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whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically speaking
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:18 pm
by pigmaker
alright so.......
i have this old hartke 3500 bass head, ive had it forever. it's got the eq sliders on the front, that tops out at 8k. rackmount style.
http://www.samsontech.com/site_media/le ... HA3500.jpgthinking about running this hartke as my second amp for synth-y guitar tone only. (after a vintage eh micro synth, an envelope filter yet to be determined, and an optional fuzz/od pedal of some kind)
plus, if i was gonna sell this hartke 3500 i wouldnt get jack squat for it anyway. no one wants these fuckin things.
so, i mean, practically speaking, what's the high end of the frequency range for a guitar signal?
looking around at eq pedals, the newer mxr eq has an 8k and a 16k slider on the high end.
the boss eq im looking at: 2 highest sliders are 3.2k and 6.4k. so that's reassuring.
probably be using a 1x12 cab for the hartke because my other amp is gonna be a 1x12 combo, and im not playing areans and shit.
is there a fundamental flaw in this plan i am missing? it's quite possible, as i dont know jack fuckin doodle poodle about bass amps. or bass gear in general.
happy 4th of july to the fellow yanks.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:20 pm
by sonidero
Rounding off the decimal points, here are the frequencies in Hz, or cycles-per-second:
4-string bass:
E - 41
A- 55
D- 74
G- 99
(Hi G @12th fret - 198)
Guitar:
E- 82
A- 110
D- 146
G- 196
B- 247
E- 330
(Hi E @ 12th fret - 660)
Harmonic tones will be in multiples of those frequencies, doubling for each octave.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:21 pm
by pigmaker
oh look at mister fancy pants using google and shit.
im really more concerned about chaffing the high frequencies of the microsynth and the envelope filters, not so much the notes i am playing themselves
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:24 pm
by dubkitty
I got to know the sound spectrum of electric music pretty well in the 1980s, when i used to remix audience recordings of live concerts. there is SOME audible information in the high frequencies, but you're pretty well entirely out of the guitar's range by 8000 Hz. if you take a graphic EQ and knock everything out below 6 or 8kHz all you'll hear is hiss and cymbals, and this should be equally true for synth.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:25 pm
by sonidero
It should be fine to use the Hartke for Guit-Synth, probably better than a Guitar Amp... The speaker is what matters...
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:28 pm
by pigmaker
fuckin' A. alright. thanks guys.
yeah, speaker. well shit. i probably shouldnt use a bass speaker, because itll just be overwhelming the other amp (guitar amp of course) when i switch over from one to the other on an A/B
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:29 pm
by sonidero
dubkitty wrote:all you'll hear is hiss and cymbals, and this should be equally true for synth.
Hiss and Cymbals on Tour, coming to a town near you...
High Freq. is the first part of your hearing to go, I had a friend in HS that was already losing his hearing and every time we got in his car it was nothing but Treble Techno... Gross...
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:32 pm
by pigmaker
if the techno's too trebly, yer too old, sonidero
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:48 pm
by pigmaker
well the amp i am very likely to purchase soon has a Weber 12F150
i guess the smart move would be to try out my synthy tonez (B Channel) with this speaker, see how the response is, and go from there.
maybe a bass speaker would be best to get that GROWL. i can always truncate the bass freq so it doesnt totally own my "normal" (A Channel) signal path.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:55 pm
by sonidero
The amps got those Low and High Contours which I guess are Hi/Low Pass Filters so that should help with dialing in a good sound in relation to the other amp...
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 5:05 pm
by Gone Fission
sonidero wrote:It should be fine to use the Hartke for Guit-Synth, probably better than a Guitar Amp... The speaker is what matters...
This, especially the speaker mattering. If you play a Twin Reverb into a full-range speaker system, it's got a hell of a lot more frequency extension than with the stock two twelves. Play the Hartke that has even better high frequency extension into something like a Marshall 412 and you're throwing away most of anything above, to be very generous, say 5 kHz.
If you're into noisy, complex sounds, it's not about the highest fundamental (~1.3 kHz for E on the 24th fret of the high E on guitar) but the harmonics that you would care about. And the harmonics matter. Shifting the resonant frequency of your pickups to 3 kHz with cable capacitance leads to ice-pick city. That's over an octave above the highest fundamental on that 24 fret guitar. If you're messing with extended range instruments or sounds or complex sounds, more range can help.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 5:57 pm
by pigmaker
Gone Fission wrote:sonidero wrote:It should be fine to use the Hartke for Guit-Synth, probably better than a Guitar Amp... The speaker is what matters...
If you're into noisy, complex sounds, it's not about the highest fundamental (~1.3 kHz for E on the 24th fret of the high E on guitar) but the harmonics that you would care about. And the harmonics matter. Shifting the resonant frequency of your pickups to 3 kHz with cable capacitance leads to ice-pick city.
Oh christ man. Thank you for posting, but this Bill Nye shit is way above my pay grade.
I understand cable capacitance, but as far as how this relates to harmonics and pickups I havent the foggiest.
Sorry if this comes off as ungrateful (not my intention), as I really appreciate your input, I'm just totally fuckin lost.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:07 pm
by Gone Fission
No offense taken at all. For ease, the short version: if you want more high end detail than a typical guitar amp, get a full(er)-range speaker set up first, and a fuller range amp second, as your order of priorities. Bass guys report that fuzz hates tweeters, so maybe just a mid or high-mid speaker in addition to the woofer.
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm
by MEC
Gone Fission wrote:No offense taken at all. For ease, the short version: if you want more high end detail than a typical guitar amp, get a full(er)-range speaker set up first, and a fuller range amp second, as your order of priorities. Bass guys report that fuzz hates tweeters, so maybe just a mid or high-mid speaker in addition to the woofer.
^This
Also, keep in mind that the amp is 350w so your speaker or combination of speakers should be at least that, preferably a little more.
Maybe something like this:
http://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Delta_12A
Re: whats the freq range of a guitar signal-practically spea
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:24 pm
by pigmaker
I fucking love you cats.
