Awkward guitar mid and smoothness

[AntonioPetrole]

Hey guys, I've been having trouble for a while with this.

No matter how I mic or set the amp eq settings, there is always this awkward pocket of mids (at least I think it is) lingering in my guitar tones. That and the initial transient on the distortion is very harsh/scratch as opposed to smooth and rich. Any suggestions? I'm losing my mind

5150
Cobra cab w/ V30's
Sm57

In this clip I have the mids at 2, high at 5 and presence at 4 (which is low for a 5150 to my knowledge) and I always get nothing but awkwardness. Halp?

Here is a clip of what I'm talking about, I just reamped this (sorry for such a scratch mix and low volume, I don't have anything on the master bus). You can really hear it in the last chugging riff

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2113488/deathcore rough.mp3

Edit: And yes, every post I ever make is on how I hate my guitar tones.

 

[infectdsniper]

try dif cabs. i know my marshall cab has a harsh high end so i normally use impulses instead because nothing i do will change it. 2 is a bit low for the mids. i would go at least 2.5 or 3. your gain is kinda low so i would compress is a good bit or add some more gain to fight that transient thing you are talking about. (probably compression and very tiny bump in gain though) but you also have to remember that the 5150 isnt exactly a smooth rich amp good luck!

 

[The StabbinCabin]

Subtractive cuts in the fizz area, different mic technique and letting the bass fill out those pockets.

I found that I liked using 2 mics more than a single mic. Gave emphasis to whatever I didn't HP/LP on the 2nd mic. I'd try that. But the fizz is what I noticed first.

 

[Mago]

try a different speaker on the cab, some are just bitches when it comes to scratchyness

 

[bryan_kilco]

Yeah I notice fizz. Sounds like too much gain to my ears.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Yeah I notice fizz. Sounds like too much gain to my ears.

If I used any less gain trust me it would sound like a shrill little fart. I'm really considering getting a new setup, I haven't been happy with a single guitar tone with this one. The tone is okay through the amp, I just can't capture it when recording though. I hate it

 

[AntonioPetrole]

And I used a bunch of subtractive EQ in this clip. HP @9khz, notches at 4khz and 2.5 khz. A dip in the lows and a dip around 800hz. I mean fuck. Also, everyone tells me to use the presence higher, but if it's fizzy with it lower that doesn't make sense. I'm really just trying to base everything off the sound now because for some reason the common numbers don't work for my setup

 

[JakeAC5253]

Sounds like you need to make the amp a little louder to make it smoother. There is a nice little sweet spot on the master that will smooth the high end and make the lows and mids more defined. It's a small little spot, but it'll be different from amp to amp due to pot tapers. Yeah I know what you mean about the low gain settings on the 5150 sounding thin and harsh, that's why I made a gain cut switch on mine That way I can get nice and fat tone with a significant saturation cut so it sounds more vintage when I want it.

I don't think 2 is low for the mids on a 5150, that's about par. The Presence knob is a bit too low for what sounds I get over here, I can't run my presence lower than 7 or it gets awkwardly dark and never fits in the mix right. Where are your gain/low/res knobs? Those have the most defined effect on the midrange (aside from the presence knob which is the biggest). Worst comes to worse it's probably the cab, if you've tried a lot of settings and it just always sounds like it's there, that's probably a cab issue. I do hear what you mean though.

 

[xx|fiend|xx]

try a different speaker on the cab, some are just bitches when it comes to scratchyness

^+111111111111

I had the same issues with a dual rec and wasn't quite happy with tone, same ass pitchy mids soudning almost metallic in parts. To make a long story short, I almost sold the head, but I ended up switching from the v30s and using some different cabs with some G12k-100s and some G12t-75s. I took the OD from off the front and pushed the gains and bass a little more on the head and too my surprise, it was all fixed!!!

Here's a BS quick clip, all RAW and no post processing except a limiter on the 2-bus, still a little mid heavy but I don't have that clank from the v30s anymore (forgive my shoddy playing lol):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43498223/MesaTest-LessBass.mp3
and here's one of just some freestyle Marshall running through the G12ks:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43498223/Marshall Gtrs.mp3

Probably still needs alot more but it's some workable tones....

 

[colonel kurtz]

Also, everyone tells me to use the presence higher, but if it's fizzy with it lower that doesn't make sense

spend a bit of time examining the relationship between the high and presence controls...i find with my 6505+ that sometimes it's best to crank one while rolling hard off the other, depending on the guitar and pickups

 

[Contra Studio]

Want me to reamp it for you bro?

 

[JakeAC5253]

Want me to reamp it for you bro?

+1, I'm game.

 

[xFkx]

Hey guys, I've been having trouble for a while with this.

No matter how I mic or set the amp eq settings, there is always this awkward pocket of mids (at least I think it is) lingering in my guitar tones. That and the initial transient on the distortion is very harsh/scratch as opposed to smooth and rich. Any suggestions? I'm losing my mind

5150
Cobra cab w/ V30's
Sm57

In this clip I have the mids at 2, high at 5 and presence at 4 (which is low for a 5150 to my knowledge) and I always get nothing but awkwardness. Halp?

Here is a clip of what I'm talking about, I just reamped this (sorry for such a scratch mix and low volume, I don't have anything on the master bus). You can really hear it in the last chugging riff

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2113488/deathcore rough.mp3

Edit: And yes, every post I ever make is on how I hate my guitar tones.

maybe it's just a question of taste, to me there is nothing wrong with this sound, I dig it a lot

reminds me of whitechapel's a new era of corruption


but if it's not what you're after, then I suspect the cobra cab might be the culprit

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Want me to reamp it for you bro?

+1, I'm game.

That would be dope! I'm doing this as a youtube video playthrough with stems etc. so I will give credit where credit it due. I'll PM both of you about it later today

 

[outloaf]

Where do you have your master volume? I can't make my 5150 sound good unless the master is at least 2.5 - it's like the amp completely morphs when you start pushing the power section

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Where do you have your master volume? I can't make my 5150 sound good unless the master is at least 2.5 - it's like the amp completely morphs when you start pushing the power section

Really? That's interesting. Alot of people have said the power section really doesn't promote too much to the sound. I have the 5150 combo that I'm running into the cobra 4x12 and I believe the combo is biased hotter, but I had the master relatively low for this clip, probably around 1.5

I have time this weekend to crank it as loud as I want so I will try to find the sweet spot and post back. I just finished tracking guitars for a different song like this last night so I will try to get it done tonight and update with a new clip

 

[mickrich]

Master at 3. The 5150/6505 looses a lot of fizz after 2.5.
Try this:
Bass at 6-7, mid at 2.5-3, resonance 6-7.
Turn up treble until you hear fizz creeping in then back off slightly.
Do the same with presence.
This technique works with any amp I have ever used.
Don't worry if it sounds dark. It's only because it was too bright before.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Master at 3. The 5150/6505 looses a lot of fizz after 2.5.
Try this:
Bass at 6-7, mid at 2.5-3, resonance 6-7.
Turn up treble until you hear fizz creeping in then back off slightly.
Do the same with presence.
This technique works with any amp I have ever used.
Don't worry if it sounds dark. It's only because it was too bright before.

I'm reamping an awesome deathcore song tomorrow so I'm gonna give that a shot along with the pink noise technique you posted (so glad you posted that). Clips tomorrow night!

 

[outloaf]

I've been running the resonance at 8-9 and presence at 9-9.5 but that only works with the master up otherwise it sounds awful.

 

[colton]

Master at 3. The 5150/6505 looses a lot of fizz after 2.5.
Try this:
Bass at 6-7, mid at 2.5-3, resonance 6-7.
Turn up treble until you hear fizz creeping in then back off slightly.
Do the same with presence.
This technique works with any amp I have ever used.
Don't worry if it sounds dark. It's only because it was too bright before.

this technique has actually helped me out quite a bit. cheers.