I like mids and I cannot lie.

[Gearjoneser]

You scooped fools can't deny...

I just got back from the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, and listened to several bands, none of which had a guitar tone that made a person's hair stand up on their arms.....my personal test for real tone.

This reminds me of people's evaluation of the JB. So many say it has a high mid boost they don't care for....when they're playing alone. I'm willing to bet that if a JB were in every guitarist's guitar tonight at that club, each one of them would have punched through the mix better, and not sounded washed out in highs with their bass absorbed by the bassist. And of course, the soundman has no clue about the EQ knobs on the mixing board he doesn't understand. Mids on the guitar channel can do more than a bump on the volume fader.

Mids are an important part of a guitar tone, maybe even the most important.

[Mr 9finger]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

This used to be common knowledge among guitar players until the down tuned single fret power chord metal took over the realm of good tone.

Still don't care for the JB though. Then again, I'm not in a band so it doesn't suit my needs lol. If were though, the JB and Custom Custom would be fitted in my stage guitars w/out hesitation.

[formula73]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

Amen!

[FuseG4]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I like mids, and I don't like mids. My amp is blackface reissue and my main axe is an ash strat.

The epiphone and the crunchbox however are plenty by comparison, and it's great.
Gotta have both. "all mids, all the time" gets old.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

And I just used the JB as an example, because there's a reason it's the number one aftermarket pickup of all time. It's got the same frequency bump a mixing engineer would go to, in order to make a guitar pop out of the mix. That's why it has the perceived effect of sounding better than almost any stock pickup it replaced.

But this thread isn't about the JB, but rather ways in which a "good guitar tone" with plenty of midrange is achieved. I heard a great tone last week when Seymour played a Diamond Series Schecter C-1 with Antiquities into a vintage Pro Reverb. The Antiquities had all the PAF midrange honk needed to inject mids into the mahogany Schecter/Fender Pro Reverb combination.

For many, it's mahogany, EL-34 amps, Vintage 30's, Alnico 2, etc. There's a lot of midrange options, when you have at least one of those included in your rig.

[d1dsj]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

Yeah I'm with ya Joe. With my amp/ guitar combos it seems that I don't need to be as loud as my bandmate. Also I generally don't need any or much boost for lead breaks to be heard. V30's work well with my amp too and I think this another piece of the puzzle and I never get lost in the mix.

[formula73]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I like mids, and I don't like mids. My amp is blackface reissue and my main axe is an ash strat.

The epiphone and the crunchbox however are plenty by comparison, and it's great.
Gotta have both. "all mids, all the time" gets old.

So you like being completely lost in the mix? J/k. He wasn't saying 'all mids all the time' but something more along the lines of 'eq-ing yourself at least somewhat evenly so you don't get crushed by the rest of the band.'

[astrozombie]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

my modulation stomp boxes are better understood with a tone with less mids than usual.

if i boost the mids they blend in with the guitar too much to be understood.

[AlexR]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I turned the mids on the tweaker up a while ago - sound the best the amp has ever been and I play on my own.

[philthis]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I agree, in the 90's I bought the boogie tri axis rack system. the cleans were great and the distortion was gainy and low. in a band with just a bass player and a drumer it was ok but I seemed to be fighting for the same low frequency as the bass player. we had no midrange pop. I slowly found myself trying to dial it in and also frequenting guitar stores to play el34 based heads to hear that glorious midrange again. all my favorite tones from my favorite players were like this. same with pickups, low scooped chugga chugga sounds great by yourself but in a band? alot of times it sounds washed out and buzzy with the cookie monster vocals. I like a more pronounced midrange now. I am going for the Bogner Twin Jet head now thru v30's 2/12 cabs and my next pickup is a duncan custom in my floyd rose strat with a maple neck. midrange? ya it is but I know how it will sound in a band. it will fill the midrange where a guitar belongs and I will leave the lower bass for the bass player. if I need a little more bass, I will just dial it in on the amp head knob.

[formula73]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I agree, in the 90's I bought the boogie tri axis rack system. the cleans were great and the distortion was gainy and low. in a band with just a bass player and a drumer it was ok but I seemed to be fighting for the same low frequency as the bass player. we had no midrange pop. I slowly found myself trying to dial it in and also frequenting guitar stores to play el34 based heads to hear that glorious midrange again. all my favorite tones from my favorite players were like this. same with pickups, low scooped chugga chugga sounds great by yourself but in a band? alot of times it sounds washed out and buzzy with the cookie monster vocals. I like a more pronounced midrange now. I am going for the Bogner Twin Jet head now thru v30's 2/12 cabs and my next pickup is a duncan custom in my floyd rose strat with a maple neck. midrange? ya it is but I know how it will sound in a band. it will fill the midrange where a guitar belongs and I will leave the lower bass for the bass player. if I need a little more bass, I will just dial it in on the amp head knob.

Agreed. One of my favorite modern metal tones is from Lamb Of God, and even in the recordings it sounds paper-thin, crunchy, and middy. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that you can HEAR it!

[JCM900MkIII]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

I've heard people complain about the JCM900 series that it sounds too "icepicky".
Those are people who play with their EQ set to "smileyfaces"... which gives me a "sadface"....

Also. Playing at home in your bedroom/basement (without a band) you probably don't have enough mids to cut through in a band situation.
Just add some when you play with a band.

Guitars are ment to be "in the middle". Otherwise play bass or synth....

[Zerberus]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

No mids, no soul.

However, teh logical conclusion opf more mids = more soul does NOT necessarily hold true.

Like all things, it can be overdone, underdone, and done right

[philthis]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

you guys alot of bands in the late 60's early 70's used midrange pedal boosters with 4/12 cabs. I have never done this. some people say its a way to really get a cool midrange gain thru a el34 amp or juice up a kt66 or kt88 based amp. I checked out Robert Keeley's "java boost" pedal for midrange bump and it looks interesting. has anyone done this? some say Tony Iomi from Sabbath did this with his SG guitar and its how he gets that midrange blast. you can hear it (but scaled back alittle) on Queens Bohemian Rapsody solo (Brian May) and it has a distinct tone. I wonder what anyone elses experiance is with a midrange boost pedal, anyone have one?

[astrozombie]

Re: I like mids and I cannot lie.

Zerb beat me to it, but: Can you have too much mids?