An important mixing question

[Garystrat]

Hi Len,

When you are doing full EQ’ing there is likely to be a volume drop because it’s good practice to mostly reduce frequencies below 0 dB, however in the above examples it’s a high and low end cut where the remaining frequencies are at 0 dB, so this shouldn’t be an issue.

Regards

Gary

[abel]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for all the info.
The StroboStomp is pretty expensive for a tuner.
The BT i bought from http://Londonarrangements.com are not custom made, they are just of professional quality.
It's only the second BT I bought from them.
All my BTs I purchase from http://Karaoke-version.co.uk and they are $3 USD which is very reasonable.

Don't have the patience and the tools for Intonation, as long as the guitar sounds decent.
I do have a problem with some strings getting sharp as I use the tremolo (and I use it all the time), but that is
a different story. Dave Robinson suggested a lube tube for the nut grooves (I forgot the name), I bought it, but haven't
even opened it.

Thank you again,
I'll keep you posted on the progress,
Abel

[Garystrat]

Hi Abel,

You have replied to me on the comment about the quality and price of the backing tracks, I hadn’t mentioned it and this had nothing to do with me?

In terms of the Peterson Strobe Tuner I was merely giving you an example of the tuner I use for this and the advantages, when doing things like intonation it’s obviously better to have a cent wise accurate tuner to do it properly.

I’m very much with Dave on the advice he gave you about the nut lube. The one I use is D’Addario Friction Remover. It needs to be used very sparingly and lasts quite a while, I put a tiny dot in the nut slots, under the string trees and where the strings go over the saddles as standard practice when dong a string change. I also have a plugin in Fender tremolo arm and use it on the contact parts of that as well.

The other thing that cause tuning issues is poorly wound strings on the post and/or slippage, you would be surprised at how many guitars I have seen with overlapping string windings. I use locking tuners now, but I used to follow the old wisdom of a one and a half post distances for the winding, with two posts distances for the thinner high E string and never had any problems in that respect.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on!

Regards

Gary

[abel]

Hi Gary,

Great info here. I definitely will use it.
I want to get the D’Addario Friction Remover. Never though about putting lube under the string trees or the Tremolo.

I agree that some strings are just bad and / or have overlapping wounding on the headstock. I can find out when they vibrate in a weird way.

I have another issue Gary, not sure there is a solution for it, but before I bother you with it, I am going to try a couple of things.
I that doesn't work, I will refer it to you as the expert.

Thank you much for all the help,
Abel

[Garystrat]

Hi Abel,

Good to hear from you, I always used a white graphite lube on the guitars that i worked on for both myself and other people and they always said what a difference it made, but with this I used a very lightly smeared 3 in 1 oil on the bridge and where the string passes over it. However, the graphite lube was discontinued and having tried one or two the D’Addario Friction Remover seems to be the closest, they specifically suggest using it for the bridge and I found it to be fine!

You need to be careful as you only need a tiny drop in each position, they provide applicators tools with fine heads in the kit, it will last you ages!

How did you get on with trying EQ cut, on the lows this is designed to remove frequencies that will potentially clash with other instruments frequencies in the mix?

I won’t cover it here but the same principal can apply to tone controls on things like echoes. It’s not likely to be too noticeable when soling the guitar, but it should clean it up when in the mix and cut through better. Often with things like plugins the modelling goes beyond the range of physical kit, looking up the hardware specifications and adjusting the high/low cuts to those tends to make a difference.

This is separate from tonal EQ’ing and is intended to be an initial clean start point to suit the instrument, this is slightly different with the highs as it does affect tone, but I don't want to confuse you too much at this stage. If this works for you, I can cover EQ’ing tones in a little more depth once you’re comfortable up to this point!

Regards

Gary

PS: When I say lightly smeared 3 in 1 oil in bridge, I put a drop on a cloth and rub the into the the cloth then wipe the bridge, it's so light as to be hardly noticeable, This stops sweat and moisture from hands causing any rusting with time

[abel]

Hi Gary,

Mind you, I didn't even realize that I had already purchased the D’Addario Friction Remover when Dave mentioned it to me.
It's sitting there untouched, but half way full (weird).

I also didn't know there existed a liquid Graphite.
The graphite powder, we have plenty of it here.

Thank you much.
Blessings,
Abel

[Garystrat]

Hi Abel,

The D’Addario Friction Remover comes approx half filled, it’s a measured amount in a syringe type container. My practice is to use a tiny dot in the middle of the area to be coated and work it out slightly with the fine tipped tool provided, the movement of the strings tends to spread it evenly over the whole working surface with minimal excess.

The white graphite lube came in a very small tube which was only about 1” long and that lasted me years using it on many guitars!

Regards

Gary

[abel]

Hi Gary,

Wanted to share with you this. And this is the question I wanted to ask you since I didn't find a solution for it.

Like every other Shadows music fan, I think that Robby has really hit the holy grail and is able to reproduce at will the early Hank guitar sound.
He said that he used the Tonelab, and I happen to have a Tonelab that I used only a year or so when I got it several years ago.
A couple days ago, Robby sent me some settings to use on the Tonelab.
So instead of going from my amp L/R output to the 7/8 L/R mixer input, I went from the Tonelab L/R output to the same 7/8 L/R mixer input.
Everything else stayed the same.
With this setting, when I go from the Mixer Main Out to the amp, I hear both the guitar and the BT through the amp and obviously through the PA too.
It make sense. Is there a way in which I can send monitor the guitar only through the amp?

At the bottom of the message you can see a short live video test (Big Boy) I did in early morning with Robby's Tonelab settings.It is pretty far from his own sound, but for myself I think it's was a pretty good starting point. Don't pay attention to the playing, I wasn't even fully awake. The reason I don't show my face is because I hadn't shaved for 4 days and it's not pretty.

Sorry for the trouble.
Here are pictures of my Main Out(s) of the mixer:
https://ibb.co/hLqzHVm
https://ibb.co/JFvbX4k
https://ibb.co/qYSbcBN

This is the short video test I did this morning:
http://akhineche.com/Big_Boy_Test_Tonelab.mp4

Thank you much for you help,
Abel

[Garystrat]

Hi Abel,

You need to keep your chin up my friend, a bit of the unshaven you dropped into the video for a brief moment! LOL

The Tonelab may be getting a bit old in the tooth now, but it’s still a great piece of kit and I very much regretted selling the one had a few years back. The sound file certainly sounds very good too, the Tonelab connections to the mixer are right, but you don’t need the mixer out to the amp and I would disconnect that (just out to PA/camcorder).

So it should be guitar chain to Tonelab, then Tonelab L/R to 7/8 L/R mixer, but no amp connection.

That should also work fine for your camcorder too, which should be the line level out connection, but let me know if you have any problems.

Regards

Gary

[abel]

Hi Gary,

Thank you much.
The problem is that I want to hear the guitar sound through the amp. Through the PA, it sounds terrible and I don't like to wear headphones.
I am used to live.
Don't know how I can do that without hearing the BT though the amp too.

Gary, is it a limit on my Mixer, should I get one with more functions?

Blessings,
Abel