guitar help

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maryslittlesecret

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Hi, fellas. First time here so be gentle. I need some definite help getting a decent, heavy guitar sound (ie: Sevendust, Korn, Tool, etc.) in a mix.

Noise issues keep me from using the preferred method (live mic and cab), so I'm relying on a BOSS GT-3 with a speaker emulation effect to get a tone. It seems to have the ability -- it can sound great on its own. But when I record it and get it with the rest of the mix, it sounds horribly out of place. It either sounds way too bass heavy and boomy or to mid-heavy and nasal. I just can't get it to blend with the bass (which I'm also running through the GT-3 on a different patch) and drums (which is a BOSS DR660 drum machine)

I have a feeling its an EQ issue (I have no idea about EQ structures), but quite honestly, I don't know what it is. Any suggestions on how to dial in this piece of gear, what I need to do during recording or mixdown, etc. would be greatly appreciated (especially insight on what frequencies need to be boosted or cut to what degree, if it's an EQ issue). Thanks in advance for the input.

mls
 
Sound is weird stuff. What sounds good by itself might sound like dog poop with the rest of the instruments. I'd get a decent sound on the Boss unit and record with the EQ mostly flat. Make sure to constantly check your EQ settings with all the instruments in the mix.

It's surprising what works sometimes, so it's hard to know what to suggest. Meaty low end on guitars sounds killer in solo, but if the bass, kick, and vocs want to make noise in the low end... well, everything can turn soupy on ya. I find myself cutting lows on the guitars farily often. The kick and bass already live down there, and the loss of guitar stuff down there can bring them out.

What are you using to recording to and what EQ options do you have at your disposal?
 
My advice is simple... don't try to crush the low end with guitars. Hell, that's what the kick drum and bass were invented for. I'd try backing off the low end on your guitar and perhaps even boost the high's a bit. I think generally people after bone crushing guitar tones underestimate the importance of high frequencies.

Mids however I think is a matter of personal choice, I tend to suck mine almost bone dry - but still leave just a hint of mid in there, but as I said everyone generally has their own opinion about this.
 
I agree with you both so far. As much as I like an earth-shaking gutiar tone, I'm far from the type to crank the bass and let 'er rip. I'd much rather have the bass guitar handle most of the low end.

Still, in going for a thick guitar tone, I just can't get it to jive with everything else. It's possible that the way I have things dialed, the guitar and bass are stepping on each others frequencies(?) Or that even the drum patches I've selected aren't suited to jive with this new tone I'm working for(?) I'll have to look into that a little more, but I'm still very interested in some EQ suggestions.

In terms of EQ at my disposal, I don't have much. The GT-3 has an EQ and Sub EQ that I can access together, giving me about four bands of frequenices ranging from 100 Hz to 10 KHz. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on which frequencies to boost/cut (and by how much) for guitar, as well as bass? (and would I EQ pre or post distortion?) I have no idea as to which frequencies are 'good' or 'bad' for heavy rock guitar...

Let me know you thoughts on the latest turn we've taken. Thanks.

mls
 
Try sucking out at about 125Hz,that will make some room for your bass and drum sounds,Randy5235
 
i would try going back to the live cab set-up, and try some noise gates to control the noise-

using a mic will possibly set up the sonic stage for you to blend with the other instruments- experiment a great deal with rotating the axis of the front of the mic in relation to the speaker, small increments of an 1/8 of an inch make a big difference, there will be a sweet spot where, in your mix, you part will stand out more, based simply on that mic position.

also consider going one more step in the direction that randy5235 said, and completely cut out everything below, say, 80 hz.

if you want to stay with the gt-3, maybe you could output it through a preamp, preferably tube, to round out the sound a little.

as for the eq, try starting flat, and instead of boost, try cutting the stuff you don't like.

good luck
 
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