I’ve talked at length about how to EQ electric guitar once it’s in your mix, but the better the tone you can get in the recording stage, the less you’ll have to do after the fact and the better your end results will be. With that in mind, let’s talk the best guitar amp EQ settings to dial in on your amp before you press record.
Guitar Amp EQ Settings
Most guitar amp EQ settings focus on three main controls: bass, mids, and treble, typically controlled via a dial which reads 1-10 with 10 being the maximum setting and 1 or just below 1 being the minimum setting.
Before we turn or recommend anything, it’s essential to remember that the middle position (typically represented as “5”) means that you’re leaving that frequency range flat.
In other words, leaving every dial set in the middle position means that you’re not cutting or boosting any frequencies; you’re allowing the natural tone of the guitar, amp, and cabinet to come through with no other favoring.
The Frequency For Each Guitar Amp EQ Knob
Let’s now establish what each of the three EQ knobs or dials actually controls in terms of frequency.
Bass
The “Bass” dial unsurprisingly controls the low end of your tone. This typically is around 20 or 40Hz (the lowest end of the frequencies the human ear can pick up) to around 200Hz.
Boosting the bass brings out more of the lowest frequencies of your guitar and specifically that low end body of the lowest strings.
You can think of the “Bass” dial as controlling a kind of low shelf to attenuate or prop up the frequencies of that 40-200Hz range.
Mids
The “Mid” or “Mids” dial controls the main fundamental frequencies of most of the practical notes you’ll be playing on the guitar themselves. Specifically, the “Mids” typically encapsulates the 200-2000Hz region.
As such, this is where most of the character of the guitar resides, so this has an important effect on the overall tone of your guitar.
Treble
The “Treble” dial controls the high end of of your guitar, or everything above 2000Hz.
This isn’t just about add brightness or clarity to your sound but more of the sound of the strings themselves. This transient “bite” actually helps the guitar assert itself more in the mix, and depending upon the role the guitar is playing for that particular part, you may want more or less of this.
Like the “Bass” controller, the “Treble” dial acts as a sort of high shelf to attenuate or prop up the frequencies above 2000Hz.
Best Guitar Amp EQ Settings
The best guitar amp EQ settings will vary from both ear to ear and depending on what the guitar’s role in that mix on that specific track is.
When talking the best guitar amp EQ settings, it’s important to understand the frequency profile of the guitar itself.
Taken from my guitar frequency range overview, here is a snapshot of the many frequency ranges of note on the guitar to get a better idea of what you’re going to be cutting or boosting via the guitar amp EQ settings:
Now let’s talk specifics for each of the three ranges with that in mind.
Bass
Personally, I like to cut my guitar amp EQ’s “Bass” setting as this helps it gel with the bass in the mix.
As a general rule, the less you need to do in the mix, or conversely the better you can make your instruments sound when you record them, the better results you’re going to get.
As I covered in my overview on how to EQ electric guitar (in the mix), I generally like to high pass the guitar at least to 100Hz if not higher to give that dedicated space to the bass.
I mentioned how you’d likely be surprised at how aggressively the guitar is high passed on some of your favorite rock records as the bass can represent that low end as the guitar takes over in those low mids around 200Hz.
This complimentary handling of the low and low mids and avoiding frequency conflicts is one of my secrets of how to get a clean mix.
That’s not to say that I’m gutting it altogether; I’m simply attenuating it, typically aiming for around a 2 or a 3, essentially pulling that low shelf down a few decibels.
Mids
As I mentioned earlier and to also defer to the above shown frequency range chart, the fundamental frequency of a lot of the practical, most played strings or notes as well as the overtones of the notes below them exist in this 200-2000Hz range which is controlled by the “Mids” dial.
There’s a little boxiness or mud there, but most amp EQ settings aren’t surgical enough to allow you to address this on that level.
With that in mind, I’m not cutting here as if you do you’ll likely hollow out the sound; wait to correct that 400-600Hz muddy range via in the box EQ within your DAW.
If anything, I like a small to modest boost to bring out more of that character of the guitar, aiming for around 7.
Boost too much and the guitar sounds unnatural, so listen for that sweet spot.
Treble
The high end “Treble” is arguably the most situation specific of the guitar amp EQ settings.
I mentioned the importance of treble for helping the guitar poke through the mix via that front-end transient “bite”.
I don’t always want that bite or even need the brightness associated with the amp EQ “Treble”.
If it’s a lead part, like a solo or riff, I’ll probably go up with a subtle boost, aiming for a 6.
Conversely, if it’s a rhythm part which is meant to support and sit back in the mix, I’ll leave it flat or even drop it down to a 4.
Remember that getting a good tone isn’t just about the guitar amp EQ settings – microphone choice and placement is just as paramount to the equation and tone as anything else.
With that in mind, check out my guide on how to mic a guitar amp to ensure you get the perfect tone before you start recording.
Once you do get into your DAW and are ready to mix, check out my complete guide on how to mix electric guitar for a complete run down of the best settings for EQ, compression, and beyond to get your guitar sounding its best and sitting perfectly in the mix, regardless of it’s role.
