EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

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griff
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EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by griff »

I've only just stumbled across this idea and am curious if any of you fellas do this.
That is, eq the amp to the neck pickup so it's fat and clear, using it as the main rhythm tone, then when the bridge pickup is needed for cutting through, all that's needed is the tone rolled off.
I've always eq'ed my amp to the bridge and occasionally when I need the neck it's far too woofy and undefined. Hmmmm.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by dayl »

Interesting idea first thought is potentially making some bridge pups sound pretty bad. I'm interested in trying it out though. I guess eq for the position you use most.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by jeremyb »

Its what I've been doing with my strat, cause the neck pickup is where its at! The bridge does sound a bit shit but thats a strat thing :lol: so I roll the tone off on the bridge a tad, fattens up and sounds passable... Tom Morello only ever plays on the neck pickup so its pretty versatile.
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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by griff »

Yeah I suppose, although rolling the tone right off may fix it. I would use the neck far more if this idea worked out I reckon. When it sounds good it seems to sit in the mix better for the covers we play. I did read that matching neck and bridge pickups as much as possible helps a lot. Brightness, gain etc

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by Bg »

jeremyb wrote: The bridge does sound a bit shit but thats a strat thing :lol:
In that case, you're doing it wrong. Put a humbucker in there, blade, stacked humbucker :P
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by jeremyb »

Bg wrote:
jeremyb wrote: The bridge does sound a bit shit but thats a strat thing :lol:
In that case, you're doing it wrong. Put a humbucker in there, blade, stacked humbucker :P
I am tempted by the idea of having a humbucker in the bridge position, full size tho'...
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by griff »

Maybe one with a high bass eq

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by AiRdAd »

Stolen from the net....

"First, your volume controls do not just control your loudness, but also your level of distortion (‘gain’ or ‘overdrive’). If your guitar has modern wiring, lowering the volume will also reduce the available treble, as if you’d turned the tone down too. If you have 1950s wiring this effect is far less prominent.

Secondly, your tone control not only cuts your treble, it also reduces the amount of ‘space’ your guitar seems to take up in the mix. Turning your tone down can effectively pull you ‘back’ into the mix.

Enough basics. Here’s some pointers.

EQ Your Amp for the Neck Most of the time you’ve probably set up your amp for a good tone from the bridge. Try this instead and see what happens.

Turn all your volumes and tones up to 10.

Select the neck pick up.

Adjust your amp so you get a good soloing tone for that pickup.

Switch to bridge. This will be too bright. Ice-pick through ear territory.

Tame bridge with tone control, until you’ve got a good soloing tone.

You now have your ‘boost’ sounds. Now turn the bridge vol down (about 75-80%), until you’ve got a good crunching rhythm sound. If you have modern wiring you may need to turn up the tone a little at this stage. You could now play the rhythm on the bridge, and switch to the neck for the solo.

Solo on Bridge, cleans on Neck Turn up your bridge tone and vol. That’s your solo sound (ice pick and all). Turn your neck vol down to about 50%. If your amp is any good, that should be nearly clean. If you’ve got 1950s wiring, it won’t be muddy either. You may now play the intro to Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You on the neck pick up. Switch to bridge for the signature lick. Back to neck, or turn down bridge to 50-60%. For a more sensible bridge pick up sound, just turn the tone down a fraction to clip some of the hairs off it.

If your amp is good, it should be sensitive enough to clean up when you turn down, and also to clean up if you back off with your right hand an pick gently. Use both these effects to control your tone.

Middle positions

Leave your bridge in its rhythm setting, then switch to middle. Now turn down the neck to nearly nothing, then slowly turn it back up (to about 50%). Somewhere across this range you’ll hear three fairly distinct tones. It’ll start out sounding like the bridge on its own. Next, it will fill out (i.e. get some extra bass), and it might do this quite suddenly. This is a really useful sound for soloing, because it basically sounds like the bridge pickup, but it’s fuller and meatier without being in any way muddy. As you keep turning up the neck vol it will start to sound more like both pick ups. This can be sort of nasal, but quite good.

Once you get both pick ups to the same vol (~ 75%) you’ve got the classic middle sound. Many people find this a bit muddy, but if you EQd the amp for your neck pick up, you should be OK. "

"And:

Before I forget again, there's one thing about the middle setting that I forgot to mention. It’s a lot easier to use than it sounds to describe it!

If you set your neck so it’s basically clean (~ 50%), and then set the bridge to about 75%, that will give you the sounds-like-the-bridge-pickup-but-fuller tone. As I said before, that’s a good rhythm or lead sound.

From that basic position, if you want to get a boost, all you have to do is adjust ONE volume control up to 100%. Either will work. If the bridge, you get the biting sound, if the neck you get the fuller sound. When you’ve finished, simply turn that volume back to where it was.
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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by jeremyb »

^ thats exactly what I've been trying to achieve, PANTS EXPLOSION!!!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by griff »

I'd imagine it would take a lot of fiddling to get the pants explosion..

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by AiRdAd »

Nah - it's really easy and intuitive
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by quyet »

teenage me lived on the bridge
adult me lives on the neck

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by Reg18 »

I use both neck and bridge pickups in a set, maybe 60% bridge to 40% neck.
I EQ for the bridge pickup mostly and have a bass roll off wired to the neck pickup so I can dial out the muddy low end.
My other guitar I have the neck pickup lowered more than the bridge to achieve the same result, pickup selection is key for that though and might not be what you want.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by griff »

Reg18 wrote:I use both neck and bridge pickups in a set, maybe 60% bridge to 40% neck.
I EQ for the bridge pickup mostly and have a bass roll off wired to the neck pickup so I can dial out the muddy low end.
My other guitar I have the neck pickup lowered more than the bridge to achieve the same result, pickup selection is key for that though and might not be what you want.
Hmm this bass rolloff thing is a good idea. I might have to look into that.

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Re: EQ'ing amp for neck pickup

Post by Capt. Black »

[edited for a bit more clarity]

I've used the following method for years now. It may depend on the amp how well it works but I mostly use Non master volume tube amps so it works for me in all those cases.

I mostly use LP style, 4 control guitars but this applies for others too.

Set all guitar controls to 5.
Adjust the amp to get a sound I like. Somewhere that is clean enough but gets a bit crunchier if I dig in harder. Ideally, the amp should be up enough to give good overdrive when the guitar is turned up.
While guitar controls are set at 5, adjust amp tone to taste. Simple as that.

Now if I turn the volume up on either pick up I get more drive. If I turn down a bit it cleans up. I can quickly tweak guitar tone control up or down to get more cut through or tame too much brightness.
I don't bother with fitting bright caps to keep the highs intact if I roll off the volume. This method uses that tone loss to advantage. Doing the controls at 5 thing means the amp can stay set where it is and the guitar will get brighter as I turn it up, when I need it to most.

This works nicely for neck pickup because the amp is not being driven too hard so it doesn't clag up and get muddy. Stays nice and articulate. Because the neck is usually more resonant that the bridge (i.e. louder and thicker) turning it up full often gets a nice fuzz-like tone. But super easy to control by dialling back 1-2 notches on the volume control to get a nice overdrive.

For all out high gain drive or distortion, a clean boost pedal in front of the amp brings the awesome.

I also tend to lower humbuckers so they're not too close to the strings. That helps get more control and articulation. If the neck is too woolly, drop the bass side of the PU. Too dull, raise the treble side a bit. Worth a go. YMMV.

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