[QUESTION] I'm having a hard time hearing the difference between different EQ settings on my amp, can anyone put the difference into words to help me understand?
I'm playing out of a Fender Blues Deluxe reissue with a MIM strat. I replaced the bridge pickup on my strat with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails.
I really enjoy these guitar tones: example one, example two
I assume that majority of the source of these tones comes more from the amp, pickups, and pedals being used. However, the eq settings do play a role, I know. Are these tones higher on the treble than mids? How can I tell? I've sat down with my amp and tried various eq settings on my different pickups with my tone knobs at different levels and can barely hear a difference.
Posted Apr 4, 2017, 6:41 PM UTC
110
I think the first step is to understand what EQ is generally. Any sound has a measurable pitch. This is usually expressed the way we measure it - in cycles per second (hz). This is the number of times the audio wave form goes up and down to complete a full 'cycle' in one second. Humans have a hearing range that is from about 20hz to 20,000hz. See this chart for general examples of what types of sounds live at which frequencies.
Applying this to electric guitar. We mostly live in the midrange. Maybe from roughly 100hz to 5000hz. Guitar amps can differ quite a bit in how they execute tone stacks. Using different value components or placing it in different locations in the circuit can have drastic effects. It is a main reason why Fenders sound like Fenders or Marshalls like Marshalls.
A common tone stack has a Bass, Mid, and Treble control. To hear what they do I think the best place to start is to setup a nice clean tone. Use whatever pickup you want on your guitar, just keep it the same throughout. Set your BMT controls to 0. The sound should be a little 'flat'. Now spend some time rolling each one up as you strum chords. Listen for how the sound changes. The Bass control will increase low frequencies around that 100hz range. This is usually described as dark or fat. You'll notice it most playing low notes on the guitar. Put it back to 0 and try the mid control. The sound will cut or become more vocal. This is changing frequencies in the 300hz to 800hz region. Same thing, back to 0 and try the treble control. I think this one has the most drastic effect. It controls maybe 1000hz and up.
A tip to keep in mind. They are interactive. Meaning if you set the controls all at 5, then you reduce the bass to 0 - you will perceive an increase in mids and treble. Their actual content isn't changing, it is just that they aren't competing with other frequencies for your attention.
From here it is honestly just about continuing to experiment and follow your ear. Find what sounds best to you and go for it.
Your write up is fantastic, but the Hot Rod Deluxe EQ controls do next to nothing. I've owned and modded several -- it's just a poor design choice by Fender to save money on a 'cheap production' amp.
My first amp was a Blues Junior. Now that I know more about amps I have often thought there are a number of glaring design choices going on there. Wrong taper pots, some suspect value choices of coupling caps or bypass caps or tone stack caps. Things that really wouldn't affect the cost of the amp.
Yeah - Fender isn't the only offender, Peavey still has a redundant tone-sucking cap on their input circuit to protect the amp from 120v pedals (a '70s problem, not so much in 2017).
I imagine Fenders thought process is something to the effect of save $1.50 / amp, then they save $750,000 over a years worth of production amps. Its trivial but it does add up over time.
thank you for taking the time to write such a reply. explaining how the bass, mid, and treble affect the hz and giving me a chart for examples of sounds at different frequencies connected some dots in my head. i will sat down again and try them all at 0, before i was trying them all equal in the middle and trying to hear the differences that way. i heard them, but they were minimal. i'll do this