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Equalizing for 3 guitars?

#23
kleinenenten said:
Steve Harris of Iron Maiden would disagree! Also, guess who I'm seeing tonight... :)
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Several of my friends will be there. I have seen enough of my musical heroes in their various stages of "Old geezerdom" to not wish to see Maiden or Mr. Mustaine in this manner. I prefer to remember them as they were.


Will still be a great show though, I'm sure. Even if it is at Riverport, the worse place ever for a concert.
 
#25
Unrepresented said:
Yeah, but it's his band, and he calls a lot of the shots.

Most bassists don't have that kind of luxury to demand an out front bass, especially in a three guitar project.
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I like to think he's too classy to demand things. I mean, heck, the only reason they have 3 guitarists is because an old one wanted to come back and they didn't want to fire his replacement! Sounds classy to me.
 
#26
there were a couple bands here with multiple guitarists.
Super Conductor (if I remember correctly had at least 8-10 guitarists), Little Guitar Army has at least 5 guitarists.
it can work easily, why not? who cares if they share the same frequency range, as long as they play in tune and at a unified volume, no problem.
a symphony (and choir) has multiples of the same instruments, should the double bass player(s) quit.
lol, the fail is big in this thread, as usual.

to answer the op's question, just use your ears and don't worry about overlapping frequencies, they will make themselves apparent, adjust accordingly if they are problematic.
 
#27
I've mixed many a 3 guitar band, some were great, some sucked. Eq isn't going to make it good, what the players choose to play and when they play is far more important.
I'm sure Duke Ellington might have run into some static when he decided to have two bass players, but it seems to have worked out just fine...
 
#28
Floyd Eye said:
Several of my friends will be there. I have seen enough of my musical heroes in their various stages of "Old geezerdom" to not wish to see Maiden or Mr. Mustaine in this manner. I prefer to remember them as they were.


Will still be a great show though, I'm sure. Even if it is at Riverport, the worse place ever for a concert.
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Fair enough, but Maiden have never toured here since I've been a fan. And knowing their age, I may never get to see them if I don't do it tonight. So, I'll take "old geezerdom" Maiden over no Maiden at all. I saw Megadeth two years ago, and they weren't bad. But opening for Disturbed was a joke. 30 min. set, got like 5-6 songs in tops. Looking forward to a much better set tonight.

Guess when you're a fan of bands that started before you were born, you gotta take what you can get! I'm still kicking myself for not seeing Sabbath in 2004 (I believe) when they headlined Ozzfest and came through. Never get to see original Sabbath or RJD fronted Sabbath now.
 
#29
kleinenenten said:
Fair enough, but Maiden have never toured here since I've been a fan. And knowing their age, I may never get to see them if I don't do it tonight. So, I'll take "old geezerdom" Maiden over no Maiden at all. I saw Megadeth two years ago, and they weren't bad. But opening for Disturbed was a joke. 30 min. set, got like 5-6 songs in tops. Looking forward to a much better set tonight.

Guess when you're a fan of bands that started before you were born, you gotta take what you can get! I'm still kicking myself for not seeing Sabbath in 2004 (I believe) when they headlined Ozzfest and came through. Never get to see original Sabbath or RJD fronted Sabbath now.
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Well, truth be told, I would go if I could get the old lady to go. ;)
 
#30
...seems that if you had a balanced recorded mix of only the guitarists and played along at close to 'live' levels you might be able to start eq'ing your rig for a '3 guitar/bass mix' -of course live mixes and dynamics are different from recordings nonetheless it may be a good starting point. Either way it's going to take a bit of work and flexibility on everyones part to put the mix before any potential self interests. Good luck and have a great day.
 
#32
Floyd Eye said:
What? Dude, it absolutely is about EQ. You can arrange 3 different, complimentary parts and as long as no one has a clue about EQ, nothing you can do will make it sound like anything other than dog crap.
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if all three guitars are playing same part in lower register you can EQ it all night long but no good will come out of it.
all four instruments [3 guitars + bass] need lines written so nobody is stepping on other's toes. if that is the case - EQing is not the focal point of the band, but a tool for better presentation.
 
#35
Damn, in all honestly I never thought it'd be THAT difficult to make it work :/

The amp part is not really an issue at the time really. I can hear myself clearly and with good note definition since we all set the volume so the drums and vocals can be heard easily without the need to smash the heads or scream the lungs out. I AM planning on getting a 500 watts head (either hartke or GK) later on.

Yesterday was my first rehearsal with them and I did tell them we need to work together to get a tight sound from as soon as possible to avoid sounding as a big pile of poo. We'll meet next saturday and I linked them this thread so they know it is not just me being whiney or b*tchy.

Anyway I'd like to keep reading your advice and take on the matter guys!
 
#36
One way in which this scenario could conceivably work is if one guitarist played strictly rhythm ("...he doesn't wanna make it cry or sing..."), and the other two composed & performed lead parts - in harmony, ala Wishbone Ash or the Allman Brothers Band of back in the day. Done right, that could be very, very cool. :cool:

But same as with any other arrangement(s) for three guitars, it would have to be EQed - and arranged - very carefully, with a lot of attention to detail, and a lot of self-awareness and self-discipline.

I'm not saying it can't be done. But I am saying that I've heard very few bands that actually do it well - and that especially applies to all the run-of-the-mill bar bands that are out there, comprised of young and/or inexperienced and/or unprofessional players. :eyebrow:

MM
 
#37
makanudo said:
Damn, in all honestly I never thought it'd be THAT difficult to make it work :/

The amp part is not really an issue at the time really. I can hear myself clearly and with good note definition since we all set the volume so the drums and vocals can be heard easily without the need to smash the heads or scream the lungs out. I AM planning on getting a 500 watts head (either hartke or GK) later on.

Yesterday was my first rehearsal with them and I did tell them we need to work together to get a tight sound from as soon as possible to avoid sounding as a big pile of poo. We'll meet next saturday and I linked them this thread so they know it is not just me being whiney or b*tchy.

Anyway I'd like to keep reading your advice and take on the matter guys!
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you have a good attitude and it sounds like they do, that's the most important factor to begin with.
arranging the guitar parts, like having one guitar player only play the top of the chord, things like that will make a big difference.
it's more up to them, not you, that will determine your overall sound.
 
#38
makanudo said:
So I recently joined this band that has 3 guitar players. One has a Bugera trirec, another a peavey valveking and the last one a fender something (can't remember exact model but its 2x12 silver grill and all that jazz).

Anyway I'm going to get a Darkglass B7K and run it through the fx loop of my Acoustic B100 combo amp and I was wondering what would you suggest/do in this scenario?

I usually have plenty of mids in my sound, bot low and high mids are usually around the 2/3 o clock mark and bass and treble pretty much flat. However the valveking player loves his mids aswell and sets them at around 3 o clock too and the rest of the guys I'm not exactly sure.4

I am aware the best course of action is to see what they are boosting/cutting and leave some room for them and fill what they leave out but I was thinking this could be a good palce to start.

:hyper:
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My condolences.
 
#39
You're going to need more Amp (something drier - GK, Hartke, possibly a newer Fender), boost the crap out of the mids on it, and switch your bass to flatwounds so you can run plenty of gain and treble but not sound too clacky. Add a little bit of compression to your chain and if you're feeling really frisky on a gig with a good FOH - DI your bass dry with a mid-rate chorus on it, drop the level by about 5 dBs from your amp DI by the meters(you *are* running the DI, right???) and run both right up the center.

Peace,
Greg
 

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