"Mid Range" Guitars

[bmast160]

what about electric guitars causes people to refer to them "mid range"?...the frequencies that are picked up by the pickups? and why are acoustic guitars referred to as full range

[bmast160]

...

[tlbonehead]

Depends on whether people are referring to their build and/or price or in the frequencies produced. As for frequencies, electric guitars are obviously a very lo-fi instrument. Lots of noise in the 200-4K area with a hump in the middle of that ordinarily.

[id-man]

Yes, frequencies.

Electric guitar amps cater to that frequency range too.

Amplified acoustics on the other hand have a very subtle midrange and sound awful through most electric amps - far better through a dedicated acoustic amp or direct to PA that has a lot of clean headroom to give their bass and treble spectrums.

[KoaFreak]

Ummm

 

 

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[bmast160]

are there full range electric guitars?

are hollowbody electrics closer to the the full range sound of an acoustic?

[tlbonehead]

 

are there full range electric guitars? are hollowbody electrics closer to the the full range sound of an acoustic?

 

Not through an electric guitar amp with the shaping of the preamp and the frequency response of the speaker(s).

[NotDead]

EQ pedals exist for a reason, you can extend an electric guitar a lot with that.

And using a bassman 2x15 cab, with a leslie speaker, saturated power amp, you'll get a very different sound than your normal electric, lacking that big midrange section.

Part of the beauty of a saturated(but not totally overdriven) tube amp is the fullness of the frequency range, which compresses based on pick attack.

On acoustic, an all mahogany dreadnought, with a mid-hevay flat pick attack, can mimick this, somewhat. Part of why I prefer a mahogany dread to a spruce top with a rosewood back, is that nice fat midlevel.

[NotDead]

bump

[inkblot]

Guitars generally play notes between bass instruments and soprano instruments (flutes/violins/etc). In a rock band the guitar may well be the highest pitched instrument however.

 

Frequency response wise, electric guitars and amps just don't produce much above the 5-6kHz at most, and of course nothing below whatever your lowest note is (standard tuning that would be ~82Hz). Trying to dial in a bunch of very high or low frequencies generally doesn't sound good due to the nature of electric guitar pickups and amplifiers. There are some amps that attempt a more hifi or full range sound, resulting in a tone that is both bright and has extra low bass. Some people like it, others will find they don't because it sounds unlike any standard guitar tone.

 

In a band, typically the bass player will override the guitar in the low frequencies (up to 100Hz at least). The real high end will be dominated by cymbals whenever they are being used, so if you have alot of highs in your tone it may disappear when the drummer hits the cymbals. This is why many people will say mids help you "cut through the mix" or similar sentiments -- other instruments are in that range as much, so if the guitar is, it will be easier to hear.

[bmast160]

 

Guitars generally play notes between bass instruments and soprano instruments (flutes/violins/etc). In a rock band the guitar may well be the highest pitched instrument however. Frequency response wise, electric guitars and amps just don't produce much above the 5-6kHz at most, and of course nothing below whatever your lowest note is (standard tuning that would be ~82Hz). Trying to dial in a bunch of very high or low frequencies generally doesn't sound good due to the nature of electric guitar pickups and amplifiers. There are some amps that attempt a more hifi or full range sound, resulting in a tone that is both bright and has extra low bass. Some people like it, others will find they don't because it sounds unlike any standard guitar tone. In a band, typically the bass player will override the guitar in the low frequencies (up to 100Hz at least). The real high end will be dominated by cymbals whenever they are being used, so if you have alot of highs in your tone it may disappear when the drummer hits the cymbals. This is why many people will say mids help you "cut through the mix" or similar sentiments -- other instruments are in that range as much, so if the guitar is, it will be easier to hear.

 

 

interesting...thanks.

[Maleficio]

If you want to be able to actually hear your guitar when playing with a band (bass guitarist with a 1500 watt stack in a bedroom, drummer with titanium cymbals, keyboardist with a 1500 watt stack in a bedroom) then you've got to play a Gibson SG. If you don't care about hearing what you're playing, or you're doing the bassist's job, then play a Les Paul.