EQ'ing presets for live performance

[giantslayer]

When you play live, your guitar actually sounds different due to the interaction between the sound in the room and your physical guitar.

I recently had an opportunity to compare my tone recorded live and recorded at home. All the settings were 100% exactly the same but there was a substantial difference in tone. I was able to get the home tone close-ish by turning up and tweaking the Gain Enhancer.

I would suggest adding some gain enhancer when dialing it in with headphones, then turning it down before going live.

 

[∞Fractals]

If the channel that you are plugged in to at the mixing board is set flat, use a PEQ block at the end of your signal chain or at least after the cab. In it, set a low cut of 125 (This will get rid of the boom and prevent your guitar from competing with the bass guitar), 250 Q at around 2, -3db gain (This will clean up the the bass. 3600, Q around 2, -1.5db to -3db. This will get rid of ice pick frequencies on the treble strings, (especially when soloing). Then a high cut from anywhere around 6000 to 10000. At home these settings may sound dull and lifeless in the bass, but should translate well to a loud PA. Again, given the channel you are on, on the mixing board is set flat. I have done over a 500 shows with my Axe Fx 3 and these settings tend to always translate well for me.

Super advice.

O/T: From your username I assume you’re into Joe Satriani? I’m not typically a “high gain” player… And I know that can mean different things to different people… But utilizing gain as Satriani does to drive legato, feedback, hammer-on, pulloffs, volume knob work, etc.…

Would you have any suggestions or a patch to emulate him à la flying in a blue dream or Made of Tears?

I wanted to get into these tunes and was thinking about building a patch, and perhaps something different than the JCM I think uses.

Dunno yet. I have a broken right hand at the moment (going into surgery tomorrow), so I haven’t fooled around with any particular amplifier yet. I was even thinking about the latest addition of the PRS Archean.

Any pointers? Many thanks!

 

[PBGas]

Why not let the sound engineer deal with eq’ing for a given venue and playback system. That is their job, to make you sound good. Just give them a good source material and they will know the tweaks for the acoustics, the playback system et al.

at least 50% of the time when someone tries to pre eq etc it just makes the job more difficult.

it’s like if your butcher seasoned all the steaks they sold to a chef. That chef then needs to deal with all the salt etc already applied and it totally throws off how they usually cook it, how much they season and with what spices,

Unless your always playing the same venue it’s unlikely you’ll learn the unique acoustics etc so don’t see how you’d go about eq’ing for some unknown variables

support your local engineer and maybe tip them or buy a few rounds for a job well done

YES...for sure. Not everyone has the luxury of a sound engineer! When we are playing live, that is my job unfortunately as well as playing. However, any venue that we have played in the past where we have the availability of a sound engineer, I just let the sound guy do his thing.

 

[666was999]

When you play live, your guitar actually sounds different due to the interaction between the sound in the room and your physical guitar.

I recently had an opportunity to compare my tone recorded live and recorded at home. All the settings were 100% exactly the same but there was a substantial difference in tone. I was able to get the home tone close-ish by turning up and tweaking the Gain Enhancer.

I would suggest adding some gain enhancer when dialing it in with headphones, then turning it down before going live.

A compressor should do the trick and I wonder where to place it in the chain.
Maybe at the input to emulate the feedback affecting the strings?
Maybe at the output to emulate the compression that the ears supply when it gets louder?
Maybe both than?
And when you add the comp blocks to all of your presets and you assign them all to the same external controller you can turn them on/off globally simply by changing ext ctrl start-up value.

 

[giantslayer]

A compressor should do the trick and I wonder where to place it in the chain.
Maybe at the input to emulate the feedback affecting the strings?
Maybe at the output to emulate the compression that the ears supply when it gets louder?
Maybe both than?
And when you add the comp blocks to all of your presets and you assign them all to the same external controller you can turn them on/off globally simply by changing ext ctrl start-up value.

The Gain Enhancer uses the Output Compression part of the amp block, but it is different from simply adding a compressor. It is a feature specifically designed for this purpose.

Here are the original patch notes describing it:

Added “Gain Enhancer” mode to Amp block Output Compressor. This mode can be used to simulate the acoustic reinforcement of a loud amp coupling into the guitar and enhancing the output signal.

 

[Zedhed]

However, any venue that we have played in the past where we have the availability of a sound engineer, I just let the sound guy do his thing.

IMHO, if you can't do this, you aren't dealing with a 'Sound Engineer'....you're likely dealing with a hobbyist. That's not to say don't communicate with the engineer.

 

[Budda]

I feel like a lot of posters havent done the diy thing in basements and very small venues lol.

Not every venue will be set up for every band let alone a fully digital setup. Just be ready to roll with the ups and downs of live playing.

 

[LiamH]

IMHO, if you can't do this, you aren't dealing with a 'Sound Engineer'....you're likely dealing with a hobbyist. That's not to say don't communicate with the engineer.

Do more than this. Make the engineer your best friend! Some of the "hobbyists" turn out to be pocket geniuses, but whoever they are, they don't meet so many musicians that behave like human beings. I'm always willing to try different DI boxes and move amps and mics around for the support act, the main act, or whoever else might be on the same bill. Or to go and stand somewhere and report back on whether the bass is booming or lacking. If you arrive at a venue and the sound man says, "Hey, how are you, it's been too long!", you just know your band is going to sound great out front. If you watch the support act and change leads or mics when they die, or lend them an amp when they can't get a great sound while they are sound checking, you seem to go down in history as someone worth working with. A bit of humility can go a long way.

My latest is, "I'm using a modelling amp, and mono FRFR. Do you want my feed in mono or stereo?" So far everyone has found a pair of channels they can pan L/R and go stereo for FOH.

Liam

 

[PBGas]

IMHO, if you can't do this, you aren't dealing with a 'Sound Engineer'....you're likely dealing with a hobbyist. That's not to say don't communicate with the engineer.

It’s never an issue if there is an engineer there. I adjust it to what sounds good and they go from there. They do their job and get the best sound for the band.

 

[dieter]

If the channel that you are plugged in to at the mixing board is set flat, use a PEQ block at the end of your signal chain or at least after the cab. In it, set a low cut of 125 (This will get rid of the boom and prevent your guitar from competing with the bass guitar), 250 Q at around 2, -3db gain (This will clean up the the bass. 3600, Q around 2, -1.5db to -3db. This will get rid of ice pick frequencies on the treble strings, (especially when soloing). Then a high cut from anywhere around 6000 to 10000. At home these settings may sound dull and lifeless in the bass, but should translate well to a loud PA. Again, given the channel you are on, on the mixing board is set flat. I have done over a 500 shows with my Axe Fx 3 and these settings tend to always translate well for me.

Hi Satch4u3
Tried your settings yesterday on a couple of presets and really liked the result. Need to listen to it again at rehearsal but I think they’ll translate well
Just wondering what is your monitor solution on stage?
Thanks again
Cheers

 

[Satch4u3]

Hi Satch4u3
Tried your settings yesterday on a couple of presets and really liked the result. Need to listen to it again at rehearsal but I think they’ll translate well
Just wondering what is your monitor solution on stage?
Thanks again
Cheers

Glad to hear!

My band and I are using in ear monitors.