Need help sculpting my guitar tone in the mix...

[SimonSez]

This is my first post here, I've been a long time lurker but never registered or posted on here.

Anyway, I'm trying to record my guitar and I'm not having much success doing it. My amp setup is a Crate Blue Voodoo 100-watt tube head with a Mesa oversize 4x12 cab with celestion V30 speakers. I'm using a SM58 mic with the grille removed (which I read is essentially an SM57) going into a Presonus Eureka (modified) pre-amp then into a Steinberg MR816X interface. I use Cubase 5 as my DAW software. I also have a couple other mics in my collection including an AKG 200, Audio-Technica ATM25, Audix i5, and some omni condensers from Naiant.

So here is my raw guitar sound, 44.1kHz/24-bit wave file:
GTR1L.wav 5.7MB

I did some tweaks in Cubase 5 and I also double-tracked the guitars. Here is the end result in a mix, it just a tone test mix, not supposed to be good musicianship or anything:
tonemix.mp3 504KB

The thing is in my room the guitar tone is a lot better than in the recorded file. The room must be having a big effect on the sound. In the recording I'm getting the fizzy top end, which I had to remove by employing a 16kHz filter, and a boomy low end which I lessened with a 160Hz HP filter at 12db/octave.

Can you guys give me an helpful tips for sculpting the guitar tone? If you want to try EQing/processing it yourself then have at it, I wouldn't mind hearing some of your own attempts.

Thanks.

 

[SimonSez]

So I did some more tweaking and here is my newest mix with the guitars. I used the Audix i5 this time in a different position (1 inch from the center of the cone pointed straight at the cab). Here is the newest mix: tonemix2.mp3 652KB

 

[ahjteam]

is there a bass guitar yet or does the low end come from the guitar?

 

[SimonSez]

There is a bass guitar and I think the bass guitar might actually have too much bass. I have the guitars cut at 50Hz right now.

 

[John_C]

cut the guitars much higher. There's nothing under 100hz that you want for certain, that's the realm of kick drum and bass guitar

 

[Mikko Vainiala]

Hi,

Imo, you could try following me with this nice path, even my hand was shaky plus I forgot my glasses home :

...and after the big hill you'll find out the rest.

 

[-BIGRED-]

From what Ive found, a great tone can be found by first realizing what it is you want to hear in the final mix. A guitar can sound great solo'd but the frequency's can interfere with the other instruments in the mix. Pick your favorite EQ and spend allot of time messing with it. Dont be afraid to experiment. 1 rule to remember is its always better to subtract than to add. IMO an important part of the guitar tone is the bass guitar. Dont put all your time into the guitar sound and neglect the bass. Allow the instruments have there own frequency range. My only other advice would be to take some time and do a good mix, then leave and do something else for a while or even a day. then come back and listen to it. Does it still sound as good as it did before? could it still use some work? Its important to let your ears re-adjust every once in a while.

P.S. Good players, guitars, amps, mics, rooms, and re-amping doesn't hurt ether.

 

[Djabthrash]

Doesnt sound too bad to me. My 2 cents :

-drums are too loud

-guitars are a tad scooped, aren't they ? How about using more mids ?

 

[Behind]

Sorry for the noobiness but... XD what do you mean guys when you say "scooped tone"?

I've heard that a lot of times but I never get it. Is it too thin, too high in the mid frequencies, too thick... ?

 

[A Midnight Requiem]

Sorry for the noobiness but... XD what do you mean guys when you say "scooped tone"?

I've heard that a lot of times but I never get it. Is it too thin, too high in the mid frequencies, too thick... ?

A scooped tone is one with the mids cut (and therefore looks like a "scoop" was taken out of the frequencies if you look at a parametric EQ).

So if the tone is too scooped, it means there needs to be more mids.

 

[Behind]

A scooped tone is one with the mids cut (and therefore looks like a "scoop" was taken out of the frequencies if you look at a parametric EQ).

So if the tone is too scooped, it means there needs to be more mids.

Thankyou very much

That's very interesting from a linguistic point of view: I think I'd have never discovered that expression by myself!

greets and sorry for the OT

 

[reg3n]

From what Ive found, a great tone can be found by first realizing what it is you want to hear in the final mix. A guitar can sound great solo'd but the frequency's can interfere with the other instruments in the mix. Pick your favorite EQ and spend allot of time messing with it. Dont be afraid to experiment. 1 rule to remember is its always better to subtract than to add. IMO an important part of the guitar tone is the bass guitar. Dont put all your time into the guitar sound and neglect the bass. Allow the instruments have there own frequency range. My only other advice would be to take some time and do a good mix, then leave and do something else for a while or even a day. then come back and listen to it. Does it still sound as good as it did before? could it still use some work? Its important to let your ears re-adjust every once in a while.

P.S. Good players, guitars, amps, mics, rooms, and re-amping doesn't hurt ether.

gold advice