Recording archtop guitar

[erikgran]

Tried out recording my Godin 5th Avenue last night. It has a P-90, as well as it sounds good acoustically. So, I plugged in the pickup in one channel on my sound card, and a Rode NT1A in the other channel. I use a Focusrite Saffire LE into PT 11 on a Windows laptop.

Now, the result was a disturbing hum/rattle nois along with the signal. I detected the noise to come from the mic, and it seemed like the noise was present also with mic alone. I wanted to check out if my mic is ok, so I switched to Audacity, where the combination recorded fine, with no noise at all from the mic, so it seems that the mic is just fine.

Has anybody any tips on how to start troubleshooting this? To me it seems like some kind of feedback effect, and I'll do some research to figure out how this can be solved. I do not need to reinvent the wheel, however, so if this is a known issue with known solutions, I'd be more than happy to get some help.

Erik

[Darryl Ramm]

Tried out recording my Godin 5th Avenue last night. It has a P-90, as well as it sounds good acoustically. So, I plugged in the pickup in one channel on my sound card, and a Rode NT1A in the other channel. I use a Focusrite Saffire LE into PT 11 on a Windows laptop.

Now, the result was a disturbing hum/rattle nois along with the signal. I detected the noise to come from the mic, and it seemed like the noise was present also with mic alone. I wanted to check out if my mic is ok, so I switched to Audacity, where the combination recorded fine, with no noise at all from the mic, so it seems that the mic is just fine.

Has anybody any tips on how to start troubleshooting this? To me it seems like some kind of feedback effect, and I'll do some research to figure out how this can be solved. I do not need to reinvent the wheel, however, so if this is a known issue with known solutions, I'd be more than happy to get some help.

Erik

What make/model/spec dedicated audio/session drive are you recording audio sessions to?

Is your system fully optimized for Pro Tools (see the install instructions or start at the "Help us Help You - READ THIS Before Posting!" link above on this page. Do every last little anal-retentive thing there.

Post a screenshot of your Playback Engine dialog.

Unchecked "ignore errors" in the playback engine settings if it was checked, and see if Pro Tools throws an error while you try to record.

"hum/rattle" does not sound like a typical feedback problem.

When you use Audacity, you are not changing anything at all, same placement, cables, interface etc. etc.?

Post a sample of the problem on Soundcloud or similar, with and without the guitar if possible and post a link to that here. Post a clean sample from Audacity as well if you can.

[musicman691]

Something had to have changed in the positioning of the guitar versus the Rode when switching from PT to Audacity and that may well account for the difference. The Rode could have been picking up a rattle in the guitar itself (internal cabling or even a brace that is cracked or loose). Do you have the mic in it's shock mount? The hum could be a couple of possibilities - bad shielding connection in the XLR cable of the mic or the P90 itself - remember that P90's are single coil pickups and subject to hum.

The noise appears to come from the mic you say - which noise - the rattle or the hum?

[erikgran]

Now, last night I tried again in Pro Tools, and this time the noise was gone. Seems like my mic had some issue. May have been something on the diaphragm, as I'd been sloppy leaving it uncovered on the stans for a few days. Anyway, I'm happy it works, no matter what the reason is.

[Darryl Ramm]

Now, last night I tried again in Pro Tools, and this time the noise was gone. Seems like my mic had some issue. May have been something on the diaphragm, as I'd been sloppy leaving it uncovered on the stans for a few days. Anyway, I'm happy it works, no matter what the reason is.

Always suspect the cable, loose or dry solder joint, etc. can cause all sorts of problems. Give it a good old wiggle and gentle tug at both ends.

[DonaldM]

Tried out recording my Godin 5th Avenue last night. It has a P-90, as well as it sounds good acoustically. So, I plugged in the pickup in one channel on my sound card, and a Rode NT1A in the other channel. I use a Focusrite Saffire LE into PT 11 on a Windows laptop.

Now, the result was a disturbing hum/rattle nois along with the signal. I detected the noise to come from the mic, and it seemed like the noise was present also with mic alone. I wanted to check out if my mic is ok, so I switched to Audacity, where the combination recorded fine, with no noise at all from the mic, so it seems that the mic is just fine.

Has anybody any tips on how to start troubleshooting this? To me it seems like some kind of feedback effect, and I'll do some research to figure out how this can be solved. I do not need to reinvent the wheel, however, so if this is a known issue with known solutions, I'd be more than happy to get some help.

Erik

Can you not plug into the Focusrite directly?

[dave911]

Always suspect the cable, loose or dry solder joint, etc. can cause all sorts of problems. Give it a good old wiggle and gentle tug at both ends.

Always and DoxIT is your friend.

[musicman691]

Always and DoxIT is your friend.
Deoxit is great stuff; expensive but works great. If you have little bayonet base lamps and they're giving you problems - try that stuff. That's how I found out about it one place where I worked eons ago.