IMO the only reason you use post EQ on guitar is to compensate for something that should've be fixed earlier on.
I find that a lot of people use cuts and shelving because they're trying to "tighten things up", when really they're trying to get rid of mushy frequencies and "woofy/boominess" or shrill, ear splitting frequencies. The best way to deal with this problem is to do it like any studio engineer does. Put a PEQ at the end of your signal path and boost the suspect frequency with a tight Q value. Scroll up and down until that suspect frequency is really apparent and then cut it by a few Db and open the Q a little. Don't ever boost good frequencies, subtract and cut the bad ones. Google "Subtractive EQ".
The Cakewalk Blog » Blog Archive » Subtractive EQ Part 2: Heavy Rhythm and Lead Guitars
Excellent advice here and I was doing something similar, by chance. For the few patches that I like to use, I save 3 versions of them......1) DI + Amp/Cab, 2) Headphone Noodling, 3) Desktop Monitors. Each will have a PEQ at the end of the chain to alter EQ for the different output device.
Steve
You mind sharing what your EQ curves are?
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It won't make any difference to you. Everyone will have differing resonant frequencies. It will be dependant upon your guitar (mahogany is "darker" than ash for e.g.) Darker guitars will accentuate the bass notes more than an ash or maple guitar. String tuning too. Lastly, there's the cab. All cabs have their own resonant frequency. It's that "woofyness" you hear when you're palm muting certain notes, but is not heard across them all. All cab impulses will have a similar resonance but they won't be identical, therefore using the boost and sweep method is the best way to deal with them.
M@ is entirely right in disagreeing with my previous comments. The point that I was trying to make was that boosting everywhere adds noise and the bad frequencies can't be hidden by boosting the good ones. Maybe I should have been clearer. Sure, once you've isolated and dealt with the mush, boost the mids or whatever to make things sit better in a mix. No one in their right mind would only use subtractive EQ, but it's the best place to start, instead of boosting everything but the kitchen sink, as a starting point.
Clark is used to blending IR's and not having to do a great deal of post EQ-ingto get a great tone in a mix. I wish we all had that luxury. He is kinda right, that is if the starting point IR is miles away from where you're heading, it would make more sense to choose a better IR than to spend hours tweaking and potentially adding noise and gain.
Of course, this is solely my opinion and I welcome anyone to edify me. I always find these conversations to be insightful.
Hey Rockeralex, you mentioned on the first page about how you think your tones are not mix-ready yet - are you at the stage of trying to use them in a mix at the moment? What I'm getting at is if it's getting the guitar to sit in the mix properly that you're struggling with then maybe it's not the guitars that need fixing...
I completely disagree with this statement.
Hey Rockeralex, you mentioned on the first page about how you think your tones are not mix-ready yet - are you at the stage of trying to use them in a mix at the moment? What I'm getting at is if it's getting the guitar to sit in the mix properly that you're struggling with then maybe it's not the guitars that need fixing...
Please explain why. You have a broad Q EQ section in the amp block and a narrow Q EQ curve as an IR.
Post EQ does not sound as natural as getting the right mic position. That's where you'll notice the differences when you start comparing between real amps. Simply put "less is more" is the best advice I could ever give on this forum.
Looking at these pics of people boosting over 3dB in post is a clear sign of something being so wrong with the guitar sound to begin with.
1) If you need to boost more lows than what your amp's bass knob is able to give you then you should've put the mic closer to the cab for the IR. Therefore you are compensating for a bad IR.
2) If you need to boost more treble or presence than what your amp's knobs allow you to do then you should've put the mic closer to the cap of the speaker. Therefore you are compensating for a bad IR.
3) Middle frequencies is where you are able to change the character with post EQ but it's extremely hard to objectively do it by yourself. You can easily take all the middle space (nor room for snare drum or vocals) or scoop yourself out of the mix.
But sure this all is based on a philosophy on how to get authentic and realistic guitar tones and I know there's a division between people here if that's the goal or not. I like to keep things "clean".
Referring back to your original questions in the OP, here's my 2 centimes worth...I suppose getting a good tone through FRFR is my first worry as I'd like to switch from cab.
Please explain why. You have a broad Q EQ section in the amp block and a narrow Q EQ curve as an IR.
Post EQ does not sound as natural as getting the right mic position. That's where you'll notice the differences when you start comparing between real amps. Simply put "less is more" is the best advice I could ever give on this forum.
Looking at these pics of people boosting over 3dB in post is a clear sign of something being so wrong with the guitar sound to begin with.
1) If you need to boost more lows than what your amp's bass knob is able to give you then you should've put the mic closer to the cab for the IR. Therefore you are compensating for a bad IR.
2) If you need to boost more treble or presence than what your amp's knobs allow you to do then you should've put the mic closer to the cap of the speaker. Therefore you are compensating for a bad IR.
3) Middle frequencies is where you are able to change the character with post EQ but it's extremely hard to objectively do it by yourself. You can easily take all the middle space (nor room for snare drum or vocals) or scoop yourself out of the mix.
But sure this all is based on a philosophy on how to get authentic and realistic guitar tones and I know there's a division between people here if that's the goal or not. I like to keep things "clean".