As I’ve covered in the past, Pultec EQ is a specific type of EQ which imparts a tone which you can’t easily replicate via more objectively transparent, clean EQs. Plugins like the free PTEq-X work to replicate the analog, tube driven sound of the Pultec EQ, and feature all the same parameters and capabilities, including the ability to do the famous “Pultec Trick”.
Let’s identify what the Pultec Trick is and how to use it in your mix to enhance your kick, bass, or other tracks.
The Pultec Trick
The Pultec Trick is to take advantage of capability of a Pultec EQ and simultaneously boost THEN cut the same frequency.
In theory, the results would be null, but because of the way the electronics of the Pultec (and digital plugins emulating it) work, you get a pleasing saturation like thickness from the tube which powers it:
The Pultec Trick seems counterintuitive in operation, yet it works and works beautifully on instruments in the low end in particular.
In fact, the most common application of the Pultec Trick is to apply it to your mix’s kick drum to add some pleasing fatness in the fundamental of that kick.
As you can see from the PTEq-X’s interface above, both the “Boost” and “Atten” (cut) dials control the gain for the same frequency, specifically what you set via the “Low Frequency” dial below.
Setting this to the 60Hz position roughly targets that fundamental frequency of the kick drum, as shown here in a frequency representation of my example kick:
Now all you have to do is set the Boost and Atten dials accordingly, making sure they’re set to the same value.
You’ll find that you’ll get more of the effect of the Pultec Trick the greater value you set here. If you want more of that tube saturation, set both dials higher.
I find that “6” is a good position to clearly hear the effect on your kick. In the above example, I have it set to “4” for just a subtle taste of that thickness which is still enough to hear the tone being enhanced.
While you don’t get any palpable increase in gain at 60Hz on the kick, at this middling positions, you can hear that added thickness.
The Pultec Trick can especially benefit thin or top heavy kicks which are slightly lacking in that fundamental.
If you need even more of that fundamental, consider my sine wave kick trick for seriously supplementing as much of that body as you need in the kick to fortify your mix’s anchor.
The Pultec Trick isn’t limited to the kick; you can also apply it to your bass at 100Hz or 150Hz which is well in that (average) fundamental of the bass:
The same rule applies – for more of that warm roundness, turn the Boost and Atten up together higher. For a more subtle enhancement, keep them below that midway point of “5”.
The key with the Pultec Trick is to make sure the two values match so that we’re not actually giving a gain advantage via a boost or cut on the track.
You can also apply the Pultec Trick on the high end to add some energy to the mids and upper mid frequencies on any track you like. Just make sure you check out my Pultec EQ tutorial because it’s not as simple as applying it to the low end as I covered here.
