Monday, January 8, 2018

How to EQ dat bitch. and a HUGE rant. About Mr. Bastard

So, you have got a rig setup. You love most of it, nice guitar and amp [and hopefully you ended up with an Ibanez Prestige and an Orange or Mesa] that makes Trashed nice and happy, but there is a twinkle missing to what you thought. Just that little thing that you want to just fine tune. A little fizz here, fuzz there, or a really small spike somewhere that makes you want to vomit. Don't Worry I am going to make this a little less painful for you. You need an EQ. It's the EQ or Equalizer. They are friends. They are not food... but try one, and it may just give you a sweet kiss in the ass. Here 'Ya Go! 1. DON'T SCOOP YOUR MIDS. That is the worst offense by far. Don't jack up your bass. Big mistake. Watch your presence and resonance controls too while you are at it..
2. As a general rule across the board: nothing should be pushed past lets say 2 and 8 (if we are talking out of 10). BUT as any rule, some exclusions apply.
3. There is no rule saying that something isn't dialed in right if all controls are under half or over half.
4. Sometimes if you have a really trebley amp, you can turn the treble extremely low and compensate with a little more presence (I figured this out on my Splawn KT-88 Pro-Mod).
5. Vintage amps can be a little funny sometimes. One of my old Musicman amps I use all the time, all the EQ is dimed. It sounds better that way than any other way. Just don't doubt it until you try it. Although, I have tried it on a dozen other amps I own with less success.
6. Boosting an amp with an OD. EVEN the HIGHEST gain of amps CAN still benefit with a boost in front. Give it a shot.
7. EQ pedals. They are great, and sometimes you may even use two on one rig. I only get them that have a volume and gain slider for the OD effect, and the EQ part sculpts it in to where you want it. So you could use it with or without a boost in volume or gain. They can be placed in the FX loop where it makes momre of a difference, or out front to EQ your guitar tone. That is just EQ'ing for the guitar and the amps. The mixing and mastering is a totally different level. Which at this point is beyond my understanding to teach it all to you confidently at the moment.
Lets go for a rant:
Dear Bastard whom owns the shop near me,
I come in to check what you have once in a while. You are right up in my ass, mistake number one. Then I ask if you have an Ibanez Prestige.
Mr. Bastard said "I can order one for you."
I come back with a "No thanks, but if you ever have one in give me a call."
"Well... we don't stock them." that idiot says.
I kindly reply, "Well if you DO happen to get one in, can you call me?"
Mr. Bastard says, "We don't. but I will order one for you"
I didn't care for the tone. I said that if i wanted to order one i would myself through other resources. He gets pissy and I get crabby.
I say "I can order whatever I want right now I can order online, get a 15% off, 8% in rewards (i heart musiciansfriend dot com) and NOT pay taxes.
I didn't expect him to take that overly well... and he didn't. He gets all angry. I give him a sarcastic smile and walk out the door.
NOW... If he had a guitar I WANTED and if he would have been willing to take 15% off, I would have bought it IF HE WASN'T A JACKASS. Yes I would pay more to a local store. Part of that is that I would get to play it and know everything is good, and its less of a hassle.
Soooooo... what did he lose? a customer. He lost somebody who would run in there if they needed something. I am his best [maybe only] tremolo spring purchaser. Them bitches are $2 a pop.
I like heavy strings, and have a lot of guitars with tremolos so I have bought a lot of springs.
I dropped in for a slide emergency after my glass slide met concrete and broke.
I lost a bridge pin on an acoustic, so i bought some fancyass brass ones from him.
Those items are much more profitable for him over time then him getting pissy with me over the guitar.
Mr. Bastard, shove it.
_____
There ya go!
Trashed.


3 comments:

  1. What OD pedal would you recommend for me? I have an Orange Dark Terror, and I was either looking for the Horizon Devices Precision Drive, or the Seymour Duncan 805 overdrive pedal. I wouldn't be using it for anything other than boosting the input for a super high-gain tone.

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    1. I like the precision drive, i got my hands on it today at sam ash believe it or not, at this point it's a unique product. I like it but orange amps in general are loose on the bottom end and that is what the point of the precision drive is. The 805 is ok. If i were looking for a super versatile TS, i would go for a wayy huge green rhino v4.

      Of all of my OD pedals (30 ish) for my dual terror, over any other is the original MI audio blues pro.

      What kind of tone specificly are you chasing?

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    2. Thanks! I am mainly trying to get a very tight and aggressive gain tone; the dark terror does everything perfectly except tightening the gain to the perfect clarity and preciseness.

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