Clarity in my amp/recordings

M

maxabillion

New member
Hey, so I have been recording now for quite sometime and it is going pretty well, but one thing that I have noticed is that a lot of times the lower pitches of a chord get a touch muddy on the tracks (live as well, but it is more noticeable on the recordings.) Like when I play an Emaj7 and switch to a G#m/C# (i.e. moving the bass note) it is not the noticeable chord change it should be. I have experimented with mic placement, choice, etc, and I play on a just-over-clean setting with my amp. Far from what anyone might refer to as "distortion", but actually just enough overdrive to warm up the clean tone - preamp usually set at about 1. Anyway, I was wondering if this lack of clarity is most likely an amp problem/poor amp construction, or recording problem or both? Obviously you can't say one for sure, but has anyone experienced this as well?

I am playing a Gibson SG through a Peavey Windsor Head attached to an Avatar 2x12 cab with Celestion G12h-65 loaded into it. I have tried both speakers, and the guitar is well maintained and well played (not trying to sound like an egotistical ass, but I'm not missing the chord or strumming sloppily, etc) The amp is definitely not the best out there, but it is surprisingly good, and has a good tone. Any ideas?
 
Are you just playing them as barre chords? Because that could be an issue. Other than that I would just play with the amp settings maybe cut the bass to 3 or 4 and then put the mids and treble on 7-8. I'd also try doing just clean settings and then maybe adding distortion later.
 
try a different guitar, if you have one available. my SG isn't usually my go-to guitar if I'm playing chords. not sure why, but they just don't sound as good as they do on the Strat
 
If the mud is there both live and in recordings

1) revoice the chords to remove the lower notes
2) change the bass settings on the amp if possible
3) get an EQ pedal and notch out the offending frequencies
4) move the mic back some to eliminate any proximity effect (assuming a cartoid mic) that would otherwise accentuate low/mud frequencies when you record.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top