How to EQ guitar in a mix
To EQ a guitar in a mix, high pass around 80 to 120 Hz to leave room for the bass, cut 2 to 3 dB of mud between 200 and 400 Hz, and add 1 to 3 dB of bite between 2 and 4 kHz. If distortion sounds fizzy, ease the top above 6 kHz instead of boosting presence.
Guitar parts have 5 bands worth knowing, from low end (below 120 Hz) to fizz (6 to 10 kHz).
The starting point on this page makes 2 cuts, 1 boost and uses 1 filter. The other 1 band stay flat until you hear a problem there.
Work through the bands in order from the bottom. Cuts come first because they clear space; boosts come last and stay small.
The 5 guitar bands
| Band | Range | When it's wrong | The move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low end | below 120 Hz | Fights the bass and kick | High pass at 80 to 120 Hz |
| Mud | 200 to 400 Hz | Thick, crowds the vocal | Cut of 2 to 3 dB |
| Honk | 500 Hz to 1 kHz | Nasal, boxy midrange | Narrow cut, only if it sticks out |
| Bite | 2 to 4 kHz | Strums get lost in the mix | Boost of 1 to 3 dB |
| Fizz | 6 to 10 kHz | Harsh or fizzy distortion | Gentle high shelf cut of 2 dB |
The moves, in order
Low end, below 120 Hz
Fights the bass and kick. It lives below 120 Hz. High pass at 80 to 120 Hz. The starting point is a high pass at 100 Hz. Raise it until the part starts to thin out in solo, then back it off a little.
Mud, 200 to 400 Hz
Thick, crowds the vocal. It lives between 200 and 400 Hz. Cut of 2 to 3 dB. The starting point is a 2.5 dB cut at 300 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Honk, 500 Hz to 1 kHz
Nasal, boxy midrange. It lives between 500 Hz and 1 kHz. Narrow cut, only if it sticks out. This band stays flat in the starting point; touch it only when you can hear the problem in a guitar part.
Bite, 2 to 4 kHz
Strums get lost in the mix. It lives between 2 and 4 kHz. Boost of 1 to 3 dB. The starting point is a 2 dB boost at 2.5 kHz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Fizz, 6 to 10 kHz
Harsh or fizzy distortion. It lives between 6 and 10 kHz. Gentle high shelf cut of 2 dB. The starting point is a 2 dB cut at 7 kHz with a Q of 0.7, wide enough to sound natural.
The settings in Live 12
Channel EQLite, Intro
- Highpass On
- On
- Mid Freq
- 300 Hz
- Mid Gain
- -2.5 dB
- High Gain
- -2.0 dB
The fixed high pass near 80 Hz is about right for guitar in a band mix. Use the mid band for the mud and the high shelf to calm fizzy distortion.
EQ EightStandard, Suite
- 1 Filter Type A
- High Pass 12dB
- 1 Frequency A
- 100 Hz
- 2 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 2 Frequency A
- 300 Hz
- 2 Gain A
- -2.5 dB
- 2 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 3 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 3 Frequency A
- 2.50 kHz
- 3 Gain A
- 2.0 dB
- 3 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 4 Filter Type A
- High Shelf
- 4 Frequency A
- 7.00 kHz
- 4 Gain A
- -2.0 dB
Raise the high pass until the guitar thins in solo, then pull it back a little. In the full mix you won't miss what is gone.
In short: low cut at 100 Hz, 2.5 dB cut at 300 Hz, 2 dB boost at 2.5 kHz and 2 dB cut at 7 kHz. Then listen in the full mix, not in solo, and undo anything you can't hear.
Clean, crunch and high gain
The amount of distortion on a guitar changes which bands need the most work.
A clean electric guitar has a clear attack and lots of space between the notes. It rarely needs much cutting. The high pass and a light touch on the low mids are often enough, and the bite band can stay small because the attack already comes through. If a clean part sounds thin, resist adding low end, since the bass will fill that area in the mix. Check the Fizz band too, but on a clean part it is more often pick noise than distortion.
A crunch guitar, with light overdrive, fills out the midrange and starts to crowd the vocal. The mud cut matters more here, and the honk band sometimes needs a narrow cut when the amp has a strong nasal peak. Distortion also adds harmonics, so you may find you need less bite boost than you expected.
A high gain guitar is dense and compressed, with energy everywhere. It needs the firmest high pass of the three, because high gain amps build up low end and palm-mute boom, and the bass needs the room. The top end is where high gain sounds go wrong most often. That harsh, fizzy layer above 6 kHz is the reason our starting point uses a gentle high shelf cut there. Easing the fizz usually does more for a heavy guitar than any boost.
Making room for the vocal
In most songs with a singer, the guitar and the vocal sit in the same part of the range, and the vocal has to win. Guitar EQ is mostly the work of getting out of its way.
The low mid cut does a lot of this. When the guitars are thick between 200 and 400 Hz, the vocal sounds crowded and you end up turning it up. Cut the guitar there first, and the vocal comes forward on its own.
The upper mids are where the words become clear, so watch the bite boost. If the guitar's bite and the vocal's presence land at the same frequency, they fight. Try moving the guitar's boost a little lower or higher than the vocal's, or making a small cut on the guitar right where the vocal needs to speak. Listen to whether the lyrics get easier to follow.
You can also make room in time instead of frequency. A guitar that gets a little quieter while the vocal is singing and comes back up between lines leaves space without any EQ at all. A fader ride or a gentle sidechain does this.
Doubled and stereo guitars
Many rock and pop mixes use two takes of the same guitar part, panned left and right. The small differences between the takes make the sound wide and full. Treat them as a pair. Start with the same EQ on both so the image stays balanced, then adjust each one only if one side sounds clearly different.
A wide pair of guitars also leaves the center free for the vocal, the bass, the kick and the snare. That is one of the strongest ways to make room in a mix, and it means the guitars often need less mid cutting than a single guitar in the middle would.
Check doubled guitars in mono. If the two takes are very similar, or if one was copied and shifted rather than played twice, they can partly cancel out when the sides are summed, and the guitar sound thins or changes. Two real takes hold up much better than a copied one.
A guitar part made wide with a stereo effect, like a chorus or a short delay, needs the same mono check. If it collapses, ease off the effect or keep the low end of the guitar narrow.
Mistakes
Leaving the low end in is the most common guitar mistake. Rhythm guitars don't need the area below about 80 to 120 Hz in a band mix, and leaving it in makes the bass and kick fight a part they shouldn't have to. Raise the high pass until the guitar thins in solo, then pull it back a little. You won't miss it in the mix.
Adding presence to fix a guitar that is buried is another. If you can't hear the guitar, check the level and the arrangement first. Turning up its bite usually makes it harsh before it makes it clear.
Boosting the fizz band is a common trap on heavy guitars. It can sound exciting for a minute and tiring for a whole song.
Last, treating two doubled guitars differently without a reason pulls the stereo image to one side. Keep them close unless you mean to set them apart.
Questions people ask
What is the best EQ for guitar?
For guitar in a full mix, high pass between 80 and 120 Hz, cut 2 to 3 dB of mud between 200 and 400 Hz, and add 1 to 3 dB of bite between 2 and 4 kHz. If the distortion sounds fizzy, ease the top above 6 kHz instead of adding presence.
What goes first, EQ or distortion?
Use both, for different jobs. EQ before distortion changes what gets distorted, so cutting low end there gives a tighter, less flabby sound. EQ after distortion shapes the finished tone, and that is where you cut mud and fizz for the mix. Most mix EQ happens after the amp or distortion.
How do you set up EQ for guitar?
Work from the bottom up with the rest of the band playing. Raise the high pass until the guitar thins, then back it off a little. Sweep the low mids for the spot that crowds the vocal and cut it, then add bite only if the part still gets lost.
What is the perfect EQ setting?
There is no perfect EQ setting, because every guitar, amp, mic and song is different. What works is a good starting point and a reason for each move. Start from the settings on this page, change one band at a time, and keep a change only if you can hear it helping the mix.