Members Christhee68 Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 Kinda hard to say w/o hearing it. Could be your guitar. Could be the eq settings. Could be your technique. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted December 21, 2009 CMS Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 You'll first need to decipher whether it's your guitar or the system. Any guitar will sound more muddy if you're playing fast strumming chords with it, and I tend to think this is what you're hearing. But confirm it by playing unamplified to someone and then add the PA. Compare notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members glepko Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 IMHE, and my gut agrees, this situation you seek help for is most likely the combination of a few things - Starting with the guitar: I recognized your Alvarez from the avatar before reading the post. It's beautiful, I played two of them before buying my acoustic. While beautiful and set up nearly perfect, that particular Alvarez sounds exactly as you describe - I found them both to be quite muffled and dull, the midrange was not what I prefer (not trying to insult your choice of instrument, just not my thing as much as I wanted to love it based on looks alone) As you mention, it is compounded when playing chords (especially bar chords with no open strings to ring out) As with most any instrument, some eq tweaks should help - however, IMHE, many open mic nights are 1) budget equipment 2) hastily set up 3) not tuned 4) run by someone most likely simply happy to be there to help that being said, even if the guitar channel is eq'd it's most likely set to a Tak or Ibanez which most all work well with the same eq (on open mic night without an engineer) The eq'ing for those standards (if it's not just BMT all set to 0) will only make the tone of your particular Alvarez even more non distinct. The eq section on your guitar is pretty helpful here though. Without being there and hearing completely, I would suggest AS A STARTING POINT: Slight boost to treble, roughly equal cut on bass, set the mid freq rather high (virtually full clockwise) and boost it slightly. You could also try to reduce some of the muddiness with the notch filter engaged and sweep from full counter clockwise through to middle which should sweep from 45 hz up through the midrange. Good luck here, again - beautiful choice in instrument, and unique, I hope you find a way to make it sound as good as it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 Strings? Type and age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 Strings? Type and age? Elixer Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze light. I've been using the same set for 3 months. They still sound nice unplugged, and the guitar really sounds nice through the house speakers at church. This particular open mic just brought to my attention the muddiness. I may be strumming too hard, and it could just be the guitar. I'll try all the above suggestions. Thanks for the help so far. I'll update next week after I go again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 Elixer Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze light.I've been using the same set for 3 months. They still sound nice unplugged, and the guitar really sounds nice through the house speakers at church. This particular open mic just brought to my attention the muddiness. I may be strumming too hard, and it could just be the guitar.I'll try all the above suggestions. Thanks for the help so far. I'll update next week after I go again. Ok, you might try new strings, and it's possible (likely) that the speakers/system at the open mic was not as nice sounding in general. You need to identify where the problem is before assuming it's the guitar (or any other component for that matter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whataracket Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Fresh battery in the guitar? If the battery is on its last legs in some systems it can affect the sound and cause compression and clipping. Poorly adjusted compressor/limiter on the guitar DI channel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 When you strum, you create more volume from the PA and monitors. Which is more sound hitting the guitar. Which adds mud. Put a "Feedback Buster" in the sound hole. It won't always help, but it is highly unlikely to hurt. Where you strum can have a big affect. Strum a bit up the neck to thin out the tone and keep it mellow, strum toward the bridge to thin out the tone and make it brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Elixer Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze light. Try a set of medium gauge strings. "Lights" really shouldn't be used on a dreadnaught, unless your manufacturer specifically states "light gauge". If the manufacturer says "lights", you may require a slight set-up of your instrument if you go to mediums. (truss-rod adjustment; piece of cake). Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 When you strum, you create more volume from the PA and monitors. Which is more sound hitting the guitar. Which adds mud.Put a "Feedback Buster" in the sound hole. It won't always help, but it is highly unlikely to hurt.Where you strum can have a big affect. Strum a bit up the neck to thin out the tone and keep it mellow, strum toward the bridge to thin out the tone and make it brighter. Ummm, unless I am misunderstanding something here, generally strumming closer to the bridge will thin things out and towards the neck will get thicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted December 22, 2009 CMS Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 Ummm, unless I am misunderstanding something here, generally strumming closer to the bridge will thin things out and towards the neck will get thicker. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 The eq section on your guitar is pretty helpful here though. Without being there and hearing completely, I would suggest AS A STARTING POINT: Slight boost to treble, roughly equal cut on bass, set the mid freq rather high (virtually full clockwise) and boost it slightly. You could also try to reduce some of the muddiness with the notch filter engaged and sweep from full counter clockwise through to middle which should sweep from 45 hz up through the midrange. I adjusted my eq to the settings you suggested and noticed a big difference. I think I may have had too much bass last time, which added to the muddiness. After I played, I had several people comment that my guitar sounded really good. Thanks for the tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 Its prolly something simple like the room was real live as in cement bunker. dial off the lows and kill the majority of the echo revberb. If the vocals sounded good the host prolly had those dialed in already. Go for the obvious before you start on the hard stuff. every room is differnt and even the same room can be different with a smaller or lager crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members glepko Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 glad to know you're happier with the sound - such a nice looking guitar! follow the string suggestions here and it should really wake up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 I adjusted my eq to the settings you suggested and noticed a big difference. I think I may have had too much bass last time, which added to the muddiness. After I played, I had several people comment that my guitar sounded really good. Thanks for the tips! Interesting point. Guitarists seem to love those big body dreadnaught guitars that have that huge warm sound when played acousticly but when amplified they almost always sound boomy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garageman Posted December 31, 2009 Members Share Posted December 31, 2009 Without being able to hear anything, try turning down the bass.then the midrange if that doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted December 31, 2009 Members Share Posted December 31, 2009 i'm surprised no one has mentioned the 'mic pre' as the issue :D :D cause we all know how much of a deal that makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 31, 2009 Members Share Posted December 31, 2009 i'm surprised no one has mentioned the 'mic pre' as the issue :D :D cause we all know how much of a deal that makes. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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