EQ frequencies?

[Hank Grizzly]

Hey, i'm making a 4 band tube eq for guitar, and was wondering what frequencies I should put them at.
If it makes any difference, I was gonna play my sg through the eq and reverb, sometimes clean sometimes with arbiter fuzz or ehx muff, into a fender champ 600. I mainly play surf, jazz and garage/psyche.

[Hank Grizzly]

Re: EQ frequencies?

Also, is there any point in making it a 4 band, or shall I just make it a 3 band?

[Sanford]

Re: EQ frequencies?

I guess it depends on how much control you want over the sound. Being able to tweak individual frequencies in a wider range will let you boost or cut in a more precise manner than, say, adjusting "the highs" or "the mids" etc.

There's a few pedal DIY sites that might be able to give you a better perspective on the specifics.

[Warheart]

Re: EQ frequencies?

Why not have 4 bands, and have the two middle with adjustable sweep and Q?

[DankStar]

Re: EQ frequencies?

dunno, but sounds like a cool project!

[Hellion]

Re: EQ frequencies?

Why not have 4 bands, and have the two middle with adjustable sweep and Q?

The best sound I ever got with my "wife" SG was through a parametric EQ into a Fender amp with a Roland Space Echo. It just killed.

[SlyFoxx]

Re: EQ frequencies?

110 = low end punch
350 = mud zone frequencies...usually you want to cut here and not add. A little either way goes a long way.
2200 = upper mids...a good place to help your sound cut through a mix
4200 = treble...adds "air" to the sound. Glass to a clean sound. Sizzle to distorted sounds.

Peaking filters with a Q to span 2/3 an octave for the two upper frequencies and about half an octave for the two lower frequencies.

I'd suggest (if you can) getting access to a decent mixing console and experiment with the eq on various guitar tracks. That will give you some immediate feedback as to what the numbers mean in terms of changes to the sound.

[mwalluk]

Re: EQ frequencies?

Maybe add a prescence/volume boost knob in addition to the volume knob. This way it could be used as a boost for leads.

[GuitarStv]

Re: EQ frequencies?

110 = low end punch
350 = mud zone frequencies...usually you want to cut here and not add. A little either way goes a long way.
2200 = upper mids...a good place to help your sound cut through a mix
4200 = treble...adds "air" to the sound. Glass to a clean sound. Sizzle to distorted sounds.

Peaking filters with a Q to span 2/3 an octave for the two upper frequencies and about half an octave for the two lower frequencies.

I'd suggest (if you can) getting access to a decent mixing console and experiment with the eq on various guitar tracks. That will give you some immediate feedback as to what the numbers mean in terms of changes to the sound.

+1

This is the way that I've always seen it. Around 2KHz seems to be the most important frequency to mess around with for guitar playing. It can change a guitar sound from hard to hear to jumping right out, and from overbearing to sitting just right.