]

@@thisllub because I have a congenital horror of non-coated strings

[@cognoscenticycles4351]

Getting close to those classic acoustic guitar recordings would have to involve the analogue sounds of tape and tube recording gear as well as those old Martins, Gibsons, Guilds, Nationals and a long list of other American made instruments from yesteryear. Tube microphones and old ribbon mics and those classic miking techniques as well. Neil Young was usually playing a Martin D-45 dreadnought and Joni Mitchell was playing that old Martin D-18 back in the days when she lived in Toronto and was hanging with my old friend Al Cromwell. My favourite 60's acoustic sounds came from those first couple of John Renbourn albums. The Bert and John album sounded quite good and those albums still sound great today!

[@MichaelWatts]

Very true - but I wanted to try it with the equipment and guitars I am used to. I know exactly what you mean about the Bert and John recordings and I’ll be looking at that in a later video

[@cognoscenticycles4351]

@@MichaelWatts I would love to hear your thoughts on the Bert & John record. I have listened to that album for eons and somehow it still has that elusive and cool vibe.

[@MichaelWatts]

@@cognoscenticycles4351 it’s sacred ground. I listen to it once a month and have been obsessed since childhood

[@davestagner]

@@MichaelWattsBert and John, and all those old Pentangle records! Discovered those my freshman year of college, and they’re still with me today, 4 decades later.

[@cognoscenticycles4351]

@@MichaelWatts No doubt! I know you're a huge fan of both Bert and John's work as am I. What really impresses me is how well it has aged. I would have to say timeless in a word.

[@mwj5368]

Hi! I love this subject and in my area try to find live acoustic instrument performances and wish you lived around my area, remarkable talent and a beautiful sound!

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you so much!

[@xoxb2]

I found the "mic in front of soundhole" the more convincing in your interesting demo. I suppose there's also a question as to what classic sound are we thinking of? I'd mostly think of Neil Young, who I think used a D45, in other words rosewood. But didn't a lot of strummers prefer Gibson? That's just an impression, without checking. Having grown up in the 70s, one additional point is that people tended to be quite snobby about string height - too low was frowned on. And as some others have said, today's acoustics seem to add a lot of extra shimmer - the starting point back then was surely a drier sound anyway?

[@MichaelWatts]

That’s very true - thank you very much for watching!

[@Calatriste54]

Very interesting dive, M. A favorite of mine is Cat Stevens and Alun Davies; playing on the album, Catch Bull at Four. Track: "Angelsea".. Cat's a master. (IMHO)

[@MichaelWatts]

Oh absolutely! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!

[@markthomas1225]

Nice video. I was interested by the right hand finger picking technique. Michael's thumb is opposite his second and third fingers, different from the technique with the thumb sticking out sideways that is often recommended. I've always been more comfortable with Michael's approach.

[@tiggs5591]

Sounded beautiful. Thank you.

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you!

[@glennc1328]

Nice. That was fun, entertaining and informative. I never knew that about Phosphor Bronze strings. 👍

[@MichaelWatts]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@radioking]

C28 capsule has a quite bright character but in those days that was probably a good thing as the consoles and tape machines were much darker in sound than modern digital systems. I use M300's all the time and think they are great microphones but also like using omni and all kinds of ribbons on acoustic. It really depends upon how you want the guitar to sit in the music. Pre Amp and compressors can make a bigger difference. Most decent SD condensers don't really sound that different. It's quite subtle

[@MichaelWatts]

That is true! Thank you for watching!

[@TheCurtissJohnson]

My favorite classic rock acoustic guitar song? CSN, Suite Judy Blue Eyes! Stephen Stills is an amazing player. Do yourself a favor and search for Stephen's demo version of the song, that was released about ten years ago. It's raw, but so cool to hear.

[@MichaelWatts]

Thanks Curtiss! I’ll check it out!

[@twohandsguitarcompany]

Hello Michael, I know this was just an experiment, with regard to tone and recording…But I sure would like to hear you take this sweet little melody and build an entire song with it. I’d also like to see you return to BIG this year 🎶❤️🎶 -joel

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you so much Joel! Great to hear from you!

[@cfreeman5631]

I would say you nailed it, except technique will show thru, stills will sound like stills, Cat will sound like Cat, JT will always sound like JT, so on. Your technique is so nice , it sounds like Michael .

[@MichaelWatts]

That’s very kind! Thank you!

[@blindcanseemusic]

thanks for these tips. Interesting re maple. If i could justify I would get a dove, as I currently think they sound amazing.

[@MichaelWatts]

I’m hoping that they’ll do a Murphy Lab version soon!

[@robertnewell5057]

Interesting and enjoyable. I think this was a noble attempt, but it doesn't nail that 70s sound. The Kostal is an amazing instrument, but it sounds like itself. These folk were almost always on Martins or Gibsons. Also, I remember a lot of these recordings from my teenage years, and they were in very live rooms. As I recall the mics were further away than yours, so picking up a lot of ambient noise. You also probably need stuff like Orange amps and valve PAs. Yes, I'm looking at you, Pentangle! Extra marks for the 'preoccup[ied/vacant bass player look', though. Also, always 80/20 for me these days, but a lot of these guys were on nickels.

[@MichaelWatts]

Ah the Pentangle sound was a wonderful thing and I believe there were some Interesting tricks there too which I’m investigating…

[@robertnewell5057]

@@MichaelWattsLook forward to that! Also, Just remembered that the series which featured most of these acoustic acts was called 'In Concert' and was a treasure for lost folkies like me. I recall N Young gor lost amid a flurry of harmonicas and said he would ahve to stop touring with the band because of all the gear he was carrying!

[@greekflatpicker]

Nice work as always ! But you forgot to mention Tony Rice 😀

[@MichaelWatts]

Ah yeah, this is more pop and folk - Bluegrass is a whole different thing that I do want to learn more about!

[@greekflatpicker]

@@MichaelWatts yes of course ,I was just joking. Keep up with those videos, we love them

[@Rando-ur8lr]

You can get the technique down, but the tone… that’s a different story. Your signature guitar is lovely. But you need rosewood back and sides for that classic acoustic sound. Thanks for the video.

[@MichaelWatts]

I agree that a Kostal is not going to sound like an Epiphone Texan in a hurry! Is it rosewood or mahogany though? And those Gibson 200s were maple. Thanks for watching! Means a lot!

[@Rando-ur8lr]

Martin D18 or Gibson J45 for mahogany and a D28 or D45 for rosewood. Either way, I enjoy videos like these. Keep shooting more. Will definitely watch.

[@JohannesLabusch]

Maple gives you "those beautiful woody tones", whereas rosewood would have settled you with ... what? A plastic, metal kind of sound? (-: I'm a maple guy myself, but I can't imagine all of our heroes used maple guitars exclusively.

[@MichaelWatts]

Ha no I meant out of the guitars I own. I was going for a bit of a J200 kind of strummy vibe - sort of got there! Thank you so much for watching Johannes!

[@RemoSforza]

Very beautiful video

[@MichaelWatts]

Thank you Remo!

[@inquisitor4635]

Piezo electric pickups ruined a few MTV Unplugged venues back in the nineties.

[@MichaelWatts]

Yeah that is true!

[@marekbage]

I remain convinced that modern guitars, especially high end ones, are too responsive for that old school sound. Builders are trying to squeeze every bit of volume and dynamic range out of their guitars. They create magnificent instruments which are capable of extraordinary things, but they fall short of that beautiful, and slightly imperfect, warmth that you get from the factory made guitars of 75 years ago.

[@MichaelWatts]

You’re not wrong Marek. And there is a real beauty in that imperfection

[@joshdunlap261]

Every type and every style of guitar is being made today. There are plenty of builders that do things exactly the way they were done 75-100 years ago.

[@stevearmstrong6758]

@@joshdunlap261Absolutely. Collings offers models that are hand built replicas of prewar Martins that sound identical to most ears.

[@Max-trek]

joney mitchell bbc 1970

[@MichaelWatts]

Yes!!!

[@paulboden7850]

Interesting exercise. A Martin guitar would have nailed it, especially for the Neil Young sound.

[@MichaelWatts]

True… but not everyone has a Martin!

[@seviswitzerland3470]

Like mostly, the guitar players skills make the difference, not technics…

[@MichaelWatts]

True but this is a video about how those skills were captured.

[@seviswitzerland3470]

@@MichaelWatts :I know, but my comment was a compliment for your very nice guitar playing. Your video is very interresting and helpfull. Thank you.

[@kevincrouch3956]

Waaaaaaaaayyyyyy too much talking....why not just play?

[@MichaelWatts]

My channel is aimed at viewers with a pre-social media attention span and there are lots of videos here that have nothing but playing. This exploration would have been nothing without context. You might have more fun on tik-tok.

[@kevincrouch3956]

@@MichaelWatts Ok, a channel on social media aimed a pre social media exploring acoustic sound that is 75% talking...right??? A shame one is immediately triggered by constructive criticism...alas...

[@beatriced8184]

@@kevincrouch3956 Some of us actually love listening to what Michael has to say! You’re free to choose different videos to watch with no talking however

[@kevincrouch3956]

@@beatriced8184 Yes, that's what I'll be doing in the future.

[@kevincrouch3956]

@@clairem1126 Is the album 75% talking as well, if so, I'll pass it up.