EQ and Wood

[jalevinemd]

Very recently I began using the Line 6 Helix LT. I just had my first rehearsal with it yesterday and have my first gig with it next weekend. The most tedious part of getting started was recreating the 50 song presets I had in my other hybrid analog/digital rig. When I programmed all of the new song presets, I did with one of my non-Alembic guitars, mostly because our next gig is  outdoors. This particular guitar is a Charvel Guthrie Govan with a roasted Ash body and roasted maple neck. Obviously when I played the songs on one of my Alembics and then on a Les Paul and Wolf replica, the tone was quite different.

The unit has a global EQ with Freq, Q and Gain settings for low, medium and high. Has anyone ever come across a rough recipe for how one would go about changing those parameters depending on the wood recipe of a particular guitar? In other words, if you wanted a more uniform sound from different guitars running into one of these digital units, how would you go about adjusting the EQ (parametric, 5 band, 10 band, etc...) to compensate for the brighter or darker woods?




Freq, [/size][size=78%]Q, Gain[/size]

[lbpesq]

I’m not sure I understand what you are trying to accomplish, Doc.  Are you trying to make the different guitars all sound the same, or similar, once they go through your processor?   Regardless, I would suspect there are other variables among the various guitars that have more impact on the difference in their sounds than the wood recipe.   I would think the pickups have a LOT to do with the tone of each guitar.   And there is unquestionably the “X” factor.  Each guitar has its own soul.  Two of the same model with the same wood recipe can sound different.  I’ve never tried a Helix and know little about them, but I’m surprised it doesn’t let you set it up for more than one guitar.

If you want to make all the guitars sound similar, here’s an interesting pedal from Mooer.

http://www.mooeraudio.com/product/TONE-CAPTURE-GTR-227.html

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

Does the unit allow you to preset and save the EQ settings?  If so, you could EQ for different guitars and switch between EQ presets as you watch guitars. 

[jalevinemd]

As crazy as it sounds, I am trying to make the guitars sound similar. The tone presets are as close to the original recordings as I can get them and I want to keep that. Problem is that I occasionally switch up guitars. I understand that pickups have a huge impact on the overall tone. But so does the wood, obviously. You can arrange tone woods in order from brightest to darkest. I guess I’m trying to determine whether EQ adjustments can be done to offset those differences. Can Maple be made to sound more like Mahogany with alterations to the frequency spectrum?

[Deltaphoenix]

I think you could could copy all of the same presets into separate set lists and adjust the global EQ on each of the set list to accommodate the corresponding guitar for that set list.

[jazzyvee]

Out of curiousity, what is the reference guitar that you are trying to make the others sound like.

[jalevinemd]

The reference guitar, as stated above, is a Charvel Guthrie Govan with the "caramelized" ash body. A very lightweight and resonant guitar. I tend to use it at outdoor gigs when it's very hot and humid and use my Alembics indoors and for more mild outdoor climate. This weekend, it'll probably be the Charvel.