Put some mics in he crowd. Hang them overhead.

Typically, to record something you put a microphone near it and connect it up and record it's output.

Greener, you are a riot :)

For me, the sound of the Ovation has never been exciting, so thought much about it, and I haven't miced one. But I have done Fenders, Martins and Taylors. Although the tone is very different the same techniques may work for you.

If there are not a lot of instruments in the mix I use my best LDC in a large room about 12 to 24 inches directly at the sound hole. If the mix is going to be very empty (just vocal and guitar for example) I'll move it a little further away for room ambiance and to get deeper bass tones. For male vocals, and if it works for the song I'll move it closer to the bridge to bring out the highs more making room for the lower vocal tones.

If there are other guitars in the mix, or just a lot of instruments, I'll use two SDC's as an XY pair one pointing at the sound hole, and one at the bridge. Mix to taste once the other instruments are in. Or for a rounder sound I use the sound hole and the 12th fret.

This just seems to work for me. Please don't take it as gospel. And if you see some flaws in my logic please feel free to correct me.

See I dont know if i should mic it or just plug it in directly, since an ovation doesnt have much acoustics but it sounds amazing plugged in to an amp.but they tell me its the stupidist thing in the world to record an acoustic guitar directly, but i dont know if the ovation is an exception. :?

I would do both. Mic and direct. I don't particularly like the sound of Ovations plugged in or otherwise but with a little work you should be able to make it passable. Mic the body of the guitar if you can. Near the bridge. Try around 6-10" or more away. Try different mics. You'll probably use the direct signal mainly for the attack and the mic for the "body". Anything to get rid of the peizo quack.

Thanks Hueseph! that worked great! it sounds really good.thanks again!

I use the old 12th fret (point a mic where the neck meets the body, away from the sound hole) I typically use a omni for this. A figure 8 would be great to pick up the room (I would keep a lobe pointed to the 12th fret, and a lobe 180 degrees to that) A cardioid will work fine too, if you want the rear rejection.

My other trick is to place the mic over the shoulder,almost at the players ear level. The idea is to record the GTR the way the player hears it. I like an omni mic for this application.

hopes this helps

I've tried mic'ing an Ovation to pass it off as a normal acoustic guitar, but didn't particularly care for the sound. To me, an Ovation kinda has it's own thing going and you either love it or hate it. I would just use the pickup output from the Ovation.

I love the ovation sound. its so different

The Ovations I've mic'd up have usually been a mix of their onboard pick-up and a mic. IMO, an SDC works better on these (Shure SM81 or an A-T 4041) because of their off-axis rejection. This is especially true in less-than-great acoustical environments. Depending on the player's style, I'll point the mic towards the neck a bit. This tends to make the tone a bit darker, as opposed to pointing it towards the bridge. You do have to watch (or listen ) for finger noise, though. Then you can mix the mic and the pick-up together to get the tone you want.

I've only recorded one Ovation, and I ended up using mostly the pickup. It was a quick and dirty session and I didn't experiment a lot with mic positions. I miced it at the 12th fret (which is my usual position for a Martin or a Taylor). The guy I recorded has been playing an Ovation for years. The sound of the pickup is part of his live sound, and he works the eq to tame the quack. Adding a bit of the mic rounds it out a bit more.

One general comment. I always record the pickup if a guitar has one. Less than five minutes to set up. You can always mute it if it doesn't sound good. Comes in handy a lot. Besides, its a good challenge. If the mic doesn't sound as good as the pickup - work on your mic technique. Don't listen to people who tell you not to do things (he said self-referentially).

I assume this is a studio recording, correct?

If so, I would approach as if it were any other acoustic, then adjust/play with mic positioning until you get something you can deal with.

Keep in mind though that Ovations are inherently designed for playing live with less feedback and more projection on stage. That's the whole reason for the round back and other features... With this in mind, I wouldn't expect it to be all it should be in a studio setting, but with a little patience and experimentation you may get something usable.

Regards-

Karbo

We used to play spin the Ovation back in the day...

Space wrote: We used to play spin the Ovation back in the day...

I think it lost Glen Campbell wive one and three and earned him kids five and seven. I think you need to have good hair to play an Ovation.

A distraction is key.

Try this thread:
(Dead Link Removed)