Guitar E.Q.

Z

Zampuuji

New member
Hello everyone! Newbie here.
Been recording analog for quite a while.I'm pretty new to digital.I have a Korg D1600 and a bunch of attendant gear.
My question is,What are some good E.Q. tips for electric guitar.
I'm trying to get the guitars to "pop" in the mix,but can't quite get them to sound like I want them to.I'd like to use the e.q. that's resident on the recorder.
This particular song has two stereo electric tracks.One is a lightly distorted Strat,and the other is a full crunch P.R.S.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Zampuuji
 
If they're too bright, cut some highs. If they're not bright enough, then add some.

If they're too dark, cut some lows and / or low mids. If there's not enough lows, then boost.

If they don't have enough mids, then add some.

If they have too much mids, then cut some out.

If you've tried the above and it still doesn't sound right, then re-record them and make them sound the way you want them to.
 
Zampuuji said:
Hello everyone! Newbie here.
Been recording analog for quite a while.I'm pretty new to digital.I have a Korg D1600 and a bunch of attendant gear.
My question is,What are some good E.Q. tips for electric guitar.
I'm trying to get the guitars to "pop" in the mix,but can't quite get them to sound like I want them to.I'd like to use the e.q. that's resident on the recorder.
This particular song has two stereo electric tracks.One is a lightly distorted Strat,and the other is a full crunch P.R.S.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Zampuuji
Click to expand...

Hi

I'm not an expert but I'll tell you what I do. Note, I usually have only 1 guitar in my mixes.

1) I place both pan in the position I want the guitar to be in the mix (example at 1 o'clock)
2) I put the low gains at -15 db (the minimum) to leave room for the bass and kick.
3) I put the high gains at +1.5 db so the guitar stick more in the mix. This might be related to the lost of definition due to 16 bits resolution but anyway.
4) I put the mid gains at +15dB and I adjust the mid frequency until I get the best guitar sound.
5) I lower the mid gains until the guitar sits well in the mix.
6) I start spreading the pans (example 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock) while adding mid to compensate to give a wider sound to the guitar. To visualize that operation, I imagine a guitar player on a stage with 2 amps side by side at the beginning. Spreading the pans corresponds to spreading the 2 amps and moving them towards the back of the stage. If the lead vocal is at 11 o'clock and I want the guitar to be at 1 o'clock, I will probably have the pans at 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock so the signer is between the two amps. During the spreading, I add gain in the mid to keep the same guitar presence as it had when both pans were at 1 o'clock.

Hope this helps.

/Jack Real.
 
Jack Real said:
Hi

4) I put the mid gains at +15dB and I adjust the mid frequency until I get the best guitar sound.

/Jack Real.
Click to expand...

The obvious idea is to record the guitar so that you will need little or no eq at all. I think if you need more than 5-6db of gain or cut, you may want to think about retracking those guitars. No offense Jack Real, but if you need to boost 15db of mids, you should really think about changing something in the tracking stage. Too much eq sounds unnatural and can lead to phase issues which equals less definition and punch and becomes counter-productive to what you are trying to accomplish.

That being said, you may try to roll off some low freq's up to around 80-100hz to clean some mud, as guitar usually doesn't have much below this that is useable. Around 300hz is a freq that can be tubby on guitars so if that is the case look around there. 2-4khz will give you a little more edge and cut through the mix a little better. Other than that play, and like I said, if you are way off of your mark when you listen in the mix, you may want to go back and adjust things in the recording phase instead of trying radical eq to 'fix' things.

Good luck
 
Thanks to all for your help with guitar E.Q. questions. I have to make sure that they're tracked properly from the get go,and not have to "mix fix" em'.
Zampuuji
 
Regarding EQ, the best advice I have been given is that if tracked properly you should never have to add anything, only take away and as someone else said no more than 6db.

Like all rules you can break it on accasion. I also take away all the bass frequencies from distorted guitar to leave room for the bass and kick.

I learned all this on this DG incidentaly from kind people who share their knowledge.
 
starch said:
The obvious idea is to record the guitar so that you will need little or no eq at all. I think if you need more than 5-6db of gain or cut, you may want to think about retracking those guitars. No offense Jack Real, but if you need to boost 15db of mids, you should really think about changing something in the tracking stage. Too much eq sounds unnatural and can lead to phase issues which equals less definition and punch and becomes counter-productive to what you are trying to accomplish.

That being said, you may try to roll off some low freq's up to around 80-100hz to clean some mud, as guitar usually doesn't have much below this that is useable. Around 300hz is a freq that can be tubby on guitars so if that is the case look around there. 2-4khz will give you a little more edge and cut through the mix a little better. Other than that play, and like I said, if you are way off of your mark when you listen in the mix, you may want to go back and adjust things in the recording phase instead of trying radical eq to 'fix' things.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Hi

Thanks for the input. As I mentionned in step 4, I put +15 db to find the best frequency for the mid (which is usually around 2-4 khz). When I'm satisfied with the mid frequency, I lower the mid gain in step 5 until the guitar fits well in the mix which is usually around 6 DB. I record my guitar direct through a pre-amp and then route the direct signal of the recorder to a stomp box (Yamaha DJ stomp). I try to stay as close as possible to the preset sound because I'm not an expert. If I'm not happy with the sound, I change preset or modify the parameters of the DJ stomp (reverb, effects, type of amp, etc) instead of adjusting the mixer settings because I agree with you that you should not try to fix a recording (sound) issue with the mixer. As mentionned, I'm not a professional but I find this an easy way to get a decent guitar sound.

/Jack Real.
 
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