How do you EQ?

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

I have always adjusted the sound of my amplifiers by ear. Now that I deal with hearing loss, I find that to be an unreliable source and tone-shaping at low volume in my home studio is nearly useless for achieving a quality sound for performance volume.

I hardly ever use a graphic equalizer, mostly rely on bass-mid-treble controls on the amp. I never have used a sound spectrum analyzer either.

So one thing I have always wondered is if the scientific objective of equalization, beyond getting something that simply sounds good to my untrustworthy ear, is to accomplish precise equalization across the full frequency band. In other words, “flat” response of, say, 95dB from 40Hz to 6kHz. If nothing else, is that a desirable starting point in tone-shaping?

The reason I ask is, though I have never been a proper recording artist, I notice sometimes with some of the direct recording gear I use, that some notes will shoot the channel dB monitor into the +zone and others will stay in the -zone, even when I consciously even out my attack on the strings. So, my first response is to go to the amp or the modeler unit and adjust bass-mid-treble, even if I like the tone (I don’t like using compressors and limiters). Maybe I should be using graphic eq instead?

In addition to this, cranking the volume for live performance seems to destroy any warmth I thought I was creating at low volume. This is with both tube amps and solid state.

Anyway, just looking for thoughts and suggestions from experts and fellow novices alike on what your process is, and maybe how you adapt to crappy tone when it finds you in front of a crowd of adoring fans.

Frank Freniere · From: The First Coast

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Tone controls are designed to get the desired sound from an instrument or voice. In a well-designed sound system or instrument amplifier the common three band tone controls are enough to produce the desired tone from an amp and also to fit multiple individual signals together into a balanced mix at the mixer.

Graphic equalization was developed to adjust for anomalies between speaker systems and the spaces they operate in, to avoid feedback, standing waves, and losses due to interference from comb filtering. It is there to adjust the final system output to match the original input signal.

These two distinctly different operations are commonly confused and misused by those uneducated in sound system design and operations, and since every individual filter element contributes signal degradation it doesn't take much to take a dive down the rabbit hole of diminishing returns.

We choose our individual instrument, pickup, speaker, and microphone to optimize the sound we wish to create, and ideally if that is done well the tone controls will remain very near the midpoint on our amps and mixers, and adjusted from there for the most pleasing "tone" and volume. These should change very little from one environment to another, mostly only adjusting slightly for how our amps and speakers respond at different volumes or between reflective and absorbtive spaces.

My JBL-loaded Vibroverb almost always delivers "my" tone with the treble at 4 and bass at 6 regardless of the volume needed or what instrument I am using. My Webb is very similar, with treble at 4, mids at 3, bass at 8. I may tweak it a bit but by the end of the night I am generally back at these settings no matter the instrument or the room. This has been consistently the case for long enough now that I can address any issues with tone by tweaking the amp volume to keep my VP in the sweet spot.

As for losing "warmth" at volume, just turning down the treble a bit should do the trick. This issue has to do with with how we humans hear sound at different volumes, look up "Fletcher-Munsen curve" for more information. For this and other reasons "flat" tonal response of an individual instrument very rarely serves.

All this is to say that if you are having trouble hearing you are best served by sticking to your tried and true settings, pick that thing like you really mean it, and leave the graphic eq for the PA mix, which is where a flat response curve actually matters.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Thank you Dave! That answer is going to be my gold standard.

I learned about Fletcher Munson many years ago. I understand the effect, but compensating is often elusive. I wish I had that education in sound system design, but other priorities were higher on the list in my life. Plus, the hearing loss means that what I am hearing from my gear is not necessarily the sound I want going out to the average listener with good hearing. I have started “tonifying” with my nearly top of the line hearing aids in, which is proving helpful.

Also…Since my tone is never what I would consider terrible, the wisdom in “picking like you mean it” hits right where it counts.

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

My general observation over the years is that there are 3-4 zones that people generally address to get a steel guitar pickup sounding like good steel guitar tone. Whether it's a Webb, Peavey, Fender, P2P, Telonics, Evans, Quilter, etc. it seems that steel guitar pickups really roar in the mids, and that can be in the range from 400Hz up to 900Hz or so. I think the most popular region to dip away the excessive mid energy averages out around 650Hz or so. Even when a Fender amp is dialed in right, say how Lloyd Green would do it or Buddy or Hughey with their Revelations (based on Fender preamp), they turned the treble knob to where it set the midrange dip in this 650Hz ballpark. Then a healthy boost in the bass for fullness, but dial it back when playing with a band so it isn't covering too much bass territory. Then the treble has two main components; the aggression and bite in the 2.5kHz region, and it can range from 2-3.5kHz, the Fletcher Munson region. Pickups can have a peak there, so we address this region for "harshness". Then there's the sweet, sparkly top end, typically in the 5-8kHz range we dial in for clarity and presence.

The most important here I think is the midrange dip around 650Hz. And we dont' want to dip it all away, there's a lot of music in those mids, but we need to tame them a bit for balance and fullness. Then taming and setting that treble bite, 2-4kHz is critical for a "warm" tone. I personally prefer to address this treble harshness band by using a variable impedance (Vari-Z) control to dial it out at the pickup using a FreeLoader, Black Box or similar. Once my amp tone is dialed in, I find this vari-Z tone control to be the only tone knob I use thru the gig and depending on the song, how lush or aggressive I want it.

Brad

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Excellent notes Brad, your vari-Z method remains the most effective IMHO for controlling the high mids from the psg pickup. It is no mistake that vintage Fender amps have that ~700Hz dip built in, even the ones with three band tone controls. Fortunately we rarely have to do anything at all about the highs from 5kHz and up as other than JBL's nearly all instrument speakers available roll off rapidly above 3kHz, thus my comment on choosing speakers that best serve our needs without added eq.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Thanks, Dave & Brad. Those were exactly the kind of answers I was hoping for. Lots to think about.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

I believe I sometimes endlessly fiddle with the knobs hoping to pull something from the speaker that may not be there. When a balanced tone may suffice I keep tweaking in search of a better tone. Some days it sounds awesome while others are not so great.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

While I believe Dave and Brad are very accurate, there is another point of view , and it comes from a real world situation.

Point in case, I used a Nashville 112 for a bit, never liked it, always thought it was mid range muddy, no matter what I did.

SOOooo, back to basics for me. I yanked the the stock PV speaker and installed my favorite guitar speaker, the Fender Gold Label made by Eminence. Supposedly its parallel to the Eminence Legend series. I'm not saying its that cats meow of speakers but it delivers a profile that matches my wishes. I use these same speakers in all of my amps and cabinets. Its 50 watt rated/8 ohms

So what happened with the N112 ? The entire EQ profile changed, it was now very LEAN on the mids and I had to ADD some mid knob. Many argued with me, I yanked a 4 ohm and replaced it with an 8 ohm. What happened ? Nothing ! I didn't notice any level change one way or the other and I used the amp 3 or 4 times a month for over a year.

So the real world situation may be that the speaker in your amp or cabinet may not respond to any EQ changes that you desire. We may turn the knobs till the cows come home but the speaker says " No Sale " ! Very Happy

_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
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jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

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Larry Hamilton · From: Amarillo,Tx

When’s I was working for the BNSF Railway, we hadn’t to have our hearing checked at least every two years. One of the techs told us, me, that’s starting around 40 years old men start losing some of their mid range frequencies in their hearing. I have never tried to really compensate for the loss When I hear what’s folks have videotaped I’m still pleased overall That being said Steelers are always on a quest for tone. Just something I learnedly
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Keep pickin', Larry

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