guitar and amp EQ Q's.....

[briefcasemanx]

Okay, so tell me if this is correct:

The tone control on guitar is usually a low pass filter, unless it's an active circuit.


The EQ on amps are usually fixed EQ bands, and with all controls at 10 it gives a flat frequency response, and turning them down cuts those certain frequencies?


......

I was always under the impression that having the eq controls up halfway was flat, and you could boost or cut each band, am I an idiot? A guy on another forum just told me this, and if true this completely changes EVERYTHING for me when recording electric guitars. Can other guitar experts here confirm this?

[brandondrury]

A guy on another forum just told me this, and if true this completely changes EVERYTHING for me when recording electric guitars.

I'm not sure why this would change anything, to be honest.

Back in the really old days, a lot of consoles had no markings. I'm talking about the days when a studio engineer was called an "engineer" because he had to design on the gear in the place.

The only reason we have numbers on our knobs now is for repeatability. If we take a week to get the magic tone, it's nice being able to quickly dial in those settings as a starting point.

Guitar amp settings are 100% subjective. Just twist the knobs until they sound good. Whether you are boosting or cutting is irrelevant. The only think that matters is whether the sound is what you want. I'm pretty confient that the phase shift and all the reasons we don't want to boost EQ's too much while mixing is thrown out the window when getting electric guitar sounds.

Just remember, that many people think (myself included) that most amps sound best when cranked to 10 where harmonic distortion is skyrocketing. To go a step further, Link Wray from The Kinks sort of "invented" distortion by stabbing a speaker through a pencil.

As far as the "flat" thing is concerned, also remember what speakers your guitar uses. If you want flat, plug your guitar amp into a studio monitor and see what that sounds like. YUCK!!

Now back to your question:

The EQ on amps are usually fixed EQ bands, and with all controls at 10 it gives a flat frequency response, and turning them down cuts those certain frequencies?

It's been 6 years since I've done anything with electronics and about the same since I've read up on how electric guitar amps work. I was under the impression that "FLAT" was everything on 10...just like a guitar. If memory serves me correctly, tone controls on the amp aren't all that differently from the tone controls on the guitar. I'm also fairly confident that there is no boost, just cut on the old amps.

I think this is why Mesa Boogie put the graphic EQ on their amps in addition to the usual tone control back in the day. I'm not sure if they were the first, but I know they were one of the first.

Some of my memory is coming back to me. I remember reading how the main difference between a typical Fender circuit and a typical Marshall circuit was in the order of the tone controls. The low came first in the Marshall, but last in the Fender. Apparently, this was the key difference in a Marshall and Fender amp.

Now, if I screwed any of this up, it's because I'm rusty or read wrong to begin with. So, I'm not 100% about any of this except for the first part, where this means absolutely nothing unless you intend to build an amp.

Brandon

[Kingpatzer]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

To go a step further, Link Wray from The Kinks sort of "invented" distortion by stabbing a speaker through a pencil.

Ummm lots of great info on this site, and I hate for a first post to start out negatively, but ughhh!

Link Wray was an increadibly important (and highly unappreciated guitarist) who never once played for the Kinks. He is most widely known for Rumble which he recorded on Cadence Records with his backing band "The Ray Men" made up of his brother Vernon and Shorty Horton on bass.

And while Link Wray has claimed to have invented distortion, the first known example of intentional distortion on a record is the song Rocket 88 recorded at Sam Phillips' studio in early 1951.

The song was written by Ike Turner and the guitarist on the recording is Willie Kizart.

[brandondrury]

Well, I stand corrected. I need to re-evaluated the history that has been passed down. Thakns for correcting me.

Even with my poor history knowledge, the concepts involved in the recording should be dead on.

Brandon

[icefire]

yeh flat response isn't what you want from your guitar amp! if you don't want to plug into ur monitors try turning the treble and bass down and middle up full...hmm, not good. ur amps job is to interperet the signal coming from the guitar as well as amplifying it, so flat response isn't exactly what you want, as brandon said. now i'm no expert (really joe? we didnt know!) but from reading this article PerformerMag : Services : Sound Principles: Active vs. Passive i reckon ur dead on right, passive tone stacks are subtractive, active have transistors, or operational amplifiers, and the *aha* operational word here is 'amplifiers'.
so the signal coming from the gain stages can be pulled to and fro, both amplified or not, using the op amps.

love talking bout amps. by the way wat exactly are you trying to achieve? finding ur tone is a balance between the slide rule and the gut bucket, so try not to worry too much about 'flat response' etc.

hope this helps...

joe

[Guitarded88]

Hey Briefcase,

The whole EQ thing you are right and wrong!

From what I've heard, there's two types of EQs, active and passive. I can't remember which is which, but on one the flat response is on 5 with cuts and boosts going the other ways, and the other starts on 10 and cuts.

[icarus579]

Originally Posted by Guitarded88

Hey Briefcase,

The whole EQ thing you are right and wrong!

From what I've heard, there's two types of EQs, active and passive. I can't remember which is which, but on one the flat response is on 5 with cuts and boosts going the other ways, and the other starts on 10 and cuts.

Active EQs boost and subtract. Passive EQs only subtract.