Does anyone like 2.5k-4khz in guitars?

[Morgan C]

I swear to God I cut there on EVERY SINGLE MIX I do. It's just annoying fizz that collides with every element, especially the vocal, and sounds like crap. Even worse when using amp sims.

Am I alone in this, or is this pretty common? I usually have to boost around it to make up for it, but it seems to work. I hate guitars sometimes, they're so difficult >: (

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I usually find some nasty spikes around there which are taken care of with a surgical EQ, but when treated with a wider Q and a more gentle hand, the presence area can add some really nice bite and clarity to the overall tone.

 

[dcb]

hm, im actually quiet the opposite, i totally love edgy guitars that jump out of your speakers, but thats really depending onthe genre (as always..)
not really a fan of muddy and boring guitar tones...

 

[Soundlurker]

It's easy to get carried away removing what seems to be unpleasant but in the end is responsible for an exciting/agressive/defined tone. It's a very thin line between too much and too little and I've found that using more than 1 set of speakers really helps getting in the ballpark.

 

[Morgan C]

hm, im actually quiet the opposite, i totally love edgy guitars that jump out of your speakers, but thats really depending onthe genre (as always..)
not really a fan of muddy and boring guitar tones...

Haha, that may be why. I get awesome drum, bass and vocal tones and then all I want is the guitar to stop treading over everything else and making me turn the vocals up.

 

[Mago]

I think it depends on the amp/cab/micing...but I also have some cuts around ~3k on my bands album rythmsound I think
Ampsims is a totally different story...

 

[John_C]

I guess it depends whether you see the guitars as the musical focus in the band.

 

[Branden Giraudy]

I cut a bit of the 4k and 8k, and I completely remove the 16k. I think the 16k is what causes most of the fizz on my guitars either way. Now the fizz isn't an issue.

 

[DanLights]

now that you mention I seem to be doing that also all the time, I normally leave that are for vocals, keyboards and in some cases lead guitar so the rhythms are always cut down around there

 

[kev]

I've been cutting rhythms down at about 8-10k, filterting the bass off at 100hz and boosting your hated frequencies

 

[Harry Hughes]

It's weird that people take about a specific frequency range of guitars being annoying.
I can go into the "Rate My Mix" section and hear problems with guitar tones that go from the very lowest frequencies coming out of a recorded guitar, to the highest.
That said, it definitely seems that once the bass and treble regions are under control, it makes organizing the mid range content a lot easier because then you've got the guitar more where it should be, which is in the mid range.
While it's great to leave room for the vocals, perhaps sometimes you can spare a bit of the vocals and give the guitars some loving, ya know?
Just put it in the context of the song, the genre and the general vibe.

 

[Morgan C]

It's weird that people take about a specific frequency range of guitars being annoying.
I can go into the "Rate My Mix" section and hear problems with guitar tones that go from the very lowest frequencies coming out of a recorded guitar, to the highest.
That said, it definitely seems that once the bass and treble regions are under control, it makes organizing the mid range content a lot easier because then you've got the guitar more where it should be, which is in the mid range.
While it's great to leave room for the vocals, perhaps sometimes you can spare a bit of the vocals and give the guitars some loving, ya know?
Just put it in the context of the song, the genre and the general vibe.

I know, it's weird. I do a LOT of EQing to my guitars, but literally every single time I'm cutting somewhere between 2.5k-4khz. I've never had any say my guitars are weak or anything though, so it's weird. Even in the last mix I posted which everyone loved, which had a lot of focus on the guitars and there were no vocals to make room for, there were some serious cuts in that area.
I've never even liked what was at 2.5k-4khz on guitars, even in solo. It's just nasty.

 

[BassTard]

While I always want to believe, that there are no "goto" frequencies, my experience sais: Sometimes there are.
As for guitars, I'd agree with most of you that the area around 3,5 kHz is really crucial. It will make them cut through the mix on the one hand and it will cut your eardrum on the other. So I usually spend some time getting these bands balanced right.

I also witnessed that using Colins EQ guide takes care of the problem quite well.
Taking a closer look at it, he boosts frequency right above (4-6kHz) and below (1.5kHz) - and that often works great for me. (Especially if the recorded tone ain't that sweet.) Thanks to the master!

His simple post really saved my day loads of times, though I'm a classical "cut more - boost less" guy for most occasions.

 

[greyskull]

2.3k makes me cry

 

[Harry Hughes]

I know, it's weird. I do a LOT of EQing to my guitars, but literally every single time I'm cutting somewhere between 2.5k-4khz. I've never had any say my guitars are weak or anything though, so it's weird. Even in the last mix I posted which everyone loved, which had a lot of focus on the guitars and there were no vocals to make room for, there were some serious cuts in that area.
I've never even liked what was at 2.5k-4khz on guitars, even in solo. It's just nasty.

Shit, I missed that thread, just looking at it now and hearing the mix.
You definitely do hate that range huh?
You definitely could have still gotten away with more high mids on the guitars on that mix, and at least in my opinion anyway, it would have added a hair bit more aggression for that tech metal style.

 

[Morgan C]

Shit, I missed that thread, just looking at it now and hearing the mix.
You definitely do hate that range huh?
You definitely could have still gotten away with more high mids on the guitars on that mix, and at least in my opinion anyway, it would have added a hair bit more aggression for that tech metal style.

That songs done but I'll keep that in mind for the rest of the album. Not to derail the thread.
That was done with ampsims too which didn't help.

 

[crillemannen]

I usually hear a spike around 4khz and I hate it!!!! But the trick so not cut to much because then it will sound muffled. A good tip is to mix drums,bass and then make the guitars fit the into the mix without solo eq'ing to much.

 

[LeSedna]

Automation helps me a lot to solve fights between instruments.

 

[Emdprodukt]

I just wanted to start the exact same thread. Awesome. And I cut a lot between 4-5khz. Fucking spikes...

 

[Star Ark]

I almost always record distorted guitars with my sm7b presence switch engaged which boost around frequencies you dont like. Only eq is boosts at 8 k, almost every distorted guitar I do loves lots of 8 k.

It might be how i mic the cab. I'm always around the edges of the cone, if you are putting a 57 dead centre I expect you might have a harsh tone in the 3-4 k area.

Whenever I try lots of guitar eq the results are never good, I dont think distorted guitars tone can be significantly altered by eq and still sound natural. Well I cant do it at least...