Quick Guitar EQ Help

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JoeyPazera

JoeyPazera

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Ok, so i dont have the best mics. and im trying to record a Heavy distorted kinda Fuzzy guitar. not like death metal guitar but its like a hard rock type. well i used a SM57 and an APEX 435 condenser to record it. I like using both because just one or the other sounds like poop.

heres the delema, it sounds ok with No eq but i need to eq it. Now, how do i get a good Eq mix with 2 tracks of the same guitar?

I could upload a single track to show you if that would help.
 
Wait... it sounds good with no EQ but you need to EQ it? Why?
 
JoeyPazera said:
it sounds ok with No eq but i need to eq it.
...
I could upload a single track to show you if that would help.
Click to expand...
Yeha, to amplify what steve.h said, when you say you need to EQ it, what does it need/what is it lacking? Answer that question and you have answered your question ;) .

Uploading a track and throing it in the MP3 clinic would help, but what would also help is a description of what you don;t think is right about it/what you really want it to sound like. You put up a picture of an elephant's foot and ask what should the rest of the animal look like (without saying you want an elephant), and you'll get 10 people describing 10 different animals.

G.
 
TO asnwer your question.
You want to solo each track seperately once recorded. So for example firstly solo the SM57 guitar track and EQ till you are happy with it. Then solo and EQ for the other guitar track. Listen to the tracks 1 at a time in the mix and touch up the EQ as you feel neccisery. Then listen to the 2 tracks together in the mix and use the faders of the guitar tracks to get the best sounding tone.

Eck
 
If you are just recording your own material, and are recording from an amp into some mics, I'd say play with the EQ on the amp and mess with mic positiong before you start EQ'ing a recorded signal. It'll sound better in the end... but, if that's not an option, then the last post sounds about right.
 
steve.h said:
Wait... it sounds good with no EQ but you need to EQ it? Why?
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering.

Maybe to give some room to other instruments/vocals/whatever.
 
danny.guitar said:
That's what I was wondering.

Maybe to give some room to other instruments/vocals/whatever.
Click to expand...

Probably yeah, but we'd have to hear the other instruments before determining that wouldn't we? I suppose it's always a good idea to roll off below 90-100 hz on the guitars, and above around 9000-11000 depending on the desired sound.
 
Yea gotta hear the mix before making any suggestions.

I also usually roll off everything < 80-90Hz on guitar. On acoustic I'll sometimes roll off < 50Hz, or < 80-100 if it's boomy.

On the few songs I've done with distorted guitar, I find making a small dip around 1KHz can make it sound less brittle/harsh/crappy. But it's impossible to give suggestions without hearing it.
 
ok, i see waht yall are saying and ill upload a track later. But, the guitars dont stick out enough, they are just fuzz and shit. but they arent like coming out of the amp so i know it can get better. but when i try to EQ one track then the other, when i put them back together its total shit. so i dont know how to Eq them so they will work together...
 
JoeyPazera said:
ok, i see waht yall are saying and ill upload a track later. But, the guitars dont stick out enough, they are just fuzz and shit. but they arent like coming out of the amp so i know it can get better. but when i try to EQ one track then the other, when i put them back together its total shit. so i dont know how to Eq them so they will work together...
Click to expand...

Now that's information we can work with! :) Give us this info and we'll be able to give you some advice:

- What kind of amp are you using/what settings?
- Name some bands who have the tone you're going for, or at least close.
- What is your recording setup like?
 
If it sounds good coming out of the amp but "all fuzz and shit" recorded, EQ'ing isn't your solution. There's something wrong in the recording process. I know that doesn't answer your question about how to EQ it, but that can't really be answered, so I figure I'd give you a possibly better solution.
 
Go back into the room with the amp. Turn it up because you are trying to get a hard rock guitar sound that needs to be big and in your face. I suggest making what ever EQ there is on the amp flat and try turing up what ever you have as a mid knob until you really think the guitars are getting aggressive. When placing each mic, make sure you make them sound good in solo. I usually sweep 57s across a guitar cab until I find the sweet spot where the tone just sounds "good" on my monitors. I usually look to making heavy guitars sound ultra-harsh, I feel like thats kind of the point. I would probably scoop death metal guitars though. If its to fizzy then turn the high knob down.

When I go into EQing during the mix, I usually look for the root of the song and boost that around the high mids. With metal guitars I'll cut the tonic below that to an extent that will highlight the first boost. I also like to run through the mix and look for notes that are farting out too loud or aren't strong enough, finding the frequency of the note that becomes lowdest and maches the pitch well, and boost or cut that to what ever extent needed.

How about you post a mix you have so far.

Ben
 
ok thanks for all the help guys.

for recording i put the 57 about 6'' away from the front of a speaker. the condenser about 6'' away from the middle of both speakers. Im not good with mic placement... but does it help ot get the amp off the floor. Its a 120 watt tube crate amp combo.

Alright heres a clip only guitar, just cause i havent recorded anything else... Panning is wierd cause i was just working on trying to seperate guitars. I only messed with levels a lil bit to get a better sound for yall to hear. No effects or nuthin.

Heres the clip
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=6992

thanks again for the help.
 
Clean guitar sounds good as far as tone goes. Sounds like you have some distortion/clipping going on.

When you record, don't let the meters go into the red. Try to keep them at about -18 to -8db on the meters in your software.

You will have to retrack them and not clip this time around. Try that and see how much it helps. Then you can worry about EQ. ;)
 
Are you sure that's a tube amp? Sounds pretty solid-state to me. First-off, I'd turn the gain and treble down, turn the mids up, and turn the amp up to really get the speakers moving. Then, shove the SM57 right up 1" or less from the grill. Put it at about a 30º angle from the speaker, somewhere between the center and outside of the cone. To make sure you get the tone you want, put your headphones on, crank 'em up, and move the '57 around to hear what happens to the sound as you move it. You'll be amazed at how many different sounds you can get just by moving the mic 1/4" or less!

Anyway, start with that, don't worry about a 2nd mic until you've got pretty close to the the tone you're looking for with the 57. Eventually, you'll wanna put the condenser 3-6' from the amp pointing at the speakers. Two mics will start to bring in phase issues so make sure to keep monitoring what's going on in your headphones while you move mics around.

Good luck! :) If you wanna hear what kind of tone I've been getting lately with said method, click here:



Disclaimer: I used a slightly more beefy amp (triple rec), but you could still get some decent tone from the amp you're using! :)
 
Joey, you may be clipping a bit like danny said. Also, like Steve said, this amp sounds pretty solid state.

Mic the amp like he said. Also, the tone that you hear while standing up in front of your amp IS NOT what the microphones are going to pick up. Get down on the floor and get right in front of your amp. That is what the mic/mics are going to be picking up.
 
na the clipping is digital im almost posotive if thats possible... So basically I need to re track all the distorted guitar? I will try that mic placment and move it around. you guys are great. Did yall like that song atleast? I thought it was pretty neat when my guitarist brought it over the other day.

How many mics do yall record guitar with? i really would like to get away with just using one mic it would make things like 100 times easier with the mixing process for me.

thanks
 
oh and the reason your thinking its solid state probably is because hes using that giant Boss effects processor and that tends to come out a little digital sounding.
 
eehh....that Boss unit isn't sounding so hot. Try using the amp's distortion and CRANK THE AMP! You really should use the two mics. It will thicken the sound of the guitars and bit better in a final mix.

I'd imagine that your guitarist isn't completely sure what they are looking for tone-wise. I make that assumption because they are using an effects floorboard for distorted tones. It is your job to convince him to use the amp distortion. If you can't get the Crate to sound heavy enough, think about investing in an overdrive pedal to give the already existing gain on the amp sound more grit.

So yes....re-cut the distorted guitar.
I like writing songs, but I honestly can't tell you whether or not I like the song because it doesn't have vocals yet. I'm not a very big fan of the delay though...it's a bit overbearing.

Good luck dude!
 
songwritten said:
eehh....that Boss unit isn't sounding so hot. Try using the amp's distortion and CRANK THE AMP! You really should use the two mics. It will thicken the sound of the guitars and bit better in a final mix.

I'd imagine that your guitarist isn't completely sure what they are looking for tone-wise. I make that assumption because they are using an effects floorboard for distorted tones. It is your job to convince him to use the amp distortion. If you can't get the Crate to sound heavy enough, think about investing in an overdrive pedal to give the already existing gain on the amp sound more grit.

So yes....re-cut the distorted guitar.
I like writing songs, but I honestly can't tell you whether or not I like the song because it doesn't have vocals yet. I'm not a very big fan of the delay though...it's a bit overbearing.

Good luck dude!
Click to expand...

thanks for the input. Look for another thread on my progress around this weekend.
 
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