# Extreme shred settings ideas



## Apophis (Apr 28, 2006)

Hallo again  
I want you to discuss this problem...
What are the greatest EQ setings for shred like Farreri's, Cooley, Batio etc. 
I mean the bass, middle and treble settings. I know that depends what kind of amp you have got, but every amp I tried I always use that settings
Low 8, middle 2, treble 8. I think this are the best, extremly clear and lot of punch. I really hate lot of middle. What do you think


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## Chris (Apr 28, 2006)

I like scooped rhythms, but imo mids are very important for lead tones.


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## Drew (Apr 28, 2006)

This is personal taste, of course...

If you want a really forgiving amp setting, if you take your settings there and jack the gain way up, then you'll be all set. With a ton of gain, it's compressed as all hell so you can play with a super-light touch, and a mid scoop seems to make an amp's response a little more forginging - Mesa claims this, anyway, and they generally know what they're talking about. 

Problem is, of course, if you dial up a high gain tone with that kind of a mid scoop in it, as soon as you step out on stage with a bass (lots of low end) and drum kit (high end sizzle from the cymbols), suddenly your guitar just becomes white noise, as the bass and treble frequencies clash with the bass and cymbols respectively, and your tone is too compressed to have a defined, clear attack. Settings that sound brutal and clear in your bedroom suddenly just can't cut through the mix, and all your million-note-per-second solos are reduced to a pretty cool visual show, but nothing more. 

If you want a lead tone to cut through, dialing back the gain and boosting your mids is the way to go. It's not as forgiving, so you have to spend rather a while woodshedding to even out your technique so that you don't need the added compression to keep your notes coming out at an even volume, but it's worth the effort. Your solos will cut through the mix far better, and the woodshedding will pay off with cleaner technique. 

Remember, the guitar is essentially a mid-focused instrument - midrange is your friend. If you cut it all out, you're robbing the guitar of it's strongest frequencies, and leaving the ones most likely to clash with the rest of the band. If you need to scoop anything, grab a good EQ and scoop your lower mids a bit while boosting the upper ones - this'll give you a darker tone with a lot of focus that still cuts quite well.

FWIW, my current lead settings on a (very mid-heavy) Mesa Nomad are channel 3 Vintage, gain at 4, treble at 5, mids at 6, bass at 3, presence at 4. I'll scoop the mids a bit more (and switch to modern mode) for tracking rhythm, and generally up the gain a little too, but if push came to shove, I could get away with these settings for rhythm and lead in a live setting, with a little help from my amp's solo volume boost.


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## Chris (Apr 28, 2006)

Drew is correct. 

And as a guy that likes a LOT of gain (as D can attest to), you really do need mids.


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## Drew (Apr 28, 2006)

Chris said:


> And as a guy that likes a LOT of gain (as D can attest to)




 

It's true. I'm afraid of his 2101. Nothing should produce that much gain.


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## Digital Black (Apr 28, 2006)

the only way to balence a scooped mid setting, is to work out the sound with the rest od the band so it all melds nicely. Overall volume can help, but that's a dirty fix and can throw everyting off again..


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## Leon (Apr 28, 2006)

EQ is very amp independent, i think. what is your setup like?

personally, i've been scooping my mids lately . i seem to fit better in with my band that way. i think it's because we have a keyboard player, and he's playing in the same frequency range as me. once i started scooping, he was able to hear himself play


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## Nick1 (Apr 28, 2006)

I use alot of mids. The scooped sound its not pleasent to my ears. I dont like ALL mids but my EQ is usually 

Lows-7 
Mids-8
Highs-9
Pres-8

Gain 10 of course! 

Thats my lead tone. 

for rythym I lower the mids to maybe 6 or 7 thats it though.


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## Apophis (Apr 29, 2006)

Drew said:


> This is personal taste, of course...
> 
> If you want a really forgiving amp setting, if you take your settings there and jack the gain way up, then you'll be all set. With a ton of gain, it's compressed as all hell so you can play with a super-light touch, and a mid scoop seems to make an amp's response a little more forginging - Mesa claims this, anyway, and they generally know what they're talking about.
> 
> ...




Yes i agree.
Your knowlege is incredible... 

But I really hate lots of mids. Since i remember I use only active EMG pickups, so maybe that the reason....  But my ear can't stand lots of mids in my playing, but I like listen lots of mids in some other players playing.


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## Leon (Apr 29, 2006)

scoop your mids when you're playing by yourself to save on your ears, and during your band practices, turn them up.


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## Parka Dez (May 5, 2006)

I use an Engl Powerball. 

For my leads i used the focused mids setting turned to 3 o'clock. Treble at 4 o'clock. Bass at 12 o'clock and gain at 11 o'clock.

Similar settings for my rhythm but with open mids at around 4 o'clock. However there are alot of things you have to think about. Keeping the gain lower lets the notes so much clearer.


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