General consensus for Comp & EQ before the amp?

K

Kaldeth

Member
Hey guys, I was watching an interview with Joey Sturgis the other day and he answered a question a viewer had that made me question my own patch builds. The question was, "With amp sims, do you use compression and EQ before the amp?" He answered with something along the lines of no and I think thats pretty rare. I normally put those on afterwards once its recorded. So I wanted to get some other opinions from you all on the subject to see where you stand with placing comp and/or EQ (if any at all) before or after the amp block in your signal chain.

For me, I've been putting a comp and/ or Parametric EQ block (depends on the style im playing) before drive or amp to level out the signal then shave off problem frequencies so that my amp only processes what I want it to. It makes sense to me, what do you all think about this?
 
I use Comp & EQ Pre & Post Amp Block. I use FRFR cabs, so when I plug my guitar into my Axe-Fx II I setup my presets like I'm going into stomp boxes > Amp > Cab > Mic > Studio Comp and EQ, so when I go direct into FOH I sound like a perfectly recorded guitar from a studio.

I use the pre Comp and EQ to adjust my guitar/bass pickup's frequency response and dynamics. I use the post Comp and EQ to smooth out frequency response and dynamics.

The pre EQ really helps with clean tones and what frequencies you want to cause grit and breakup.

I sometimes use a pre gate and set the threshold high and ratio low so I can increase my dynamics and go from clean to full shred with just the pressure of my picking. I then add a post Comp to even out the dynamics. Here's a post I made about it: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-f...body-who-wants-more-dynamics-pick-attack.html
 
GotMetalBoy said:
I use Comp & EQ Pre & Post Amp Block. I use FRFR cabs, so when I plug my guitar into my Axe-Fx II I setup my presets like I'm going into stomp boxes > Amp > Cab > Mic > Studio Comp and EQ, so when I go direct into FOH I sound like a perfectly recorded guitar from a studio.

I use the pre Comp and EQ to adjust my guitar/bass pickup's frequency response and dynamics. I use the post Comp and EQ to smooth out frequency response and dynamics.

The pre EQ really helps with clean tones and what frequencies you want to cause grit and breakup.

I sometimes use a pre gate and set the threshold high and ratio low so I can increase my dynamics and go from clean to full shred with just the pressure of my picking. I then add a post Comp to even out the dynamics. Here's a post I made about it: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-f...body-who-wants-more-dynamics-pick-attack.html
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I don't use a FRFR cabinet but I do monitor with some nice studio monitors and I love that idea of adding the studio comp + secondary EQ after the cab block. I will definitely be giving that a try! Also, thanks for that great pick dynamic trick, that sounds very interesting.
 
Kaldeth said:
I don't use a FRFR cabinet but I do monitor with some nice studio monitors and I love that idea of adding the studio comp + secondary EQ after the cab block. I will definitely be giving that a try! Also, thanks for that great pick dynamic trick, that sounds very interesting.
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Just remember when you add a post Comp, the Amp won't feel the same but it will sound like a recorded guitar which has less dynamics, so it sounds consistent in a mix. One issue I've had with post Comp is that it brings out a lot of string noise. I'm not sure why or how some people get more or less string noise.

Some people setup 2 lanes in the layout grid. One goes to Output 1 and is setup for FRFR and the other one goes to Output 2 and is setup for a traditional poweramp and cab.
 
I almost always use at least some amount of eq before the amp. On earlier modelers, I'd add compression as well, especially for light crunch tones to even out the distortion as the notes decayed. I find myself using far less pre-compression with the Axe II; usually none at all.
 
steadystate said:
I almost always use at least some amount of eq before the amp. On earlier modelers, I'd add compression as well, especially for light crunch tones to even out the distortion as the notes decayed. I find myself using far less pre-compression with the Axe II; usually none at all.
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I'm the same here. I have pretty much ditched pre-amp block compression.

I don't use pre-amp EQ. I use the tone stack controls of the amp block and the geq in the amp block instead.
 
If by "pre-amp EQ" we are including "Tube Screamer with the distortion at 0," then yes I use pre-amp EQ almost always.
For high gain sounds, I should add.
It helps me get in the ballpark of the tone I'm looking for before I start messing with the amp knobs.
If I'm recording I'll still have to get surgical with post-amp EQ but at least the pre-amp EQ has already done the broad paint-strokes to get me close.

The long and the short of it is that I've personally gotten better/more consistent/more natural-sounding results from pre-amp EQ than trying to make dramatic cuts or boosts afterwards.

Compression? Almost never.
But that's just me personally.
I've found that if I EQ things properly, I usually don't need any compression on the guitars, especially if it's high or medium gain.

Just some food for thought.
 
I don't use as much pre EQ or Comp as I used to bc I now adjust the individual pickup pole piece screws, so each string has the same output and so each pickup has the same output. I think of this concept as being similar to how you flaten studio speakers in a room. I use the pre Comp to smooth out when I use 2 pickups at the same time bc most of my guitars have a 5 way pickup selector switch.
 
For EQ, I rarely use pre-amp EQ (unless we count a drive block as an EQ) and rather use the amp controls to shape the sound.

However, compression pre-amp or post-amp offers a very different character for your sound, so you should definitely play around with that if you are unsure what you like more:


Compression pre-amp basicly increases sustain of your tone and keeps the distortion level of your amp proportional to your volume. Your amp remains "dirty" while the tone rings out.
Compression post-amp increases sustain, but the amount of distortion falls off much faster than the actual volume. Your amp basicly "cleans up" while the tone rings out.
 
I have stopped using compression in the afx signal chain at all, except for specific tones (usually 'spanky' clean sounds or no cab acoustic sim presets) that call for it. Compression is useful for mixing a track but it makes more sense to apply it in the DAW.

PreEQ is fun but I generally attain that effect with a drive since I can add level and grit @ the same time. Post EQ is awesomesauce use it all the time.

I love having all these tools available even if they get used sparingly.
 
As one of my favourite preamps of all time (the Mesa Triaxis) utilises pre distortion EQ, I cannot live without it on more traditionally staged amps. It really changes the feel. My general findings are;

Bass frequencies = can make the amp tight as hell or warm and flubby. The latter is great for really fluid leads in certain situations
Mid Frequencies = same effect as a tubescreamer, except you can control how much. Reducing these makes the amp sound more dry and percussive, more equals a saturated feel.
Treble frequencies = I typically run this control on the Tri model at between 7 and 9 depending on the guitar, but high settings are great for articulation and attack. Lower settings soften the attack and give the perception of less gain on the amp (with, of course, the opposite effect when boosting).

Very cool stuff!
 
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