Best way to mic/record acoustic guitar in song with wide dynamic range

Hey Everyone,
I'm currently working on recording an original song for acoustic guitar and voice. I'm running into trouble though because the guitar part for the verse and refrain are both quiet and understated, but I have this bridge section I do that is very loud. I'm mic-ing my guitar with an AKG 200 Perception Large Diaphragm condenser mic (round-about the 12th fret), and also via my built-in-mic in my guitar, both of which I run directly into my Presonus Firepod. I then record on two tracks at the same time, one for the AKG, and one for the built in mic. But, I'm having to set the sensitivity so low so as not to clip/distort during the loud bridge that I'm just getting a poor sound on the quiet verses and refrains. What's the best way to deal with this? Have a pair of tracks for the quiet parts, and a separate pair for the loud parts? But then I end up with an inconsistent guitar sound.... I'm really fairly new to both the recording process as well as Logic Pro 7. ANY AND ALL suggestions and/or resources are welcome! Thansk very much.
David
MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)   2.0 GHz Processor, 2 GB RAM, Logic Pro 7
MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)   2.0 GHz Processor, 2 GB RAM

Hi David,
When you say "you're getting poor sound" when it's turned down, is it really poor sound? Or are your ears favoring the other because it's louder? This is a common mistake with beginners. Louder isn't better, it's just louder.
You may need to experiment, but the first thing I would do is move the mic back a bit. Give your guitar some room to develop its sound, before it hits the mic. This will not only make the guitar sound more natural, but will buy you a little room with dynamics.
Normally, compressors are used to help tame the dynamics of a thing like this, but if you do not have decent quality hardware compressors, I would be patient, and find the best "middle ground" you can.
Keep in mind, when mixing, you can use automation and compression to even out the sections somewhat. Don't expect it to "go to tape" dynamically perfect. It doesn't always work that way.
But you could certainly record this is 2 sections, just make sure the ONLY difference is in the level of the pre-amps going to Logic. Make sure the guitar/microphone distance stays the same.
Then when mixing, you have control over the levels of the different sections, and for all intensive purposes, they should sound the same... meaning the same guitar in the same room... just played louder/softer, which by itself is two totally different sounds. Don't expect the softer parts to sound like the louder parts. they simply can't.. and more importantly, they shouldn't. That's the beauty of any acoustic instrument.

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