Where is ‘pick attack’ and ‘chewy’ in the frequency spectrum?

  • I’m really hoping someone with a bit of studio knowledge can help me out as I’m clueless...


    What frequency range would you use to describe:

    • A) ‘Chewy gain’. Think Van Halen, digging in and hearing that definitive pick drag across the strings

    • B) Pick attack - when you can hear harmonics just from the attack of the pick.


    Here’s a bit of context:


    I’m dialling in an EQ block to help match my Laney LFR-112 to what I hear through my AKG 92 headphones. The AKG’s have a 6dB scoop in the 1k-2kHz range, a 12dB scoop in the 2k-5k range, a spike of +6dB @ 6kHz and are pretty unresponsive after 10kHz. I love the way these headphones sound and I want my ‘flat(ish)’ Laney to sound similar.


    I have gotten so close with a graphic EQ block, trusting my ear and A/Bing to tweak the frequencies - I have done this for 8 hours over the last two days, but I’m just missing what I would describe as ‘chew’ and ‘pick attack’.


    By ‘chewiness’ I don’t mean honk (lower mids) or nasal (mids). Please help me find these I’m loosing the will to live and driving the neighbours nuts!


    If someone can use descriptive words for the frequency spectrum that would help massively as I can experiment with the Studio EQ then.


    Sorry for the ignorance on this subject chaps ?

  • Don’t forget that the room you are listening to the Laney in will have an effect on how you are hearing the speaker. Those settings you are dialling in won’t necessarily translate well, once you place that speaker in a different room. Broad EQ strokes to get in the ballpark of the same frequency response as your headphones should be ok, but specific narrower bands will suffer or might be deceiving, depending on the room you are dialling it in in and any other room you’ll be playing in in the future. I’m assuming you’re doing the work in a smaller, typical domestic room with your comment about the neighbours. This would be the worst place to try to accurately fine tune narrow, specific “surgical” EQ frequencies, as the small dimensions will mean a lot of reflections and phase problems, possibly causing you to boost/cut at the wrong frequencies.


    Sorry I can’t answer your specific question, but I hope my reply will help you down the line.


    Edit: to try to locate specific frequencies, choose a parametric EQ (eg. one of the mid bands of the Studio EQ), set the Q fairly high and the gain maybe 10 dB, then sweep the frequency control until you find the desired frequency. Then adjust the gain to boost/cut the desired amount, being careful to make sure the Q setting is dialled in enough to only affect that frequency.

  • • B) Pick attack - when you can hear harmonics just from the attack of the pick.

    I think you might be referring to chirp. If so, it cannot be produced using EQ; those upper-mid harmonics have to be there in the first place.


    Your pick's stiffness, thickness and material composition, how hard you hit the strings and of course the amp used all affect the prominence of chirp.


    Easiest, cheapest first move would be to try stiffer picks IMHO.

  • Thanks for the replies chaps.


    To clarify, the sound is perfect through my AKG 92’s, I’m trying to get that sound out of my Laney.


    Yeah I’ve been doing it in my living room with the amp in the opposite corner, not ideal but it’s a start for when I can next get to the studio.


    That’s a good idea about setting the studio EQ with a narrow bandwidth and sweeping the frequency until it pops out, I’ll give that a go!

  • The higher the Q, the narrower the bandwidth :)


    Don't set it too narrow to start, it'll just be confusing. Dial the Q up a bit more than default, then sweep the frequency spectrum with a boost of between say 5 and 10 dB. Toggle on and off to recalibrate your ears while doing this, to find the right frequency. Once you find that it does seem to accentuate the sounds you want, try to dial the Q a bit higher and see if you target the frequency better. Once you find it, adjust the boost to where you want it.


    By the way, use the headphones to find the frequency that you are looking for and narrow it in there. Then switch to the Laney to determine amount of boost, and possibly adjust the Q a final time.

  • Solved ? Thanks guys! It wasn’t so much the EQ that needed tweaking , it was the lack of compression on the Laney.


    I had gotten very close with the graphic EQ and any further EQ change seemed to take me further away from the sound. Then a chap on the gearpage mentioned compression and the lightbulb went on.


    The AKG’s have a lot of natural compression that I suppose made that pick scratch pop out. I added a compressor before the graphic EQ with 0.8 intensity and a tad of squash, and bingo. I’m chuffed ?