Excess bass frequency from guitar messing up my mix

    Hey,
    I'm pretty much stuck with the pickups I have on my guitar, a Bill Lawrence L500XL and L500R combo. They seem to have excessive bass response, so when I record DI tracks and reamp, there's this booming sound every time I palm mute. I'm using a baritone tuning on a 6 string Ibanez Prestige.


    Tried the usual EQ tricks, but my base tone goes awry, so I'm looking for an alternative solution that tackles the problem at the source. Suggestions? Maybe I should lower my tone controls or something, I always have it dimed, seems to give better playing response. Also, lowering pickup height seems like the thing to do first and foremost, but those *&^$# pickups are just so large, I already had to gouge out sections from the pickup cavity to fit it in the first place.


    Probably more of a recording problem than a live sound issue, but there you go. ^^

    Quote from nakedzen


    Try parallel compressing the guitars? This will emphasize the highs and mids.


    You said you've tried eq, but I don't see how putting a high pass at 60-70Hz on the DI tracks would change the tone other than get rid of the boom?


    Parallel compression sounds like a good idea, I'll try that out, might help even things out a bit. I don't know how it changes it, it just sounds a little less "full". More experimentation is called for I guess. Between guitars, bass and the drums (and working on my singing), don't get enough time to do that.


    Heck, I was about to go buy a dremel and lower my pickups, tried this out first and I'm really happy. Or maybe that's ear fatigue. Thanks, will keep working on it.


    Quote from lohworm

    you may use a multiband comp to tame the "woof" of the palm mutes...Search the "Waves C4 Andy Sneap" trick for an example


    [Blocked Image: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachments/so-much-gear-so-little-time/32082d1172907714-mixing-heavy-distortion-guitar-c4.gif]


    That Andy Sneap C4 thing is like an internet myth. Everyone posts the same picture you do and every link gives a 404 error ^^ Thanks for the tip though, I'll use it wisely!

    Hi.


    I have a guitar equipped with a L-500XL in the bridge and I notice no excessive low end on high gain patches.


    Let me ask you this:


    - does the problem only occur when you reamp, but not when you play? (<- this is what I gathered from your post)


    popular candidates for similar issues:
    - are your monitors standing on isolation pads, or do they have direct contact with the surface they are standing on?
    - are your monitors rear ported and stand close to a wall or even a corner?
    - could it be that your room exhibits a standing wave that leads to the bass buildup?


    contact me via pm if you want to send me a problematic DI track that I will then reamp here, to see if I can recreate the issue.


    thanks.


    Thanks, Don. You're right, I don't notice this problem when just jamming, but when I play back, I hear this "woof" sound.


    That's a new perspective and something I need to look into. I'm in an untreated room which is hexagonal in shape. My Dynaudio BM5A monitors aren't on isopads, I placed them on a couple of thick reference books to get them to ear-level... They're rear-ported and about 2 feet away from the wall, but because of the shape of the room, I'm sure there's a lot of reflection going on. Not an ideal situation, but being a rented place, I guess it wouldn't be wise to attempt any structural modifications. Still, perhaps I should invest in a couple of those egg crate foam things and try to minimise the damage.


    I don't have the same problem when using my bass guitar either, seems to me that the pickup is "responsible", though nakedzen and lohworm's ideas are working well.


    I don't experience the same issue when listening to consumer CDs, I have a really nice record collection. Definitely going to PM you with the DI track, I can hear the issue on my hi-fi speakers as well and I think proximity between the strings and the pickup are the culprit. Those L500XLs are huge! Do you have the Wilde Bill Lawrence pups or the Bill Lawrence USA ones?

    thin foam stuck on the wall will do little to prevent bass reflection. typically people put bass traps in the corners of the room. for a flat wall you have to suspend them off the wall a bit, which is often not feasible.


    if you are really convinced it's the pickups, you could wire in a simple RC filter into your guitar electronics to serve as a high pass filter. I would think you just want a resistor and capacitor in series from hot to ground, but you'll need to do some research to find the right values. It's a REALLY easy mod, and you can buy what you need at Radio Shack for like $2. I'd get a couple different variations (cutoff at 70 HZ, 80 HZ, 90 HZ, etc.) and test them out.

    Another good man leaving... :(


    @ nightlight: if you don't experience boominess with bass and music programs I'd exclude the room as the main cause of the issue (provided that the plaback volume is comparable).


    I often play with my PUs' height, and actually the response in the low department changes dramatically with the distance (specially for the neck one).
    I'd definitely give it a chance, as much as it may be tricky


    :)

    Thanks for the reply, Don. I don't think gain comes into the equation, I recorded the DI track via SPDIF and there aren't any settings for input sensitivity on that input ?(


    I'm figuring that pickup height is the culprit here, thanks viabcroce. Probably need a little more routing to get those strings away from the magnets. Will also try wiring in some capacitors/resistors, meambobbo, thanks.


    Quote from DonPetersen


    I got a WildePickups one.


    ...
    I just saw on billlawrence.com that Bill passed away on November 2nd...


    Bill Lawrence passed away? Really sad news, he seemed like a great guy. I always felt a lot of joy watching him noodle away on the guitar at some of those expos. Really sad news.

    Quote from nightlight

    Thanks for the reply, Don. I don't think gain comes into the equation, I recorded the DI track via SPDIF and there aren't any settings for input sensitivity on that input ?(

    The level of the dry DI signal that is sent over SPDIF depends on the clean sense setting, so maybe check this again.My Häussels are really hot, but clipping the DI signal would still need a lot more output.


    Another trick that works nicely for removing unwanted low end is using the studio EQ in the "x" slot. Set the low frequency to minimum and do a miximum cut here (-18 db). This will probably not change the sound yet cause the frequency is too low. Then slowly raise the frequency until you begin you hear a difference. it will kill only the lowest frequencies while manting a good bass response for chunky rhythm sounds.

    Sure, I'll send you the rig, Don, it was the KM_Bog People rig from the factory presets.


    My input and output LEDs are normal when playing direct through my guitar, the input goes into yellow/orange territory, but doesn't hit red. The output LED stays green for the most part. But when I reamp, there is definite clipping at the input, it seems to go red a lot and I was compensating for it by reducing the output level of the DI track when reamping.


    That does look like clipping, silly me. Perhaps my clean sense is too high, it's about 3.2 right now, Was getting an optimal response from my guitar... Or so I thought I shall back it down and run some tests to see whether the issue is resolved.


    Great of you to help me troubleshoot, Don. Thank you again!