Please help with recording

There is NO replacement for a nice mic when recording the classical guitar.
No internal transducer or pickup even comes close. It's physically
impossible. Think about it - what is the ONE thing between your guitar and
your ear?? The ROOM! The guitar sounds the way it does to your ear because
of the room. Ever notice that your guiar sounds differently when youplay it
in your living room versus your bathroom?? Only a microphone can pick these
differences up. The inside of your guitar is pretty much always the same
and therefore will always sound the same using a transducer.

OK, so I'm babbling. A mic is going to be the way to go if you want to
capture "your" sound on disk.
:0)

Thanks to Will & Jim for their kind opinion.

Anyway, today I've just purchased a Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum
(#) after a suggestion from Guitar Center's salesman. I think
this external EQ must be like what Will meant by the "impedance
transformer".

I've tried to play around with it as a medium between the guitar and the
computer. For now, the problem with unbalanced treble and bass is somehow
solved. But, there are still more obstacles to a real CD qualtiy:
1. The E-F-F#-G on the 6th string sound really weak and are often
missing. I tried the "Spanish Romance" that extensively use the 6th-E open
string for instance, and what was recorded was only the 1-2-3 strings. But,
funnily, the 5th-A string is okey; as well as the A on the 6th string.
2. The balance between the bass and the treble sound is somehow there,
but now there is this disturbing noise in between the two. My User Manual
says that I simply need to lower the mid equalizer..., but then, if I do
that..., the overall sound clarity of the recording is absent!

I guess Jim may have gone through this all mess, that's why he says 'pre-amp
AND microphone'. Anyway, I'm still hopeful that all this ads that say "just
plug in your guitar and record" do mean what they say...:)

JD

[I apologize if this is a duplicate post. I replied earlier from another
account, whose newsgroup feed I wanted to test. It hasn't shown up so far
as I can tell, so I'm posting again.]

If you are plugging your guitar directly into a microphone or line input
on your sound card, then I suspect that your equalization problems come
from the mismatch between the high-impedance output of your Takamine
preamp and the low-impedance input on your sound card. The solution is
to insert an impedance transformer of some sort.

Will

Mic the guitar AND use a pre-amp, the pre-amp will boost the mic's signal enough
to make a difference, try it yourself with and without a pre-amp, unless you
have a great mic you should hear a big difference.

Jim

Thanks Jim. I also listen to your recording (alman) that sounds quite
balance and well-splitted.
Anyway, which one is more important in your opinion: mic the guitar or
pre-amp or both?
Thanks again.
JD

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