Recording glissentar direct - HELP!!!

[chief]

Okay, here is my newbie dilemma. I have a Godin glissentar. It's an 11 string fretless nylon - kind of an oud variation for guitar. Electro-Acoustic? It seems like it's electric with some kind of sound chamber under the sound board. Live it sounds great. I'd like to use it on a demo track. I'm trying to record it in my apartment. Amps are a BIG no no. It doesn't have a sound hole so I can't really mike it (not that there's and baffled area of my room to really do so.) It has a saddle piezo pickup. Recording it direct well...you know how it sounds. Using a 828,a MAC and Logic (OS9). Has anyone experimented with any of the following: Sans-amp? AG-Stomp? Headphone out of an acoustic amp? (Fender Trace Elliot etc.) I seem to remember reading an article with David Torn years ago that had some rig involving an attenuator (sp?) and an ADA micro-CAB? I know that he has an electric oud, and the tones on the splattercell cd are awesome. Any suggestions?

[Bunny Knutson]

I'd use an amplifier at low volume. You don't really need to turn the amp up much beyond the volume of an unamplified acoustic guitar, so your neighbors should't be bothered. Just use some sofa cushions and pillows for makeshift baffles, throw a mic on the amp, and record away. Guitar amps do NOT necessarily need to be recorded loud, if you baffle the room noise out (unless you're going for ULTRA-heavy metal tones, that is). I think this should work just fine, and I'd dig it if you could post an mp3 of your results when you're done. That "glissentar" thing sounds REALLY cool. Just my 2 cents.

[george costanza]

I'm confused, too, Chief. You seem unsure if this is an acoustic or electric instrument... :confused: There must be clues...(I really don't mean to sound sarcastic but I don't understand. Also, I don't see why an instrument without soundholes can't be mic-recorded---lots of instruments w/out soundholes are quite loud & even a very quiet sound can be recorded. You say that it sounds great live...how are you producing that sound? That would seem to be the way to get the best recording.

[Bunny Knutson]

The Challenge of the Double-Posted Thread is ON, George Costanza!!! (just kidding, I promise I won't do this again!) -dBunny (the daytime version?) :freak: :D

[george costanza]

dbunny, I'm on both shows!

[stanner]

[quote]Originally posted by chief: [b]... I seem to remember reading an article with David Torn years ago that had some rig involving an attenuator (sp?) and an ADA micro-CAB? I know that he has an electric oud, and the tones on the splattercell cd are awesome. Any suggestions?[/b][/quote]hey i'm a torn freak and i think you are talkin aboutwhich is a great sounding power amp simulator w/a real tube for voicings-i love mine. you can do so many things w/ it that you cant do w/ yer normal amplifier. dont know if it would help what yer askin tho'.

[20to20]

Where can I find more info on this 11-string thing...? I've checked the Godin (lasido.com) site and didn't see anything on it... BTW, I have an LGX-SA, a Nylon Multiac and a 12-string Acousticaster (all Godins), and love 'em...! :love: Thanks, Bob Phillips 20to20soundesign

[chief]

"You seem unsure if this is an acoustic or electric instrument... There must be clues...(I really don't mean to sound sarcastic but I don't understand." What I meant to say is that I haven't gutted the electronics on it to see if there's a hollow chamber in the guitar. That was the acoustic -electric question, because the instrument electric but it's louder than a normal solid body. Live I get very usable tones out if it just running it through my Fender Hot Rod Deville, but live and recording applications are two very different animals to me. "Small" things like hums, string noise, piezo squawk etc that get obscured by the other instruments, the alcohol or underpaid soundpeople when you play live aren't acceptable under a microscope. The main miking issue is that there is construction going on outside my apartment. No matter how many blankets I hang on the wall - that jack hammer keeps coming though. Boston's loud in general and you really don't want to mike anything if you don't have to. This is the reason for the direct question. I've managed to get usable tones going direct with my Yamaha Nylon string and processing it through a mic modeler, eq, compression and reverb. But with the glissentar, the lack of frets makes everything buzzy - in that piezo distortion kind of way. I found the Torn info if anyone's interested: http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=33&releaseid=8616&magazinearticleid=122287&siteid=15 "I record almost all electric guitars direct to disc. My Rivera amp head feeds an ADA Ampulator, which feeds the guitar rack, and the rack's outputs feed an ADA Microcab II." Here's the glissentar info: http://www.godinguitars.com/godinglissentarp.htm http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Godin/A11-Glissentar-01.html Thanks for the responses so far by the way. If anyone has an inexpensive direct solution - I'm open to suggestion..