EQ settings on amps for recording?

[Seafroggys]

Okay so I'm a beginner guitarist but I'm already recording entire songs and stuff. Now I want to get a good sound right off the bat and use as little post EQ as possible. Now I have read that while a nice warm fat guitar sounds great on its own, in the context of a mix it can get real muddy, real fast. I've been putting my Bass down lower then the mids and treble, is this recommended for making the mix a bit clearer and leave room for the bass guitar to work its magic?

[castlerock]

i cut the mids instead and give my tone more bass. but that's just me and what i like my guitar to sound like. if you record with a good sound you shouldn't have to do much post recording eq.

if you are a beginner, you probably haven't found your sound yet. try the mid cut to see if it suits you. if not, just keep playing with your amp settings until you find somthing YOU like.


good luck

[legionserial]

Being that the midrange frequencies are the frequencies primarily occupied by guitars, cutting the mids may not be wise. In my experience certainly, it make it difficult for the guitars to cut through in the mix. They may sound nice on their own, but they aren't playing on their own in the mix, which is the more important thing.

I can't give any real advice on EQing other than set it up so it sounds good through your monitors. Put your head where the mic is going to be, because that it what the mic is going to be hearing. I quite often have the EQ on my amp set on halfway for everything, because I like the sound of my amp there, and then mic placement does the rest. I usually end up with the mic just off centre and angled slightly towards the edge. but that's ust how it goes with my amp. May not be the same for yours. Nonetheless, mic placement is as important as the EQ settings on your amp.

[andydeedpoll]

Originally Posted by legionserial

I quite often have the EQ on my amp set on halfway for everything, because I like the sound of my amp there, and then mic placement does the rest. I usually end up with the mic just off centre and angled slightly towards the edge. but that's ust how it goes with my amp. May not be the same for yours. Nonetheless, mic placement is as important as the EQ settings on your amp.

i'll second that - unless i'm looking for a more specific tone, i'll centre everything (maybe occasionally boost the bass and mid frequencies ever so slightly.) but then my amp's a Peavey Classic 30, and the EQ on that is less 'tone shaping' than most ... seems to just subtly add an extra little boost to what's already there - noticeable but not aggressive. can't decide if i like it or not, but luckily i'm happy with the tone anyway

Andrew.

[castlerock]

Originally Posted by legionserial

Being that the midrange frequencies are the frequencies primarily occupied by guitars, cutting the mids may not be wise. In my experience certainly, it make it difficult for the guitars to cut through in the mix. They may sound nice on their own, but they aren't playing on their own in the mix, which is the more important thing.

yea, i've heard that before and it makes sense. it just doesn't suit my personal taste to have too much mid in my tone. dude didn't say what style of music he plays either so that would make a difference. my tone is a metal sound and too much mid just seems to muddy up the sound.

The only real advice that can be given i guess is play with it until it sounds good.

[IronFlippy]

EQ matters less than how much gain you have, the volume you're playing at, the mic's placement, etc.

For less mud, use less gain. If you want more bass, point the mic towards the edge of the speaker. The real tone is from the speakers and cabinet (well, your fingers most importantly). It took me a while to realize this. The EQ knobs on your amp just either emphasize or deemphasize a few select frequencies. The amp's characteristics shine through no matter what those knobs are set at. Unless you're playing through a modeling amp. That's where it gets fishy.

I'd set all the EQ knobs to center, then play around with mic placement. When you think you've got something that sounds good, then you can adjust the EQ on your amp to see if it does anything good to your sound. And especially, you don't need tons of gain, even for death metal. You'll want to use way less than you think you need. Let the speakers give you a heavy sound, not the gain knob.

[legionserial]

Originally Posted by castlerock

yea, i've heard that before and it makes sense. it just doesn't suit my personal taste to have too much mid in my tone. dude didn't say what style of music he plays either so that would make a difference. my tone is a metal sound and too much mid just seems to muddy up the sound.

The only real advice that can be given i guess is play with it until it sounds good.

Of course it all about personal taste at the end of the day. I play metal too and find that more midrange gives me a bit more punch in the sound, and at least that way if there's a little too much forthe mix i can post-EQ it a little bit. I'd rather have frequencies to cut than boosting frequencies that aren't there. But that's just me.

[metalhead28]

It's all just trial and error. It can be nice to have alot of low end in a guitar sound but you may end up cutting it down alot by the time you've got the rest of the mix in the picture. You don't want it to be too thin either, so nobody is going to tell you to cut the low end because you could turn your tone into a 90 pound weakling in a hurry.

I just like to make sure that what I'm capturing isn't too woofy or boomy, is nice and full, but retains clarity. You just have to play with your mic positioning and amp setting to find that sweet spot.

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by Seafroggys

... Now I have read that while a nice warm fat guitar sounds great on its own, in the context of a mix it can get real muddy, real fast. ...leave room for the bass guitar to work its magic?

Yes. And this is along the same logic that says don't set your mix eq's out of context in solo mode. And context is everything isn't it?
So the same goes for presumptions about tracking tones -your best guess vs experience or trial and error as to how it will fit.
Then we all end up working within that balance of time, effort and experience getting tone "exactly perfect" vs getting on with the inspiration you were there to capture in the first place.

[Farview]

It's all trial and error. The EQ section of each different amp will do something different. There is no standard. So you need to just start with all the EQ in the middle, listen, then see what the sound is lacking (or has too much of). If it seems muddy, turn the bass down. (or turn the treble up)

On some amps, the eq will affect the saturation of the distortion. There are just a lot of variables (including your guitar), and you just have to work with what you have until you get the best out of it.

[castlerock]

Originally Posted by Farview

It's all trial and error. The EQ section of each different amp will do something different. There is no standard. So you need to just start with all the EQ in the middle, listen, then see what the sound is lacking (or has too much of). If it seems muddy, turn the bass down. (or turn the treble up)

On some amps, the eq will affect the saturation of the distortion. There are just a lot of variables (including your guitar), and you just have to work with what you have until you get the best out of it.

oh, you got that right bro. a couple of months ago i finally bought a new amp after using my other one for 20 years. it took forever to dial in my tone on it. the tone stack just didn't react the same.

[Seafroggys]

Okay thanks for the info. I'll just set it to flat and go from there. I record different types of rock music, right now I'm recording a cover of The Beatles' "Flying."

[89gtsleeper]

Nobody can give you a good answer on this. Their guitar/amp/room/mic/pre/DAW combination will not match yours. Here is the best advice you can be given on this. Record an entire song with all tracks you will likely use with your style of music. Drums, guitar, bass, whatever. Record the guitar part as many times as you can using all of the channels you have access to. On each one, try something totally different with the EQ and/or effects like distortion. Write down all of the settings that you used for each track. Then just listen back to the song and a/b all of your tracks until you figure out what works best for YOU. Then you might try something like keeping that track and one that is the most different. Pan them hard left/right, and lower their volumes about 3-6 db. See if that gives you a fatter sound.

[gbdweller]

Originally Posted by 89gtsleeper

Nobody can give you a good answer on this. Their guitar/amp/room/mic/pre/DAW combination will not match yours. Here is the best advice you can be given on this. Record an entire song with all tracks you will likely use with your style of music. Drums, guitar, bass, whatever. Record the guitar part as many times as you can using all of the channels you have access to. On each one, try something totally different with the EQ and/or effects like distortion. Write down all of the settings that you used for each track. Then just listen back to the song and a/b all of your tracks until you figure out what works best for YOU. Then you might try something like keeping that track and one that is the most different. Pan them hard left/right, and lower their volumes about 3-6 db. See if that gives you a fatter sound.

Good advise. Trial and error and write down everything you did. It really sucks when you find that perfect sound, break everything down to play live, and come back to the studio only to find that you don't remember what or how you did what you did.

One other point. No one has mentioned what type mic is being used. A good mic is key because what the mic hears and how it interprets it, is what the mixer will hear and print. My personal fav is the SM57 for close micing and sometimes we set up a condenser in the room as well, to capture the sound of the room. This is tricky due to things such as phase cancellation so probably not a recommended method for a beginner. Try it, though. You might have great results.

If you've recorded a good sound, then your more than halfway there when it's time to mix. Remember, it's better to have to cut a few frequencies, rather than boost when mixing. Boosting adds noise and noise is usually ng.

[XLR]

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