How to deal with EQ to find the tone you're looking for when starting ?

  • Hi,


    I hope someone can help me out. Maybe it's a stupid question but I've tried loads of different rigs, good rigs but it's far from the tone I'm looking for eventhough the amps are the ones I'm looking for.
    I'm interested in Mesa Rectifier,, 5150 and Framus Dragon rigs and I've found some that sound really good.
    The sound I'm looking for is something like Orden Ogan, Gojira and As I Lay Dying (the video Josh Middleton posted somewhere else on this forum too).
    So, high gain without loosing too much clarity and tightness.
    I know for video's it's also a matter of mixing, but then still from a basic rig I should be able to get at least quite a bit in the right direction.
    But the real challenge begins when I start with the EQ (in the X-section) to dial in the proper EQ settings for the sound I'm looking for.
    Somehow I can't get it right.


    Do I need to load the tone I'm looking for in an frequency analyser to find the frequencies hotspots I need to accentuate?
    I'm really having a hard time to get the EQ right, when I need more bass the low end gets muddy and I need to raise the low-cut so back to lack of low end. This is just an example but it goes like this in many ways when fiddling with the EQ.
    I thought the accents need to be around 800hz and 1600hz with a Q setting set to small. But still no luck so far.


    So, my question is:
    Wat is the best approach to start from a rig downloaded from the rigexchange or whatever to improve your tone from a EQ point of view?
    Are there any guidelines or rules of thumb which frequencies to accentuate?


    Thanks in advance.
    Mauce

  • Start at noon. Turn the knobs and listen to the changes. If you got the Remote use the looper. So you are able to focus on the sound.


    My experience is that it's difficult to get the Rig sounding good if the Amp Stack alone does not sound good by itself with the perticular guitar.

  • The fastest way to change your tone is changing the cab, it can make a huge difference. Another way is putting an EQ pre stack to boost or cut the frequencies you want/don't want to get more or less distorted. Then put an EQ post stack to bring back missing frequencies again. Also dial in some clarity (can be found in the amp section).

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

  • You can also assign the EQ pre or post in the Amp stack itself which can also make a difference in most cases. As posted above a different cabinet may be all you need but also fool around with the High and Low Shift as well as Pure Cabinet to see if that helps as well. Lots of good tips posted above as well

  • While the EQ in the X slot works good for tweaking metal tone, I wouldn't rely on it for more than tweaking. I feel like finding a rig already really close to your liking and not messing with it too much is the way to go.


    I know AILD had some studio vids (maybe the DVD?) up way back that touched on the guitar sound. AILD has used so many different amps. They were even using JCM800s for festivals for a while.

  • As Kempermaniac said, most of the tone is in the cab. Find a rig that has those properties that You a looking for tonewise and then save that cab.
    You will notice that as You add that cab to other rigs their original tone changes drastically.


    Then find and amp that has the 'feel' properties You like, how it reacts to Your playing, the clean up range, and so on...
    Now use the EQ to finetune the rig to Your guitar, mix and taste.


    To me it sounds like You should begin with checking out SinMix free pack, it has great cabs and it's tailored towards the heavier genres.
    Deadlight Studios also have a lot of free rigs with greats cabs.