Most Guitarists Don't Understand EQ - Neural DSP to the Rescue

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It's really helpful I think to visit the topic EQ commonly

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

[garycrosby]

Yeah, I was checking out the neural DSP email about EQ last night. It’s amazing how many guitar players don’t realize how important EQ is in band mixes, and especially with different volumes.

[michaelchampion]

Thank you John. I've never used EQ before now. Your video and the Neural Email will get me going in exploring this tool. Also, just want to let you know how much I appreciate all your videos and your playing is inspirational.

[davidsummerville]

Boring subject but so important and so often overlooked. Really glad you did this. Thanks

[ogmakefirefiregood]

Dialing in the Parametric eq on a modeler is FOUNDATIONAL to a great tone.

[jtrguitar]

And its all subjective, until its in a mix, and its still subjective. I play in a three guitar group, people have always given me compliments on how my guitar sounds, I attribute that to having a parametric eq and having a bit more mid clarity and top end "bite" as I call it.

That tone you have dialed in is stellar!

[EJej-zg]

EQ is indeed a powerful thing and it defines the tone of a plug-in or real amp (I mean hidden EQ stage that's not controllable). And you don't need all those plug-ins, neural models and so on as the REAPER has its own EQ (ReaEQ). Just an EQ before and after the hard clipper and that's how you could get your "amp" emulation (+IR of course if you're listening through monitors/headphones not through a guitar speaker). That hard clipper is the only "plugin" you'll need, I'm putting it into quotes because it is achievable with some really-really simple math, literally a single line in REAPER JSFX and that line would even include odd/even harmonics proportion you would get in a typical tube amp. So, ReaEQ > JS plugin with one-line calculation > another ReaEQ and you won't distinguish the result from, say, Marshall JCM800. REAPER has the delay, REAPER has gate, REAPER has a built-in IR loader and many other stuff. Plug-ins are convenient but not necessary at all, not many people realize this, they think emulating amp sound especially tube amp sound is some rocket science.

[michaelsilva]

Learning eq is critical! Eq for what volume you’re playing at as well., thanks for posting!

[c.g.vonhagenstein]

Now we need a video like this for compression :)
Not that I don't have a decent understanding of it, I just feel like it's another one of those topics that mystify a lot of guitarists, esp. when they're in the early days of their journey, and that a lot of your subs could benefit from hearing your takes on that topic. Including me of course.

[ghfdt]

EQ'ing can seem really boring but the difference it can make in expressing your playing and what you are trying to convey is massive. If you EQ right you can make your guitar sound like distant and gentle almost like a layer for a genre like lofi or Jazz. Then you can go the other way to making a guitar with just a mild overdrive sound huge, in your face full of rich overtones and a presence you cant ignore.

[KeithMilner]

I suggest using a Parametric EQ rather than a graphical one. It may not be as Immediately intuitive, but they typically give more control.

With a Parametric EQ, you set the centre frequency of each band. So, if you want to target 3kHz, rather than being stuck with a 2kHz and 4kHz slider, you can set the band to 3kHz (or any other frequency) exactly.

With a Parametric EQ, you can also adjust the width of the band (known as "Q") which is also useful for targeting specific problem areas. The width of the bands on graphic EQs are fixed.

With Parametric EQs you can do clever things like put a band in with a big boost or cut and a fairly narrow width, and then sweep the frequency around the range you are interested in to zone in on problem areas.

As an example, when I have done sound for some local bands, the mixer I use has a real-time analyser and parametric EQ. I can turn up the mic gains on the vocal mics until they start to feed back, which shows up as an increasing spike on a specific frequency. I can then grab that frequency and pull it way down, with a narrow Q to eliminate the feedback without impacting the rest of the audio (this is often called "ringing out" the monitors).

Similar techniques can be used for guitar to target the areas described in the Neural email.

The Studio Rats have done a couple of good YT videos about using EQ, especially on the Boss Katana (which has pretty powerful EQ capability). Look for "Boss Katana TONE TRICKS - Parametric EQ"

[davidriggs]

The trouble with boosting low frequencies especially when recording you increase energy that will cause cause issues with overloading a mix even if you can't hear much. High pass filters are useful here. Also you need to pay attention to the Q. This is important when using a parametric eq. Graphic eqs are not always that useful as you don't have control of the width (Q) of the frequencies being boosted or cut. I find the most important frequencies for guitars are 600 to 800. Use parametric eqs and learn how to use the Q (Width) control.
The shelving you are talking about is High Pass (low end cut off) or Low pass (High End Cut off) filters.

[slates]

Saw this blog from Neural and its very useful. Great video as always Jon

[darwinsaye]

I don’t really find it boring or difficult to understand at all. For a tone fanatic like me, it’s essential and extremely powerful. If I were starting my guitar journey again for the first time, the very first effects I would buy would be a good multi-band parametric EQ (with Q controls) and a fully featured compressor.

[dbt]

Good one! I picked up a GFI System ENIEQMA equalizer pedal and it's pretty amazing. I like having the EQ control on the pedal board and also using plugins to continue tone shaping as things pass down the chain.

[MaPa]

Yeah, these general bands doesn't make much sense for guitars, do they? We need 80hz for fundamentals/ sit with the kick, 120hz to make guitars sit with the bass, 350hz to dip mud, 800hz again to mix with the bass, 1, 5khz to mix with the bass, 2khz to dip under male vocals, and 3khz to sit with female vocals. The EQ options here can cause more problems than they solve, but fortunately we have other EQs in a DAW.

[logangrzesiek]

Got the email from them and immediately thought of you - thanks for the vid! Helped a ton, since I don't record much and am often overwhelmed

[modusceo]

You have no idea how much I needed this video 😂 trying to get really good tones out of logic and I understand pretty basic EQ, but it always just sounds flat to me

[jjnolan]

Outstanding episode. Thank you for this great explanation and demo. 👍

[dougbooth]

I never really paid much attention to (or understood) EQ until I started using a Helix. Playing around with the Helix has allowed me to mess around with EQ and find out what different frequencies do. One piece of advice I read, about sculpting a tone - if you are using something like a 10 band EQ and you are not sure what each value will do to the sound, turn each frequency up all the way, one at a time. Do you like that sound or is it bad to your ears? One trick I use all the time on the Helix is to use the bass and treble cutoff frequencies on the speaker cabs. Can make a huge difference.

[CRP]

Hey John! Excellent demonstration. This is a more "Adult" topic. I liked to use an MXR 10 band EQ with my Bassman to tune the room or to adjust my Dirt sounds.. Thanks!