Honky midrange problems with higain guitars

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Markus Esch

Member
Jan 30, 2012
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Hey guys!

Right now, i'm recording my first EP so far. It's a personal milestone for me and i want it to sound as good as possible.

Unfortunately i've good some problems with my guitars, the midrange from 800 - 1200 hz is honking around and it even changes with different palm muting positions.

Please have a look on the snippet, it's really nerve wrecking.



Is there a fix or workaround for that? Maybe i'm tracking the wrong?

Signal chain is ESP LTD MHB-401 (Baritone) Drop A# -> MOTU Audio Express -> X50.

I can upload some di's if needed.

I'd love to hear any advice on that; you really could save my ass! :)

Have a nice day!

Cheers,

Markus
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I like the tone you have, it's really in your face and present. What makes it that way is all the mids you have going on. If you want to keep it upfront like that I suggest doing the boost sweep and cut method that is mentioned on here a lot while keep the q narrow to preserve as much of the tone you have as possible.

Btw what are you using on the drums, they sound amazing.
 
Drop A# Really? It's not loud as fuck as I could imagine with this kind of tuning but your sound is pretty good I think
Yes I also like to know what you're using on drums
 
i dont hear a DAMN thing wrong with that tone. guitar is a mid range instrument, mids should be there. do you have a tube screamer on the amp, cause that will definitely account for honky mids, but honestly, i think your tone is great and i wouldn't change a thing.
 
i guess it's more a source problem here... and yeah, it's drop a#. drums are just a multiband comp and pre-eq, that's it.
@waav studios: it just doesn't sound as i want it to sound, but i guess this is because it's a 700 € guitar. and yes, i do use a tube screamer. thanks man :)
i'm not satisfied yet, but it's just a rough mix so far.
 
I don't hear anything wrong with that tone at all.

However, if it's too honky, your first stop should be the tube screamer - turn the tone down a little bit, it'll dull the range you're having issues with.

Alternatively, just throw a ridiculously narrow scoop in around 800 Hz, say -3db, and sweep it a bit until it sounds best.
 
well, that's interesting. i got a tone in my head and it's not like that one; there's still stuff that bothers me. tube screamer settings are as following: gain - 0, tone - full treble, input - full.
it could be the tone knob... i'm also not satisfied with the drum sound :D
i think, it's not sounding professionally enough yet.
 
That tone is nice. Like ashgallows said it's really in your face. I would only probably make the bass guitar blend to the guitars more. If you're looking for a baser guitar tone it might be that you actually want more bass guitar.

anyways. Great tone.
 
Markus Esch said:
i guess it's more a source problem here... and yeah, it's drop a#. drums are just a multiband comp and pre-eq, that's it.
@waav studios: it just doesn't sound as i want it to sound, but i guess this is because it's a 700 € guitar. and yes, i do use a tube screamer. thanks man :)
i'm not satisfied yet, but it's just a rough mix so far.
Click to expand...

Real drums I guess?
 
I understand if it's not the tone in your head. Ask yourself this, is it an eq correction issue or is it a broad tonal issue i.e. time for a different ir or a different pickup?

is the the multiband on the drums just controlling the low mids or is it being applied at multiple points in the spectrum?
 
If you're still not happy about the midrange, then:

A) Give the bass track more prominence. Like via the TSE B.O.D. with a bit more low-midrange and grit. And/or lower the guitar track volume slightly.

B) Use a different cab IR, something a little more scooped. Maybe blend that with the one you're using now. The Messiah #1 IR comes to mind, but there may be others.
 
Your guitars are definitely mid heavy, but I wouldn't call them honky dude. No one else seems to hear it either. You could try a little less gain and a bit of a dip in the mids somewhere. I'm not hearing any "cab thump" kinda issues on the palm mutes. Are you sure your monitoring situation isn't giving you some bad feedback? Is your space treated?
 
Markus Esch said:
well, that's interesting. i got a tone in my head and it's not like that one; there's still stuff that bothers me. tube screamer settings are as following: gain - 0, tone - full treble, input - full.
it could be the tone knob... i'm also not satisfied with the drum sound :D
i think, it's not sounding professionally enough yet.
Click to expand...

Tone knob turned all the way up is probably what you're hearing. I think your tone is fine, but that knob could just as well be labelled Instant Honk.
 
Ok, i'm gonna try a different tone knob position. It's a broad tonal issue; got no other guitar here for the record. Could also even be the IR, thanks for the messiah tip. The room is not treated and drums are ssd ;)
When talking about my room; my reference mic tells me, that there's a drop right around 1000 hz, this could also be a problem.
Sometimes the guitar is crowding the drums and i know where it's clashing, but when the riffing changes the "honkeyness" occurs at different frequencies, mostly at 400 - 600 hz. Maybe i have to use a dynamic eq...

Thanks for all answers so far, guys :)
 
Markus Esch said:
@waav studios: it just doesn't sound as i want it to sound, but i guess this is because it's a 700 € guitar. and yes, i do use a tube screamer. thanks man :)
i'm not satisfied yet, but it's just a rough mix so far.
Click to expand...
I think your sound is ok
Don't blame the guitar because of the cost!!!
If the sound isn't what you want, try to find THAT sound and compare with the sound you have because as I said I think it's ok
Of course try some EQ cuts with narrow q as said before but don't over do it and compare the diference with the eq bypassed (but with same volume) .
 
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