Damn guitarists... (160hz mix destroyer)

M

Mofracky

New member
Hey peps,

Ok, so i'm the drummer, and the sound engineer (no jokes please :) ).

When recording guitar tracks, there always seems to be this disgusting hum at 140-160hz, almost seems like it's the resonant freqency for my monitor cabs (Alesis M1's) or somthing -- completely over powers the mix everytime my guitarist strums his low E.

I've notched it out, but ~150hz is like a major part of the overall guitar sound, so i end up with crap if i try to EQ.

The sadest part of this story is that my guitarist LIKEs the sound ... he thinks it's BASS! and while it is in the bass freqency range (sorta), i assure my friends here that he dosn't know what he's talking about -- this makes my mixes go from sounding nice and clean, to garage/garbage in about ~150hz flat.

He has a mashall full stack and we mic the lower cabnet, real close to the lower left speaker, about 2 inches in from the 1 o'clock edge. The mic is a trusty SM57.

Can this be fixed with mic position? or do i just have to do my best to notch 160hz? What should i do?

Thanks alot,
Mo.
 
if you mix has alot of guitar energy ~ 150hz you are gonna be in trouble......with the kick,bass,and guitar filling up all that low end youll probably find you cant get rid of the muddiness in the mix and youll also find that you wont get a good overall track volume because the low end is consuming so much headroom......roll off starting around 150 and move up until it clears up.....
 
SOunds like proximity to me, or too much bass turned up on the guitar head. Make it sound like you want it prior to micing, and then see what happens.
 
I had the same problem with my Mesa Boogie and to alleviate the problem, I turn the amp into a corner and placed the mic pointing into the apex of the corner. The wall is sheetrock so not much of the sound was absorbed, but it did cut the buzz and gave a much cleaner (how do you get clean distortion???) sound.

If the buzz is so loud that you can hear it in a rock mix, then there may actually be something wrong with the amp or the signal chain from the guitar.

I hope this helps.
 
Do you have the problem coming out of the amp? I agree with tubedude, get it right coming out of the amp and its alot easier to get the track sounding right in the mix. Maybe his pickups need adjusting...to high under the top E string. Sounds like the E string is ringing if you have the problem on certain chords. I dunno...i would have to hear it.
 
Marshall Cabs will "woof" at around that frequency if you crank too much low end through them, you will probably have to convince the guitarist to roll off some of the lows on the amp or processor/pedal, or you will just have to drastically eq the recorded track, using a compressor as if you were De-essing *might* work to tame the peaks but there are no guarantees that it will sound good.

Just play the mix for him and the rest of the band and let them hear how his wonderful tone ruins the mix, he will probably get that 'if you can't fix it without ruining my tone you obviously don't know what you're doing' look in his eyes but just stick to your guns.

Good Luck.
 
Thanks for the reply's guys ...

I'll try to get him to roll off some of the low end on his head - hopfully, i can get in there and do it with out him noticing! ;)

The guitar sounds good when he plays alone, the ~150hz dosn't seem to matter when there are no other instruments playing (we overdub). But i can feel ~150hz in my chest...

Thanks again guys.
Mo.
 
try micing on-axis. You said you are about 2" in from the edge of the speaker, so try putting the mic dead on the center of the speaker cone. Off-axis guitar is sometimes very useful, but it can be an aqcuired taste, and it tends to cut a little less.
 
That's the problem with a lot of thick headed guitar players. They crank that low end up because it sounds good when they're playing BY THEMSELVES. Tell him to get rid of the rock star sunglasses and keep his guitar in the midrange where it belongs. The bass player is standing there picking his nose for a reason.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slackmaster2K said:
The bass player is standing there picking his nose for a reason.
Click to expand...

Is he fingerpicking or flatpicking it?



Regarding the 150Hz prob, try pulling the mic back to reduce the proximity effect bass.
 
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