High end

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kingofpain678
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Kingofpain678

Kingofpain678

Returned from the dead
What frequencies would you consider the "highs" of an electric guitar?
 
Everything over 4-5k. 2-3k is more upper midrange, 800-1k is mids, 400-600 is lower mids and anything under 200hz is lows.
 
Hey KOP once you get to the 12th fret ..... look out! :D








:cool:
 
It rolls off fairly quickly after 5K, so probably 3k-5K

But adding several db of 13K shelving can do wonders.
 
My guitar sound had this really nasty fuzz/fizz just terrible quality to it.

After looking at the frequency response of a vintage 30 I realized that there isn't much going on above 8Khz. I can't seem to find the frequency response of the speakers that I have (stock speakers in a marshall mg412) but it's safe to say that they really suck. I'm betting they produce alot of nasty-ness above 8khz cause when I put a low pass filter on the sound I was hearing it did wonders to the tone.

I was just curious as to what most would consider the "high end" of a guitar sound and if I was cutting too much out of the highs.
 
The speakers could be part of the problem, but what are you using for an amp, pedals, etc... that could have a lot to do with it to.
 
Farview said:
The speakers could be part of the problem, but what are you using for an amp, pedals, etc... that could have a lot to do with it to.
Click to expand...

Crappy sears guitar -> Peavey Windsor head -> Crappy mg412 cab -> Shure SM57 -> M-Audio audiobuddy preamp -> E-mu 1212m -> Reaper.


Now obviously the first three parts of the signal chain aren't exactly a dream setup with the guitar and 4X12 cab being the weakest links but I'm trying to make what I got work.
Once I can get better gear rolling in I'll have the experience and knowledge of how to take full advantage of it and get the best sound out of my equipment.
 
Kingofpain678 said:
My guitar sound had this really nasty fuzz/fizz just terrible quality to it.

After looking at the frequency response of a vintage 30 I realized that there isn't much going on above 8Khz. I can't seem to find the frequency response of the speakers that I have (stock speakers in a marshall mg412) but it's safe to say that they really suck. I'm betting they produce alot of nasty-ness above 8khz cause when I put a low pass filter on the sound I was hearing it did wonders to the tone.

I was just curious as to what most would consider the "high end" of a guitar sound and if I was cutting too much out of the highs.
Click to expand...

I think the mg412 have the celestion rocket 50's in them.They're not too bad of a speaker.I bought 2 of them as replacements and i think they have a tight bottom end and the highs don't seem too harsh either.

I have them in an old ampeg cab and they're not near as bright and trebly as the ampeg speakers.

Also those mg cabs are a lot smaller in size and depth so you may not be getting as good of a bass respose as a more normal sized cab may offer.
 
mcmetal said:
I think the mg412 have the celestion rocket 50's in them.They're not too bad of a speaker.I bought 2 of them as replacements and i think they have a tight bottom end and the highs don't seem too harsh either.

I have them in an old ampeg cab and they're not near as bright and trebly as the ampeg speakers.

Also those mg cabs are a lot smaller in size and depth so you may not be getting as good of a bass respose as a more normal sized cab may offer.
Click to expand...

The speakers say "custom voiced marshall/celestion loudspeakers"
 
Have you tried turning down the treble and presence controls on the amp? Use more midrange and less gain and see if that helps.

The secret to that head is going to be the resonance, presence and texture controls. Peavey has a habit of giving you way too much control.

It started with the 5150 where any gain settings over 5 were just too much. The resonance knob controls speaker dampening, which is kind of a non-intuitive thing to have control over. I'm sure the texture knob is equally odd.


Play with those a little more after you back off the gain to the point that the distortion is grainy instead of fuzzy.
 
Farview said:
Have you tried turning down the treble and presence controls on the amp? Use more midrange and less gain and see if that helps.

The secret to that head is going to be the resonance, presence and texture controls. Peavey has a habit of giving you way too much control.

It started with the 5150 where any gain settings over 5 were just too much. The resonance knob controls speaker dampening, which is kind of a non-intuitive thing to have control over. I'm sure the texture knob is equally odd.


Play with those a little more after you back off the gain to the point that the distortion is grainy instead of fuzzy.
Click to expand...

Yaaaa...... I've already tried all of that. Over and over.
That was the first place I went :o
 
There is another thread on this forum somewhere where people are complaining about the sound if this amp.
 
Idk if its for sure 100% of the amp. Remember that I'm using a crappy sears guitar and a bottom of the line cab.

OTOH, the only amp I've ever been happy with was a crate gx900H head and a blue voodoo 4x12...
 
The Sears guitar is not going to give you fizzy high end. That is a function of the distortion.

IF that fizzy-ness is there when the volume is low as well as high, it's most likely the amp. The speakers will not create highs that the amp isn't feeding it until they start to distort. If you are driving them hard they can do that, but if you turn the amp way down and it still sounds like that, it's the amp.

The main complaint about that amp is that it doesn't do high gain. If you were really digging the Crate, you like solid state distortion. This amp is the exact opposite of what you like. The Peavey XXX would be more up your alley.
 
Farview said:
The Sears guitar is not going to give you fizzy high end. That is a function of the distortion.

IF that fizzy-ness is there when the volume is low as well as high, it's most likely the amp. The speakers will not create highs that the amp isn't feeding it until they start to distort. If you are driving them hard they can do that, but if you turn the amp way down and it still sounds like that, it's the amp.

The main complaint about that amp is that it doesn't do high gain. If you were really digging the Crate, you like solid state distortion. This amp is the exact opposite of what you like. The Peavey XXX would be more up your alley.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... seems like you have a better idea of tone than I do....

I actually found a crate gx900h for 200 which isn't terrible but I'm wondering is, do you think a different set of preamp tubes will have a lack of that fizziness ?
 
Kingofpain678 said:
Hmmm... seems like you have a better idea of tone than I do....

I actually found a crate gx900h for 200 which isn't terrible but I'm wondering is, do you think a different set of preamp tubes will have a lack of that fizziness ?
Click to expand...
Posting a clip would help.

I don't think the preamp tubes have much to do with it. My impression is that you are trying to get a high gain sound out of an amp that wasn't designed to do it.

Tube amps tend to be one-trick-ponies. A fender princeton is not going to give you heavy metal distortion, a Marshall JCM800 isn't going to give you chimey cleans. If you don't buy the tube amp that was designed to do what you are trying to do, you will never be satisfied.
 
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