Sound/EQ Related Question

Hi, guys.

[br] Been long time since I bothered you with my questions, but been busy with work lately and also finding time to practice, but we fight on and keep rocking! :D

Now I have a rather general question, but before I ask it, here’s my humble and modest gear:

Shecter Damien FR-6S guitar

Orange Crush AMP 35RT[br] MXR Fullbore Metal[br] Marshall Guv’nor GV-2 Plus[br] Ibanez TS9[br] CryBaby Wah Pedal[br][br]

With that being said, and I have acquired some of those lately, I’m very overwhelmed with the settings and EQ and different sounds of all that. For example: I honestly don’t know what’s treble? Is it different from let’s say MID or HIGH? What’s LOW? What’s the frequency? How do they work all together? And the list goes on.

I mean I find myself staring at all this without knowing how to get a Metal, or blues, or rock sound. And the more I read the more confused I get. I read a lot that I should discovery the sounds that I like, but how can I do that without understanding how all those knobs -which are starting now at me making sarcastic remarks- work?

So.. help!

Hey, Jasim. Glad to hear you've been finding time to practice! :)

Originally Posted by: jasim.hd

With that being said, and I have acquired some of those lately, I’m very overwhelmed with the settings and EQ and different sounds of all that. For example: I honestly don’t know what’s treble? Is it different from let’s say MID or HIGH? What’s LOW? What’s the frequency? How do they work all together? And the list goes on.

Treble is high frequencies, mid is middle frequencies, bass or low is low frequencies. Each knob controls the amount of high, mid or low frequencies that an amp or effect adds or subtracts from the overall tone.

But, here's where hands-on experience is absolutely required: every amp or effects brand has it's own unique way of dividing or isolating the distinction between the fequency bands. And how it colors the overall sound.

So, it is very easy to get overwhelmed!

The best place to start is the rock course 1 chapter 5 where Anders demos the standard amp types & effects. Start at this tutorial & go forward.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1615

That will give you a good foundation understanding of what those knobs do. However, the rest is up to you to actually turn the knobs on your gear & LISTEN. Using musical gear is an endless experiment of virtually limitless combinations. Take your time, be patient, enjoy the experimentation!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel

Hey, Jasim. Glad to hear you've been finding time to practice! :)

Originally Posted by: jasim.hd

With that being said, and I have acquired some of those lately, I’m very overwhelmed with the settings and EQ and different sounds of all that. For example: I honestly don’t know what’s treble? Is it different from let’s say MID or HIGH? What’s LOW? What’s the frequency? How do they work all together? And the list goes on.

Treble is high frequencies, mid is middle frequencies, bass or low is low frequencies. Each knob controls the amount of high, mid or low frequencies that an amp or effect adds or subtracts from the overall tone.

But, here's where hands-on experience is absolutely required: every amp or effects brand has it's own unique way of dividing or isolating the distinction between the fequency bands. And how it colors the overall sound.

So, it is very easy to get overwhelmed!

The best place to start is the rock course 1 chapter 5 where Anders demos the standard amp types & effects. Start at this tutorial & go forward.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1615

That will give you a good foundation understanding of what those knobs do. However, the rest is up to you to actually turn the knobs on your gear & LISTEN. Using musical gear is an endless experiment of virtually limitless combinations. Take your time, be patient, enjoy the experimentation!

Chris, I genuinely love you, man.

You're always here for support and help, to which I can't be thankful enough.

Thank you for clearing this out. I'll definitely check the whole tutorial, once I finish your classes since I'm going over all your classes trying to strengthen my foundation a bit. But I guess I can check both at the same time.

Again, thank you for everything!

Originally Posted by: jasim.hd

Thank you for clearing this out. I'll definitely check the whole tutorial, once I finish your classes since I'm going over all your classes trying to strengthen my foundation a bit. But I guess I can check both at the same time.

You're welcome! Glad you are still working through the lessons. :) Have fun tone chasing!

Chris and I had nearly the same rig in the 80's and on paper, it was not great. Except both of us found a way to make a 70's era Peavey Classic with a drive pedal of some sort and run through a 4x12 cabinet, work.

The point, you don't start with that randomness of gear andget great tone without just twisting knobs. I actually enjoy that part. I mean, that is your answer. The knobs could say 'Butter, Cream and Milk' instead of 'Low, Mid and Hi', you still have to turn them to get a sense of what they do.

I'm not saying to sound overly direct but that is the reality. I used to be an pain in the butt at a local store in the 80's (awesome gear...) and they let me try tons of gear (to mostly get me out of their hair) but I did have a good ear for tone and they'd actually use what I'd say about gear they might not have the chance to check out.

Moral ofthat store is, I was trying out near gear all the time (and NOT buying, obviously).

Nothing starts better than just zeroing out the knobs of new gear and turning them until you get the hang of that pedal/gear. My two cents are: Metal > Chunk the E : Clean > Stum an Open G or D : Classic Overderiven Rock > Heavy Strum of First Position(s) E, A and Open G. Then use the open hand to just twist knobs. I would do these at modest volumes at first and learn the gear. Once you've got the hang of it, find out adjustments you need for higher volumes (cuz it does change).

It is overwhelming but I like it. And you have some solid gear.