When mic’ing an acoustic guitar, the microphone’s position shapes the sound more than the microphone model itself. A cheap mic in the right spot almost always beats an expensive mic in the wrong one.
Close mic’ing: the pragmatic default
A good starting point is a microphone about 15–20 cm from the 12th fret, angled slightly toward where the fretboard meets the body. That gives a balanced sound made up of string attack and body resonance, without either component dominating.
Why not point it straight at the soundhole?
Pointing directly at the soundhole produces a noticeably bassy, often “boomy” sound, because that’s where the body resonance’s lowest frequencies escape most strongly — usually unusable in a band context, since it competes with bass and kick drum for the same frequency range.
Room mic’ing: more atmosphere, more noise
An additional microphone placed farther away (1–2 m) captures the natural room sound and often blends nicely with the close mic — but also brings in more room noise and background sound. For a simple demo recording at home, a single close mic is usually plenty.