Guitar Tone Frequency Range Definitions

ucnick

ucnick

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Sometime last year I stumbled upon a thread, either here or on TOP (I think it was here) about the frequency range definitions of a tone or sound, like what are the low mids, mid mids, high mids, highs etc and their impact upon a tone. For instance the 12 or 13 kHz region was where "fizz" occurs, or something like that, I'm probably wrong. Anyway I neglected to bookmark it, so thought I would ask if anyone know of the location of the link/info? Thanks!
 
freq ------------------ pre dist -------------------- post dist

310 mud ------------- woodiness ---------------- thickness

620 honkey mids --- juice ------------------------ warmth, boxiness

1.2k nasal mids ----- harmonics/definition ---- proximity

2.5k biting mids ----- crunch/attack-------------- cut / cab size

5k presence ---------- sizzle ------------------------ harshness

10k air- ---------------- noise ------------------------- fizz
 
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There's rather little audio contribution up at 13k from a guitar/amp/cab, and if there is: its probably overtones of something lower that needs addressing. I typically use the -6db roll off per octave on the cabinet block somewhere between 4.5k (heavy distortion), rarely much higher than 8k (clean); and there is no lack of air or sparkle. If there is fizz, it is largely unaffected by these settings.

Do a frequency test with the test oscillator in your DAW to hear what 13k or even 10k sounds like. IME, "Fizz" is typically much lower: typically in the 3.8k - 8k range: overtones of distortion in the mid range. Run a recorded signal through the DAW and you should be able to pinpoint so called "fizz" using a narrow band parametric equalizer. It will differ depending on the pickup, amp and cab IR.

One man's fizz is another man's fuzz: Fizz is the nature of how some amps distort and speakers break up: If the fizz is deemed objectionable, and changing to a different amp or IR isn't an option, you may be able to attenuate it using the GEQ in the amp block itself. Otherwise, a PEQ knocking the target frequencies down a few db wherever in the audio chain it sounds best should get the job done.
 
Thanks. I do use something like the cab settings that I read somewhere are used by Cliff, like 75 Hz to 7.5 kHz. No insult intended, but I wasn't really wanting to get that picky about it, I had wanted to muck with a GEQ or PEQ block in some of my presets and to understand what are the effects of changes in those bands. I read the descriptions last year and they were very helpful but I have kind of forgotten the details. Hence the thread.

Thanks for the help and recommendations! It is all really helpful!
 
ucnick said:
I had wanted to muck with a GEQ or PEQ block in some of my presets and to understand what are the effects of changes in those bands.
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The best way to do that is to insert a Filter block in your preset, play a loop, and start sweeping the filter back and forth. In a few minutes, you'll learn things that you'll never discover by reading descriptions of sounds.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to read some of the descriptions, too. :) But even the EQ cheat sheets don't always agree with each other.
 
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ucnick said:
Sometime last year I stumbled upon a thread, either here or on TOP (I think it was here) about the frequency range definitions of a tone or sound, like what are the low mids, mid mids, high mids, highs etc and their impact upon a tone. For instance the 12 or 13 kHz region was where "fizz" occurs, or something like that, I'm probably wrong. Anyway I neglected to bookmark it, so thought I would ask if anyone know of the location of the link/info? Thanks!
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There's a (funny) pic on the axe fx manual about this, maybe you remember this:Screenshot_2018-01-15-10-10-26.jpg
 
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A learned a cool little study from a Dave Pensado youtube vid.

Take a song from an artist where you really love the guitar tone (or any instrument / mix really).

Loop it in your DAW. Then use a low pass and high pass EQ plug. Slowly sweep the low pass down and notice where instruments "disappear". The same with the high pass. Slowly sweep the high pass up until you hear instruments disappear.

This gives you a good idea of the freq ranges.

This would be both the tracking and mixing EQ, but still is interesting to hear. It's surprising how much high end you can roll off and not affect certain instruments.
 
barhrecords said:
A learned a cool little study from a Dave Pensado youtube vid.

Take a song from an artist where you really love the guitar tone (or any instrument / mix really).

Loop it in your DAW. Then use a low pass and high pass EQ plug. Slowly sweep the low pass down and notice where instruments "disappear". The same with the high pass. Slowly sweep the high pass up until you hear instruments disappear.

This gives you a good idea of the freq ranges.

This would be both the tracking and mixing EQ, but still is interesting to hear. It's surprising how much high end you can roll off and not affect certain instruments.
Click to expand...

Hey man, what video is that?
 
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