Do YOU know how a guitar amp EQ works?

LastMantra

Sassafras said:

All amps are different so there's no magic formula.

ICBM said:

I find the idea of not using the full range of the controls quite odd. I don’t have any hesitation in setting any control to full or zero if that’s where it sounds best.

Mine only have bass and treble...but yeah, definitely this. Use your ears not what someone else tells you will sound best! 

And don't be afraid to use them (full amount)...that's what they're for!

edenfield99

I find it simple...all my amps just have one tone knob

thegummy

Philtre said:

Some people actually don't know what Bass and Treble are. I once sold an amp to a punter who wanted to know what the "Bass" knob was for. He pronounced it like the fish. I told him it helps to keep the guitar in Tuna.

Sadly, that is a true story.

He has to have been taking the piss surely.

Can just about believe someone didn't know what treble meant but he must have heard of the instrument bass.

Philtre

thegummy said:

Philtre said:

Some people actually don't know what Bass and Treble are. I once sold an amp to a punter who wanted to know what the "Bass" knob was for. He pronounced it like the fish. I told him it helps to keep the guitar in Tuna.

Sadly, that is a true story.

He has to have been taking the piss surely.

Can just about believe someone didn't know what treble meant but he must have heard of the instrument bass.

It is actually true. His words were something like "Bass? Bass? What's that for?", as he pointed at the knob. As I said, pronounced like the fish. Maybe he was dyslexic? He was certainly a newbie to guitars and amps. I do but report the incident. :-)

thegummy

Just watched a Youtube video where 6 top amp makers have to tweak each other's amps to get a good tone (then vote for the best and try to recognise their own amps).

Dave Friedman says that people might not want to hear it but there's no formula to follow, you just have to listen and use your ears.

Not only that but it's obvious that when they tweak they are just turning knobs and flicking switches, hearing what it does then adjusting.

Fez

welshboyo said:

So..that Matt Schofield technique - how do you do it - do you start with Bass Control (all others at 0) and find the sweet spot, leave it there and move on to the Mid etc etc or do you start with all at 0, find the sweet spot for each one, remember them and then set at end?

The way I was shown years ago by a Fender demonstrator was this:
Zero the Bass Middle and Treble controls. Set the volume and gain if you want it.
Play a first position open E chord and turn the bass knob until you here the peak where the sound seems jump into focus.
Then do the same for the middle control but play an A chord and for the Treble but play a D chord.
 That should give you a good basic sound which can then tweak to fit the situation. For instance you might want to reduce the middle in a band mix if you are playing rhythm guitar parts. 

sev112

For all of these methods, where is the Tone on your guitar while twiddling amp knobs. Is also halfway , or full on?

ICBM

sev112 said:

For all of these methods, where is the Tone on your guitar while twiddling amp knobs. Is also halfway , or full on?

Volume and tone full up. You need to hear the full range of frequencies from the guitar.

ennspek

thegummy said:

Just watched a Youtube video where 6 top amp makers have to tweak each other's amps to get a good tone (then vote for the best and try to recognise their own amps).

Dave Friedman says that people might not want to hear it but there's no formula to follow, you just have to listen and use your ears.

Not only that but it's obvious that when they tweak they are just turning knobs and flicking switches, hearing what it does then adjusting.

Do you have a link? Sounds interesting. 

bbill335

ICBM said:

sev112 said:

For all of these methods, where is the Tone on your guitar while twiddling amp knobs. Is also halfway , or full on?

Volume and tone full up. You need to hear the full range of frequencies from the guitar.

i tend to set it up so that 8 on the guitar's vol/tone is "enough", and i know there's more in the bank if i need it

thegummy

ennspek said:

thegummy said:

Just watched a Youtube video where 6 top amp makers have to tweak each other's amps to get a good tone (then vote for the best and try to recognise their own amps).

Dave Friedman says that people might not want to hear it but there's no formula to follow, you just have to listen and use your ears.

Not only that but it's obvious that when they tweak they are just turning knobs and flicking switches, hearing what it does then adjusting.

Do you have a link? Sounds interesting. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnRIWxCdU6I

LastMantra

This is the first time I've heard of techniques for settings amp tone controls. 
Weird. 

thegummy

LastMantra said:

This is the first time I've heard of techniques for settings amp tone controls. 
Weird. 

I think maybe the reason some look for a "technique", and still even search for one after many people say they just have to listen, is that they can feel overwhelmed by a lot of controls and might not have the confidence to trust their ears so they want set steps to follow.

I suppose it would seem easier if someone followed "after steps 2 and 3, now turn the bass control clockwise until the bass sounds like *adjective*". Then they're moving a specific control with a specific goal rather than not knowing which knob to turn first or when to stop turning it.

It really does just take time to get used to what the knobs each sound like though.

ICBM

It's remarkable how effective the technique of turning each control until you find the spot it does the most over the least turn is - I didn't believe it myself until I actually tried it.

It might not necessarily give you the sound you want - not helped by there sometimes being more than one point where the control does a lot - but as a quick way to get a workable sound and see what the amp inherently 'wants' to do it's extremely useful.

LastMantra

thegummy said:

LastMantra said:

This is the first time I've heard of techniques for settings amp tone controls. 
Weird. 

I think maybe the reason some look for a "technique", and still even search for one after many people say they just have to listen, is that they can feel overwhelmed by a lot of controls and might not have the confidence to trust their ears so they want set steps to follow.

I suppose it would seem easier if someone followed "after steps 2 and 3, now turn the bass control clockwise until the bass sounds like *adjective*". Then they're moving a specific control with a specific goal rather than not knowing which knob to turn first or when to stop turning it.

It really does just take time to get used to what the knobs each sound like though.

Maybe it's because I only have bass and treble controls...but I do still have pedals with tone controls. 

Rocker

Switch off the tone stack ['Cookin' setting on my Stinger].  Turn up the amp volume control.  Use the guitar volume control to 'adjust' the tone from the amp.  Even easier if the guitar has no tone control fitted [my Gibson Melody Maker has only a volume control, which is more than enough to think about].

PolarityMan

ICBM said:

It's remarkable how effective the technique of turning each control until you find the spot it does the most over the least turn is - I didn't believe it myself until I actually tried it.

It might not necessarily give you the sound you want - not helped by there sometimes being more than one point where the control does a lot - but as a quick way to get a workable sound and see what the amp inherently 'wants' to do it's extremely useful.

Thing is though a lot of amps now have controls that affect other controls, presence and deep being a good example on my VH4 but lots of amps have a similar idea like contour etc.

professorben

Funnily enough I once bought a Mesa Studio Preamp from a shop for an absolute steal, the guy in the shop said...” Yeah it says Mesa Boogie but it won’t do the Dream Theater sounds” 
I set it to the classic Mark series settings 
Bass 1-2 Mid 3 Treble 7-8 huge V in the graphic EQ and there it was, instant Petrucci (well tonality wise anyway)

 I’m guessing they had been setting it with everything on 5 and wondering why it sounded so flubby and mushy.