School me on EQ

How come everytime I dial in an amazing lead tone, it sounds muddy with little note definition when playing chords?

I don't have the amp at home now so I can't give the settings but yesterday I had some great lead sound going on but as soon as I would start playing chords and stuff it just didn't sound good. How do I compensate?

Also, I've never been a great "dialer", I know what I like but when I sit down with an amp...any amp..I often just tweak without knowing what I'm doing, I mean sure I know if it's too bassy and what not, but as for mids and such I'm often a complete novice as to how to make it sound better. Do I want more mids, do I want less etc..

Is there an EQ for dummies out there?

How do you guys go about dialing in an amp?

All tips and info much appreciated

Remember this is my opinion, my thoughts, it's not the "right way" it's just how I did it.

The first week I sat and worked with it and every night I would go to bed thinking I made a mistake. Thinking I should have gotten the Royal Atlantic. I few months with the Mark V I now dread ever having to use something else. The Mark V is a true beast, very touchy and makes you really listen to it. Once you learn it, it's cake. The Mark V has it's own voice. Your not going to make it sound like something it's not. It will not sound like your other amps. You may get hints of this or that but it is it's own voice.

For me the first idea I had to get out of my head was the "3 channel amp" thing. It is 9 different amps not an amp with 3 different channels. Also the 10W 45W and 90W also come into play for the tone of the amp. Big consideration, the Mark V loves to be and sounds it's best, loud.

The EQ can give you a headache at first especially if you try to use it on all the channels. One size doesn't fit all. I would say first try and get some sounds you like with no EQ. Then add it to one of the channels, then the next and so on. but do it one at a time. Try to build a sound from the ground up starting with everything set to "0". Sounds odd but it works. The EQ is just a frequency filter and boost. There is no magic wand for setting it.

I only use the EQ on CH3 and I set it up in a bit of a "V" but not so much low end and a little higher on the high end, scooped a bit in the middle. Each guitar and player will make it sound different so it's all about the listening.

Many people dislike CH2 but for me that is my favorite channel. I bounce from ch2 and ch3 all night.

I have been playing Telecasters for a few years now (12 years or so) and I work the volume all night long. For me it's all in the volume on the guitar. I can back the volume off a bit and do crunch rhythm, back it off more and get sparkly clean, open up the volume and pull overdriven leads and never change the channel.

No EQ on Channel 1

No rules, use your ears and try everything.

Set your channel up for a nice creamy lead tone without the eq and then activate the eq for chord/rhythm playing.
This is how I had my Mark IV set up. I'd set the eq in a "V" but I'd cut with it more than I boosted so there would be a slight increase in volume when I turned it off. I used it to do exactly what you are looking to fix and as a solo boost.

I can tell you what I have seen done by an LA engineer/Mesa Artist endorser who happens to be my best friend. I have had the chance to watch him test drive new Mesa amps at the factory, at my house, and in his studio. He shall remain nameless, but has produced or engineered a variety of platinum and gold record artists.

The first thing he does is play a steady quarter note open string while he rotates every knob from 0-10 to see the range of impact of that control, one at a time. When he has a sense of the range of control of each knob, he sets a very clean gain setting at a moderate volume ( he always wears custom made ear plugs!) and then rotates each of the eq knobs to see the impact on a clean setting he likes. Then he dials in a rough eq for that clean tone that is "okay" and begins to tweak the tone knobs to find the clean tone that rocks for him. He repeats this process through moderate gain and high gain. In about 15 minutes, he understands the impact of each tone control and gain control and can pretty
quickly dial in a solid tone for any vibe. I learned a lot from watching him. Of course, I don't have his Golden Ears, but I have gotten better at patiently dialing tone and working the amps controls before I start simply flailing and wailing.

This also works for the GEQ - once you get a good tone on the amp, just move the sliders through their paces one at a time just to see how each impacts the tone. Then you can start to season to taste.

Hope at helps.

OldTelecasterMan said:

For me it's all in the volume on the guitar. I can back the volume off a bit and do crunch rhythm, back it off more and get sparkly clean, open up the volume and pull overdriven leads and never change the channel.

No rules, use your ears and try everything.

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This is the key for me through the MKV. Chording between 4-7 / lead between 7-10 on guitar volume knob, depending on guitar and pups. I ride the tone knob a lot as well to get the colour I need quickly

I rarely use the EQ function - a small amount of preset on CH3 to taste, but generally get my base sound using the channel tone controls only

On all of the Mesa Mark amps to get rid of flub ....
Turn down the bass knob ....and bring back the bass with the GEQ.

I also tend not to use the geq with lead channel....and do use it with the rhythm channel.
I just prefer the voice of the lead channel with no geq except for when I use it to play rhythm guitar.

Are you running the C90 speaker? It is more finicky than a V30 or EVM12L.

MarkV said:

Are you running the C90 speaker? It is more finicky than a V30 or EVM12L.

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Funny, my impression is different. I find the V30- with its spike-y mids and upper mids- to be more finicky for my tastes, and hear the C90 as more even tempered and balanced in comparison. I agree totally the EVM12L is the most balanced and least finicky.

Not being critical, just noticing how subjective sound and tastes are. I've used the C90 and EVM for so many years, they just sound "right" to me, and I've never been able to "wrap my ears around" the V30. And, I am sure there are plenty of folks with completely different aural tone centers. We are a weird lot of tone junkies........

Babow2- cheers to that.