How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

F

Fatty

New member
Alright, I've got somewhat of a dillemma. I recently played through an Orange AD30, which I LOVED with my Tele.. but I'm not sure if it has enough low end (especially appearant when palm muting). As some of you might remember, I currently play through a Laney VH100R, which has quite a bit of low end chunk.. but sometimes sounds too sterile.

My question is.. how much low end do I really need in my guitar setup, especially in a band situation? (I'd say our music typically is on the heavier side, but not by much) It seems like for the low end palm mutes, the bass player should be able to cover the low frequencies that I would possibly be missing by going to the Orange. We're also considering adding another guitar player to our lineup who plays a LP Custom through a 5150 halfstack. I'm worried with the new guitar player that if I keep the Laney, we might sound too similar, and just kind of mesh together.

Any thoughts on this?
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

You need very little, depending on the music you're playing. Guitar is, and should be, a midrange instrument. Leave the low lows to the bass guitarst, and the high highs for the drummer's cymbals.
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

TwilightOdyssey said:
You need very little, depending on the music you're playing. Guitar is, and should be, a midrange instrument. Leave the low lows to the bass guitarst, and the high highs for the drummer's cymbals.
Click to expand...

+1

U learn this pretty quickly if u ever enginneer/mix recordings. If u have too many instruments/sounds fighting for the same frequencies, u get a really wooffy, muddy, sh1tty mix.
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

all the above being true, if you have another player in the same frequency range, you're going to emphasis that

btw - if its low end chunk you want - your next guitar with the black limba body and neck will have enough - especially with the p-90s
thick and singing at the same time
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

for my taste, the JB spits out enough palm muting chunk. the tone is not as fat or full or whatevery ou might call it as the custom, but it's got enough bass for me and a super tight bass response, which is what matters most. it shouldnt sound muddy at 260bpm ;)
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

Most guitar tones on albums have less bass than some people realize. Many times it's the bass you are hearing thinking it is the low end of the guitar.
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

How much bass YOU need is up to YOU. :laugh2:

But I will say that I find that most players use more bass than I like to hear and it's because when we play at home we're trying to get a full tone without a band so we get used to using more bass than we need onstage.

That tone we use at home won't work live with a rock band raging full tilt all around you...you won't cut through and you'll compete with the bass player.

Mud-city.

On the bandstand I never have my bass control on any of my amps over "4" and usually it's at 2 or 3.

More mids....less bass is my motto!

IMO, to many guys are afraid to use some mids and a little treble.

It's like when they get onstage they freeze up and want to hide a little bit instead of getting down and just blazing away.

If you're gonna get up there and try to rock and roll, then SAY IT LOUD AND SAY IT PROUD. :laugh2:
 
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Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

Lewguitar said:
How much bass YOU need is up to YOU. :laugh2:

But I will say that I find that most players use more bass than I like to hear and it's because when we play at home we're trying to get a full tone without a band so we get used to using more bass than we need onstage.

That tone we use at home won't work live with a rock band raging full tilt all around you...you won't cut through and you'll compete with the bass player.

Mud-city.

On the bandstand I never have my bass control on any of my amps over "4" and usually it's at 2 or 3.

More mids....less bass is my motto!

IMO, to many guys are afraid to use some mids and a little treble.

It's like when they get onstage they freeze up and want to hide a little bit instead of getting down and just blazing away.

If you're gonna get up there and try to rock and roll, then SAY IT LOUD AND SAY IT PROUD. :laugh2:
Click to expand...

That's more or less what I was getting at... I've been thinking lately I've been competing with my bass player in the low end and compressing my signal a bit too much with gain. Maybe the vintage-y ( :laugh2: ) sound of the Orange is just what the doctor ordered.

I'll keep you guys posted.. but don't be suprised if I come home with a new Orange. :smack:
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

Blueline said:
all the above being true, if you have another player in the same frequency range, you're going to emphasis that

btw - if its low end chunk you want - your next guitar with the black limba body and neck will have enough - especially with the p-90s
thick and singing at the same time
Click to expand...

From what I've heard of the Orange with the Tele, I'd bet P-90's would sound bloody AMAZING through that head.
 
Re: How much lowend is REALLY needed in a guitar?

Rid said:
^is that English??
Click to expand...

Yes! It's was just rooted in the slack-muthafu6ker dialect of the language.
 
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