tracker wrote: can anyone offer any good advice on recording a singer/guitarist (acoustic) and be able to keep good seperation between voice and acoustic guitar.

I get good results using two different types of mic's. Any two will work, just as long as they are different. It also helps to use two different types of preamps as well.
That's what works for me.

I'm sure I'll catch a little flak for saying this, but...

Easiest way I can think of is to record the guitar part without the vox and then overdub the vox onto it. Obviously, it depends on what the artist is comfortable doing and if they have the time for the extra step. I do that when I'm recording my own material, or I use a DiMarzio pickup instead of a regular mic and then whatever vox mic you choose at the same time.

The down side to overdubbing the vox is that once an artist learns the music with the parts together, sometimes it's difficult to do the two seperately again because they're subconciously using the cues of the guitar for the vocal or vice versa. For that same reason, sometimes the two parts don't fit quite as snuggly together if you record the two seperately.

If you only wanted answers in regards to what two (or three) mics to use and their placement, then I'll be of little help to you. Hope you don't take this as a smart-alec answer, 'cause I didn't mean it that way.

Try switching both 414s to figure 8 pattern, and carefully position each mic so the side nulls face the bit you don't want, while the front points at the bit you do.

In my amateur bedroom setup, I've never been able to pull it off without doing it in two takes. The bleed creates too many issues for me. IIRs' suggestion seems like a good one, though.

Greg

phase reverse

Since I am wondering too: Would reversing the phase on one of the microphones help?

Re: phase reverse

cfaalm wrote: Since I am wondering too: Would reversing the phase on one of the microphones help?

No.

If it's acoustic/electric, at least for me, recording directly into the PC is best, but if all you have is to record by mic, in one of my Guitar World's I know they had an article on recording acoustic guitars. I don't quite remember it, but I know one mic was near the soundhole, and one was near the back/body of the guitar to pick up the bass better. Experiment with placing them in different spots in the room, and different differences from the guitar.