eq'ing guitars during tracking or while mixing?

[MX582]

what do you guys prefer to do? eq guitars while tracking or while mixing (using plug ins or out board gear)?

also im looking to get a good (preferably 2 channel and 5 band) eq. the GML 8200 is nice as hell but alittle out of my price range. any suggestions?

 

[006]

Well it all depends on what method you go by when tracking. If you get all basic tones first and then tweak later with reamping (like I do) then it's a different way of doing it. At the studio I would loop sections of songs and guitar parts via reamping and tweak the guitars and drums at the same time on the DAW (guitars also on the head since I was reamping) until I got everything I wanted from both. Then I would start tracking guitars.

~e.a

 

[them][nstrel]

1. Get the tone "EQ"d as much as possible on the recording source itself.. Whatever that may be, an amp, a simulator etc.
2. Tweak the tones during recording just enough so you can tell them apart more easily and they're not competing for your ear.
3. Finalize the EQ in the mix, this is when you should listen to the guitars to make any necessary changes in context of the other instruments. If at all possible (like if you're tracking them clean and running an amp sim) change the tone at the source itself rather than adding a 3rd party EQ. This is so there is less going on in the signal chain, which is always better for the sound and also for computer resources.

 

[futurism]

to add to what the minstrel said above

I feel that getting the tone you need from the source is important because no amount of post eq will recreate something that isnt there in the first place
so scooping all the mids out at the amp head leaves you fewer options afterwards
The only reason I see to add eq before the tape/hard drive while recording is if theres something nasty in the signal you cant get rid of that is impacting your ability to get a decent signal to 'tape', for example when palm muting theres a loud buzz thats causing your input to clip which is way louder than the rest of the signal

 

[MX582]

thanks for the replies. yea what you guys are saying definatly makes sense. id rather just move the mic positions around to get a "natural eq" instead of actually using and eq during tracking.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

The way I see, your sound should be coming from your guitar and your rig. Any eq'ing etc. is about making it fit into the mix, not about substantially changing the tone. That's how I work anyway.

Steve

 

[cobhc]

The only eq during tracking I guess might be high/low passing.